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Part-Time Flexibles, MVS Employees,
And the Tentative Contract Agreement

(12/15/06) Many Motor Vehicle Craft employees have asked about the provision of the tentative agreement between the APWU and USPS that would convert part-time flexibles in the Clerk Craft to regular, if they work in offices of 200 man-years or more. (PTF clerks will continue in smaller offices.)

The Motor Vehicle Services (MVS) Craft employees have wondered why the provision calling for conversion to regular doesn’t apply to them.

For various reasons, MVS officers felt this portion of the agreement, which is good for the Clerk Craft, is not in the best interest of the MVS Craft at this time. We understand this may be disappointing to the 1,200 MVS PTFs and other members; therefore, we want to explain the reasoning behind our decision.

The MVS Craft faces unique challenges: Article 32.2 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement contains language that allows postal management to contract out work performed by the Postal Vehicle Service (PVS). In the private sector, transportation operations almost always include some part-time employees.

In order to compete for transportation work, the Postal Vehicle Service must include some flexibility as well. PTFs provide coverage on hold-downs; they fill in for ill or injured employees, and they work the assignments of employees who are on annual or sick leave. They also cover auxiliary assignments and make the sixth-day runs to stations and branches.

When management considers contracting out and makes the required comparisons between PVS and HCRs (Highway Contract Routes), the union asserts that using the PVS offers the Postal Service more flexibility. A workforce comprised entirely of full-time employees would reduce the flexibility and could encourage management to contract out more work.

In installations where the number of assignments has been reduced due to the Breakthrough Productivity Initiative, there has been an increase in the number of unassigned regulars whose duty assignments were reduced to less than eight hours. If MVS PTFs were converted to full-time, in many installations they would be added to the ranks of unassigned regulars.

This could increase the number of situations where full-time employees would be performing auxiliary assignments (less than 8 hours), and could lead to a reduction in the career workforce in the craft. It could have the added effect of lowering productivity for PVS, while increasing the costs. All these factors could result in PVS becoming less competitive.

If PTFs were eliminated from the MVS Craft, the casual complement would have to be increased. The number of casuals would soon exceed the 1,200 MVS PTFs currently on the rolls, and any new work performed locally would be by casuals, not career employees.

Our decision was based on the reality that the Postal Service’s strategies in transportation are changing. Cost and flexibility are often the deciding factors when management considers contracting out.

The upgrades we achieved in the 2000 contract and the 2006 tentative agreement will escalate the PVS costs compared to HCR costs by two levels. This works out to approximately $11,800 for Level 7 Motor Vehicle Operators and $12,500 for Level 8 Tractor Trailer Operators. These costs alone will create new challenges for maintaining PVS work.

The elimination of part-time employees in the Motor Vehicle Craft could have made it very difficult to sustain PVS operations in certain installations.

In negotiating this agreement, we attempted to strike a balance between protecting job security through continuing flexibility and improving conditions through raises and upgrades.

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