William Burrus  APWU President

Ask the President

Question:

Some of the smaller locals that qualify as 200 man-years offices are running into a problem: What happens when we have no more PTFs and no more unassigned regulars and a job posting goes un-bid? The new contract does not have language forcing management to hire new people. Jobs are going to undergo attrition, slowly but surely.

Jack, Midland TX Local 1696

President Burrus:

Thank you for communicating with me through Ask the President, requesting information about residual vacancies.

Your question relates to the contractual requirement that the Postal Service fill vacancies after they have been posted with no successful bidders. As you may recall, I addressed this situation years ago and reached agreement [PDF] that residual vacancies must be filled through the assignment of unassigned regulars, conversion of PTFs, transfers, or new hires.

I am aware that because little or no hiring has taken place in recent years, many offices have resorted to filling residual vacancies with casual employees.

We have filed a national-level grievance [PDF] challenging management’s right to fill full-time duty assignments with casuals, and we have had several discussions about the possibility of resolving this grievance.

The bottom line is that the previous agreement stipulates that the vacancy must be filled. The issue remaining is, by whom?

I will keep the membership informed as we proceed with the grievance, and I will report on the outcome.

Oct. 8, 2008