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After the Aftermath

In the Wake of Katrina

(This article was first published in the March/April 2006 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Over the last few days of August 2005, the lives of millions of Americans were changed throughout Florida and along the Gulf Coast. More than 6,000 postal employees were among those affected by Hurricane Katrina, including approximately 2,100 APWU-represented workers.

By the time everyone was accounted for, these 2,000-plus employees were scattered across 23 different states.

In the aftermath of the storm and the bursting of the levee in New Orleans, the national APWU set up telephone banks in the office of the Southern Region Coordinator, in Houston, where so many of Katrina’s victims first were directed. A phone bank task force tried to reach each individual believed to have been displaced by Katrina.

Through repeated attempts — and because many victims were ultimately able to at least borrow a cell phone to contact us — most of our missing members were contacted.

APWU President William Burrus was quick to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Postal Service. Through the implementation of the MOU, many employees were provided work in areas where they sought refuge.

Additional negotiations are being held to finalize placement of APWU-represented employees who did not receive jobs through the Voluntary Transfer provisions of the MOU. All of the employees in the affected areas were eligible for reassignment and some have transferred to places as far away as Hawaii and Alaska .

The contract and subsequent MOU did what they were supposed to. We hope it never needs to happen again, but employees were fully protected: They were allowed to transfer as full-time regulars with their seniority; they were eligible for relocation expenses; and all have retreat rights to their former offices as mail service returns.

Not all of the issues were resolved through these negotiations, so an Administrative Dispute Resolution Process was developed. The ADRP will be used to settle disputes over such issues as employees not being given duty assignments in postal facilities they had been told to report to, and being denied administrative leave for which they may have been eligible.

Extended Gratitude

What the storm victims have suffered is almost unimaginable. It will take months and possibly years for many of our members to return to some level of normalcy. If you are working with any of these individuals, please give them the benefit of the doubt on issues where your interests may seem to collide with theirs.

As the regional coordinator whose day-to-day work was most affected by the storms of 2005, I would like to thank President Burrus, Human Relations Director Sue Carney, and all of the other national officers for their support. Also, many thanks to my fellow coordinators, Liz Powell, Jim Burke, Omar Gonzales, and Sharyn Stone for their assistance in placing ‘Katrina’ employees in their respective regions. I would also like to thank all the local presidents and their memberships for the help they have extended to the displaced members of the Southern Region.

Our best wishes remain with each employee who has suffered; we sincerely hope that all are on the road to a semblance of their pre-storm lives.

A Storm of Excessing

Prior to the devastating sweep of Hurricane Katrina, the APWU had been successful in getting nearly all of the districts represented by the Southern Region released from Article 12 withholding. This meant that hundreds of part-time flexible employees — many of whom had been part-time for more than six years — were being converted to full-time status. Largely because of the storm, however, many districts have reinstituted withholding.

Article 12 is one of the most important features of our contract. There is no stronger evidence of its importance than in how it provides for placement of employees who are “excessed.” In other industries (even in those that are unionized), a need to reduce the full-time workforce is accomplished through layoffs. The APWU has negotiated and retained the requirement that the USPS reassign rather than layoff employees.

A Look at the Future

At a time when many workers are watching their pensions disappear, the economy is suffering, and record numbers of employees are getting laid off, the APWU forges ahead. Last year’s contract extension provided upgrades and continued the no-layoff protection and salary increases. These accomplishments probably could not have been achieved through negotiation and would have been at risk in arbitration. Now, we will have an opportunity to start negotiations with the Postal Service from a position of strength.

As we enter the 31st year of collective bargaining, the APWU has always stood strong. We have enjoyed solid increases in our salary, while maintaining benefits for our bargaining unit that many unions only dream of.

One of our primary objectives in future negotiations is to maintain of all of the important achievements that this union has gained over the past three decades. I am sure that through many of your state conventions, proposals will be offered for negotiations. But I hope that when all is said and done, the membership will understand that in order to advance, we must maintain. We must protect all that has been accomplished and build on those accomplishments.

Problem Solving

We could not have enjoyed the success we have had without being a strong union. In order to remain strong, we need every eligible employee with us. Take pride in your union; help sign up every available employee to be a member.

Approach the person you sit next to. Talk with the co-worker you share a break with. Use your influence to encourage them to be a part of the APWU so that we can become even stronger.

It may sound like a tired old saying, but you are either part of the problem or you are part of the solution. Each employee who is eligible for membership but fails to become a member is part of the problem: Let’s do our problem-solving part by helping them to become part of the solution.

We are measured by management and legislators who decide our fate by two standards: How many members we have and how much money we have. One does not work without the other. To remain strong – to maintain the gains that we have achieved — we must have both the numbers and the funds. So it is up to each of us to work tirelessly to keep this union strong. Can we count on you?

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