About the Support Services Division

The Support Services Division represents APWU bargaining unit members at Information Technology/ Accounting Service Centers, Operating Services facilities, Mail Equipment Shops and Material Distribution Centers, as well as professional nurses employed by the Postal Service.  The Division also includes APWU-represented workers who are employed in the private sector, including mail haul drivers and Mail Transport Equipment Service Center employees.

Support Services Division workers can be found in many specializations and job classifications, including clerical/technical work, computer operations, programming, telecommunications, payroll processing, accounting, customer support, manufacturing, warehousing and supply, maintenance, mail hauling, and mail-transport equipment service.

The Support Services Division was originally known as the “Non Mail-Processing Department.” Beginning in the early 1970s, employees at various USPS headquarters-related facilities organized with APWU into several bargaining units. In 1980, delegates to the National Convention in Detroit voted to give Non Mail-Processing Department members their own elected National Business Agent.

Following a series of mergers — and a name change in the late 1980s — the Support Services Division now represents Information Technology/Accounting Service Center, Operating Services, Material Distribution Center and Mail Equipment Shop employees. Following a change to the Union’s Constitution and Bylaws in the early 1990s, the Support Services Division began representing private-sector postal employees as well.

Mail Equipment Shop and Material Distribution Shop Employees are covered by the union's National Agreement with the Postal Service. Separate collective bargaining agreements with the USPS are negotiated for Information Technology/Accounting Service Center employees and Operating Services facilities employees, whose postal contracts basically mirror the National Agreement in wages, benefits and working conditions.

The Support Services Division has negotiated a number of collective bargaining agreements with private-sector employers, covering mail haul drivers and Mail Transport Equipment Service Center employees, and the Division continues to pursue first contracts for newly organized APWU barging unit members.

In August 2007, the Support Services Division welcomed members of the National Postal Professional Nurses union into the APWU family. Postal nurses are covered by a distinct collective bargaining agreement, and the Support Services Division is responsible for contract negotiations, interpretation, and enforcement.

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