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Good News in What’s New in CBA

(This article first appeared in the March/April 2007 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement is filled with good news.

I am most excited by the conversion to regular of thousands of part-time flexible employees. I suspect that all of the APWU members who will be directly affected share my enthusiasm.

The wholesale conversion of PTFs in 200 man-year offices will bring an end to the practice of scheduling part-timers over the course of six days in order to avoid changing their status to regular.

By Dec. 1, 2007 , there will no longer be PTFs in offices of 200 “man-years” or more. This wholesale conversion will mean an end to weekly schedule changes. It also will mean an end to management’s practice of scheduling PTFs over the course of six days in order to avoid converting them to regular.

In smaller offices, our goal is the same as it has always been: We will continue to strive for better treatment of PTFs and, ultimately, the conversion to regular.

Under the new contract, casuals can be on the Postal Service rolls up to 360 days after their date they are hired. In addition, casuals in each USPS district must be limited to no more than 6 percent of all APWU craft employees in the district. These percentages will be monitored at the national level, with regular reports going to the locals.

The restrictions of the use of casuals “in lieu of” career employees will continue in the Maintenance Craft and the Motor Vehicle Craft in offices of all sizes, and in the Clerk Craft in offices of less than 200 man-years. In addition to the “in lieu of” restrictions, new rules are found in the 2006- 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement:

Full-time employees on the overtime desired list (ODL) will be given priority scheduling for overtime work before casuals working overtime. (Overtime for casuals does not begin overtime until after they have worked 40 hours.)

Casuals will not normally work Tour 2 unless a facility does not have a Tour 1 or a Tour 3. The intent is that career employees should work preferred assignments.

Casuals will be limited to assignments not requiring training and testing.

Many APWU members have expressed concern that management might exploit the new 360-day casuals. However, they should keep in mind that until now, there were no restrictions on the percent of casuals that management could employ in a given installation. Furthermore, management could employ up to 20 percent PTFs in 200 man-year offices, plus 15 percent casuals in postal districts.

Replacing all those PTFs and the 15-percent casual limits with zero clerk PTFs in 200 man-year offices, and a 6 percent casual limit per district will, in my opinion, require the Postal Service to put most of its casuals to work where the greatest flexibility is needed: in the Clerk Craft in 200 man-year offices on Tour 1 and Tour 3.

Although the USPS may utilize up to 11 percent casuals in the Clerk Craft in its 200 man-year offices, in many districts the 6 percent limitation will keep the number below 11 percent in the district’s 200 man-year offices.

PTR vs. FTR in Small Offices

In small offices where we have been unable to prove that even a single fulltime regular duty assignment exists, we feel that it might be a good time to pursue part-time regular duty assignments.

How many times have we pursued a 40-hour assignment only to come up short and show just 37 or 38 hours? I suggest that in an office with only PTFs — and where individuals remain PTFs for decades — the senior PTFs would welcome a fixed 35-, 36-, or 37-hour duty assignment, with Saturdays and Sundays off.

We should continue to pursue the 40-hour assignments; however, a fallback position that would require the posting of part-time regular schedule may be appropriate.

The Article 7 requirement to “maximize the full-time work force and minimize the part-time work force with no fixed schedule” resulted from the APWU position, that our goal is an “all regular workforce.”

All regular does not mean all full time. The “and” in the cited Article 7 language connects two independent thoughts: 1) Maximize the full-time workforce; and 2) In the part-time workforce, reduce the number of part-time employees with flexible schedules. Just want to start the discussion.

Rural Subs and APWU Jobs

Here’s a thought about protecting our jobs: Rural Carrier Substitutes — or Associates — who are assigned to APWU-represented crafts following an injury are not necessarily entitled to work 40 hours per week. While on limited duty, these employees should work the average number of hours they worked during the previous six months — when they were performing their duties as rural substitutes.

Grievances should be filed for any hours they work in APWU crafts above the six-month average, because these hours could be used to create new full-time positions for APWU members.

Other restrictions also should be enforced: Rural Carriers should be prohibited from working overtime in APWU crafts, and, if Function 4 audits result in a reduction in the number of hours assigned to the Clerk Craft, RCS employees would have to leave the craft before excessing could occur.

If Rural Carriers are performing APWU duties in your office, contact your local union officer, National Business Agent, or regional coordinator for assistance in determining whether a contract violation exists.

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