08/29/2007 - The $686 salary increase that will be reflected in APWU members’ paychecks Sept. 21 demonstrates the ongoing value of the union contract, said APWU President William Burrus. “With the one-level upgrade for all APWU-represented positions in February,” he added, “the negotiated raises will amount to approximately four percent over a period of five months.”

06/22/2007 - Secretary-Treasurer Terry Stapleton has certified the following union members as candidates for election to national office by referendum balloting, as mandated by the APWU Constitution and Bylaws.

A drawing to determine the order candidates’ names will appear on the ballot was held on Friday, June 22, 2007, at 10 a.m. Incumbent officers are listed first, and are denoted by (I) appearing after their name.

Secretary-Treasurer Stapleton cast one vote for the candidates in the uncontested races and the National Election Committee declared them elected, in accordance with the Constitution. Their names will not appear on the ballot.

06/15/2007 - Secretary-Treasurer Terry Stapleton has announced that the following union members have been certified as candidates for election to national office by referendum balloting, as mandated by the APWU Constitution and Bylaws.

Each candidate in this unofficial listing has secured the necessary petitions required for nomination. The official list will be announced after the drawing for position on the ballot is held.

06/12/2007 - Local and state presidents are being asked to help spread the word about an important gain in the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement: the increase in the Postal Service’s contribution to health insurance premiums for those who enroll in the APWU Consumer Driven Plan.

“Healthcare coverage is one of the most important benefits a union can negotiate for its members, and the APWU Health Plans are among the best in the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP),” President William Burrus wrote in a letter to APWU local and state presidents. “Yet, for a variety of reasons, many APWU members are enrolled in other health insurance plans.”

02/26/2007 -

The APWU — along with individual customers and small businesses — achieved a significant victory Feb. 26, when the Postal Regulatory Commission announced its recommended decision on a USPS request to increase rates: The PRC rejected the Postal Service’s proposed rate structure, and instead endorsed an APWU suggestion to increase postage for individual first-class letters to only 41 cents, instead of 42 cents as the Postal Service requested. 

02/05/2007 - New pay rates established in the 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement will be implemented on March 3, 2007, and will appear in paychecks dated March 23, APWU President William Burrus has announced. Increases in wages and uniform allowances will be paid retroactively. Checks for the back-pay period (from Nov. 25, 2006) will be disbursed at a later date, which the union will publicize as soon as the date is known.

01/12/2007 -

APWU members ratified a four-year Collective Bargaining Agreement by a vote of 84,486 to 12,016, in balloting that concluded Jan. 12. The new National Agreement, which is retroactive to Nov. 21, 2006, will expire Nov. 20, 2010.

Rank-and-File Advisory Bargaining Committee members Thomasine Derricks, Princella Vogel, and Jack Dougherty observe the vote count in Washington on Jan. 12. Vogel chairs the committee.

01/05/2007 - Balloting in the ratification of the tentative agreement will be extended until Jan. 12, the Rank-and-File Bargaining Committee has announced. “We want to ensure that every interested APWU member has an opportunity to participate,” said Princella Vogel, the committee chairperson.

12/28/2006 - Ballots for the referendum on a tentative National Agreement must be received in the New York offices of the American Arbitration Association by 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The vote-count will begin immediately and results will be posted on the APWU Web site, www.apwu.org.

12/22/2006 - In a blistering criticism of the Postal Service’s Evolutionary Network Development strategy, the Postal Rate Commission concluded that the “record does not provide assurance that the proposed realignment program will meet its declared goals. In particular, the record reflects flawed or absent information on certain crucial aspects of the Postal Service’s plan for realignment.”