Union, Management Agree
To Restore Retirement Counseling

APWU Web News Article #45-06, Aug. 4, 2006

The APWU and USPS signed an agreement Aug. 4 requiring the Postal Service to restore individual and group retirement counseling, which management had discontinued. The counseling sessions were suspended beginning in April 2005, when management applied the Human Resources Shared Services program to retirement and separation activities. Under the Shared Services plan, personnel activities were moved from local postal facilities to a centralized site in Greensboro, NC.

According to the settlement [PDF], previously established local counseling methods will be reinstated. The settlement is in accordance with provisions of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), which outlines management’s obligation to provide retirement counseling to employees.

According to the ELM, “District managers are responsible for ensuring that at least one group retirement counseling seminar is held each fiscal year for employees within 3 years of optional retirement eligibility.” [Sections 569.141, 589.132] On request, interested employees must also be given individual pre-retirement counseling. [Sections 569.123, 589.123]

“Retirement decisions are among the most important choices employees make,” said APWU President William Burrus. “In the Postal Service’s zeal to ‘consolidate,’ employees have been given short shrift. The APWU has been adamant that management must adhere to its obligation to provide workers with these important resources."

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