Work Year List

The APWU and the USPS have agreed to the work year list for the term of the 2018-2021 National Agreement.  Work years (formally known as man-years) is a term the utilized by the APWU and the Postal Service to define the size of postal installations throughout the country. 

The work year categories are broken down into three sizes:

• 200 work year installations
• 125 work year installations
• 100 work year installations

The determination is made by taking the total number of paid work hours for the bargaining units party to what is commonly known as the “Bridge Memo” signed in 1974. Once those paid hours are totaled, they are divided by 2080 hours to determine the number of "work years". This is calculated over the one-year period immediately prior to the expiration of a contract. 

Based on the Bridge Memo the paid work hours of the APWU, the NPMHU (Mail Handlers), and the NALC (City Carriers) are counted.  The work hours of rural carriers (NLRCA) are not currently counted in the work year determination as they were not a party to the "Bridge Memo".

The Industrial Relations Department was tasked with reviewing and verifying the data received from the Postal Service. After an extensive review, the APWU met with the USPS and discussed the results of the APWU review of the list.  This review led to a small number of offices being moved into a higher category than originally listed and final agreement being reached with the Postal Service.  

The work year size is used in variety of ways including but not limited to:

• Transfer Ratios
• Maximazation
• Work Hour Guarantees
• FTR vs PTF usage

The lists can be found here.  If an installation is not listed in any of the three categories it fell below the 100-work year designation.