From the American Postal Workers Union:

The APWU has learned that the Senate will consider postal legislation very soon, and President Cliff Guffey is asking union members to contact their senators immediately and tell them that the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789) is unacceptable in its current form. “The stakes couldn’t be higher,” Guffey said.

As currently written, the bill would give the USPS some short-term financial relief, but also would inflict long-term damage to the nation’s mail system, he said.

“The bill would force the Postal Service to close hundreds of mail processing centers, shut thousands of post offices, and cause massive delays in mail delivery,” the APWU president said. “By failing to give more substantial financial relief, the bill would weaken the Postal Service, kill jobs, and drive customers away,” he added.

Call Your Senators:

202-224-3121

(Capitol Switchboard)

Tell them you oppose

S. 1789 as it is currently written.

“APWU members have done an outstanding job of expressing our concerns to their senators and representatives,” Guffey added. “At this critical time, union members must continue to let them know where we stand.”

The union is seeking support for amendments to:

• Set strict service standards. (This is crucial, because the Postal Service is planning to degrade delivery standards in order to eliminate more than half of all mail processing facilities.)
• Allow the USPS to recover overpayments the Postal Service made to its retiree pension funds.
• Adequately address the requirement that forces the USPS pre-fund future retiree health benefits.
• (This mandate is the primary cause of the agency’s financial crisis. No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS approximately $5.5 billion annually.)
• Establish new ways to generate revenue, such as providing notary services, issuing licenses, contracting with state and local agencies to provide services, and allowing the USPS to offer services that mail systems in many other countries provide, such as digital services.
• Prevent the closing of small post offices by giving the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) binding authority to prevent closures based on the effect on the community and employees.
• Protect six-day delivery.
• Eliminate the provision that would drastically reduce the compensation of workers who are injured on duty once they reach retirement age.
• Repeal the provision that would require arbitrators in postal contract negotiations to consider the financial health of the USPS. (Postal unions note that arbitrators routinely do so, and criticize the provision as an attempt to skew contract negotiations in favor of management.)

“We must not allow this bill to destroy service to the American people,” Guffey said.

via Senate to Vote on Postal Bill; APWU Members Must Take Action NOW!.

The Postal Service has notified [PDF] the APWU that it has established a relationship with Align Networks to provide physical therapy services for employees with work related injuries and illnesses. APWU strongly discourages member participation.

It is our understanding that as a contract provider, Align Networks and their therapists can share information with the USPS that would otherwise be protected by doctor-patient confidentiality, including information that is unrelated to workplace injuries.

In addition, Align Networks strives to achieve reduced costs for its payor companies.

A quick visit to the Align Networks’ Web site exposes how savings might be achieved and several other issues that are cause for concern. Employer services listed on the site include: aggressive management of visit attendance and compliance; notification to employing agencies when employees miss appointments; support in determining medical necessity; assistance in continuance-of-care dispute resolution; help with therapy claim closure; and, probably the most egregious, providing employers with “documentation of Worker’s Compensation Clinical Guidelines comparison for treatment frequency and duration based on condition to allow employers to determine the appropriateness of continued care.”

Therapists should provide medical services based on patient needs, in cooperation with the claimant’s treating physician. Based on the information contained on the Align Web site, it appears the company may be allowing employers such as the Postal Service to interfere with that process.

The good news is participation in this program is strictly voluntary. Employees cannot be forced nor should they be pressured or misled into using Align Networks for any treatment services.

According to the Postal Service, every employee who has an open approved claim and workers with new traumatic injury claims that are pending adjudication are eligible to use the program. Employees who complete a job-related injury claim (Form CA 1) will be provided an application for physical therapy [PT] through Align Networks, as well as contact information, and other information [PDF]. It is important for employees to keep in mind that they have the right to elect a therapist of their choice – they can refuse Align Network services.

In cases where the employee submits a claim for an occupational disease (Form CA-2), an Align Networks card will be issued to the employee by first-class mail once the claim has been accepted. Physical therapy appointments will be scheduled by Align with one of the Networks’ therapy providers and the injured worker if the worker chooses to participate.

In an effort to compel injured workers to use the program, the USPS has started distributing posters [PDF] and has supplied supervisors, managers and postmasters with mandatory service talks that are to be given to all postal employees. In our opinion, the campaign is somewhat deceptive and flagrantly preys upon employee frustrations.

The USPS claims there are advantages for employees who utilize Align Networks for physical therapy services. Employees will not need to obtain prior approval from the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs and they will not have to pay for out of pocket expenses. Align boasts a more efficient, accurate and timely processing of therapy requests and a large, expanding network of providers. The APWU warns members not to be swayed by the overstated benefits of the program.

The reality is all employees who sustain on-the-job traumatic injuries and provide notice within seven days of the incident must be issued Form CA-16 “Authorization for Examination / Medical Treatment” [PDF] by the USPS within four hours. The “16” authorizes conservative medical care for up to 60 days without obtaining prior authorization from OWCP. This includes physical therapy services. For employees who aren’t entitled to receive Form CA-16, once their claim is approved, authorization for services can be expedited by ensuring the medical provider is enrolled in ACS and uses the proper international diagnosis and treatment codes. It has also proven helpful for claimants or their providers to regularly follow-up with ACS until their request for medical treatment is approved.

In addition, union members should understand that a condition is not considered a workers compensation injury until the claim is approved by OWCP. This means health benefits can legally be used to procure treatment for on-the-job injuries or illnesses with minimal expense to the employee. Once a claim is approved, out-of-pocket expenses can generally be recovered. It has also proven beneficial for treating physicians to provide OWCP with a brief narrative that explains how delaying treatment would have hindered recovery and been detrimental to the employee’s well being. If finding a physical therapist has been difficult, most treating physicians can usually refer claimants to therapists that accept OWCP cases. OWCP’s Provider Search could also be a useful tool.

We recognize workplace injuries and illnesses are fraught with frustrations that might make it tempting to try a service that appears to be trouble-free and effortless, but these are hardly reasons for claimants to subject themselves to a company that is employed to be an advocate for the Postal Service. The perils of using a contract provider are real. Members need to recognize they can access the treatment they need for recovery by using medical providers who work on their behalf and who are concerned with their health and welfare.

Members who have questions or concerns about Align Networks or their OWCP claim should contact their local or state APWU representative. Representatives seeking additional information or guidance should contact the Human Relations Department.

From the American Postal Workers Union:

Recent notices posted by management have generated questions about APWU members’ right to participate in activities opposing the closure of postal facilities. Postal employees have the right to:

• Circulate petitions;
• Participate in public meetings;
• Encourage others to attend public meetings;
• Encourage local merchants and business organizations to speak out against postal closings;
• Contact elected officials to urge them to oppose postal closings.

Postal workers may engage in all of the activities listed above, provided they are off-the-clock.

“It is essential that all union members speak out to the maximum extent possible to prevent the unnecessary closure of postal facilities,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey. “We will not allow USPS management to discourage our members from exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Anti-Lobbying Act Doesn’t Apply

The Anti-Lobbying Act, which the USPS cited in a Jan. 13 LiteBlue posting, prohibits the use of government funds — or postal funds — to urge private citizens to communicate with Congress about issues of concern to the Postal Service. As long as postal workers are acting on their own time and are not using postal funds, however, they can speak against and actively oppose facility closures without violating the Anti-Lobbying Act.

A one-page list linked to the LiteBlue posting outlines permissible and prohibited activities under the Anti-Lobbying Act, but neglects to mention that activities listed as “impermissible” are impermissible only if they are done on postal time or using postal funds or facilities. They do not apply to activities conducted off-the-clock and outside postal facilities.

The LiteBlue posting also mentions a prohibition on the disclosure of non-public postal information. Postal employees who have access to non-public information may not reveal it to unauthorized individuals.

Once again, however, this restriction is irrelevant to opposition to postal closures. Our activities rely on non-restricted public information. If the union believes that restricted or non-public information is relevant and necessary, the APWU can officially request access to such information.

Campaigns About Mail Service

Another management document that causes confusion about employees’ rights is Section 667.12 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), which states that postal workers must not “engage in campaigns for or against changes in mail service.” However, the same provision also states that it “must not be construed to infringe upon the rights to participate in labor organizations.”

More than 15 years ago, on June 11, 1996, the Postal Service Vice President for Labor Relations issued instructions to the field confirming the right of postal workers to participate in peaceful informational picketing directed to the public, notwithstanding the language of ELM. Those instructions remain in effect.

There is no question that postal employees have a constitutional right, protected by the First Amendment, to participate in public meetings, make public statements opposing the closure or consolidation of postal facilities, and speak out against the reduction of postal services — because those actions by the Postal Service are matters of public concern.

“I urge our members to circulate petitions, attend meetings, and call and write legislators,” Guffey said. “Do these things on your own time, but do them!”

Postal managers on official time, or using their official authority, may not work for or against our efforts on behalf of the Postal Service. If any postal manager uses his or her official position to attempt to influence your work on these issues, please contact the APWU national office

via Postal Workers Have the Right to Speak Out Against Facility Closures.

From the APWU:

An audit report [PDF] conducted by the Postal Service’s Inspector General’s Office (OIG) on the USPS Health and Safety Program, released Nov. 14, is limited in both scope and depth and is thus of little value in assessing the agency’s overall efforts to promote a safe workplace, the union has determined.

“The report should not be viewed as a comprehensive audit of the Postal Service’s safety program but rather as an unfocused snap shot of the Postal Service’s application of a piece of its safety program,” said APWU Safety and Health Specialist Corey Thompson.

“Based on the identification of numerous hazards and problems found by study, in such a small sampling of the overall USPS safety program the report can only be viewed as evidence that many more unsafe conditions would be discovered by the OIG if it were to perform a more comprehensive audit,” he added.

Thompson also noted the OIG did not consult national union officials for their views and expertise, and it overlooked a broad range of electrical and automation related hazards at USPS facilities.

via OIG Issues Report on USPS Health and Safety Program.

From the APWU:

The APWU is warning union members of risks associated with a management campaign to encourage career Clerk, Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Craft employees to volunteer for reassignments to the Letter Carrier Craft.

“Transferring to another craft is an important decision. I encourage union members to think long and hard before they make such a major change. And I urge employees to be aware of the risks as well as the benefits when management promotes the transfers as a great opportunity.”

— Cliff Guffey, President

In a letter dated Jan. 3, management notified the union that it will mail a letter to all career employees in the three APWU-represented crafts (and employees in the Mail Handler Craft) touting the benefits of voluntary reassignments to the Letter Carrier Craft.

But there are disadvantages to the voluntary reassignments — which management is not divulging to employees.

Seniority:

When employees transfer voluntarily to another craft, they begin a new period of seniority.

Limits on Excessing:

The APWU negotiated strict limits on excessing during bargaining over the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement. As a result, employees in crafts represented by the APWU cannot be excessed beyond 50 miles.

Our brothers and sisters in the National Association of Letter Carriers are currently bargaining with the Postal Service over the terms of their contract, but, as of now, the USPS is not bound by these limits for employees in the Letter Carrier Craft.

Protection Against Layoffs:

The 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the APWU and the USPS includes a Memorandum of Understanding that grants protection against layoffs to all regular workforce employees that were on the rolls as of Nov. 20, 2010. Our brothers and sisters in the Letter Carrier Craft do not currently enjoy this coverage; their protection against layoffs applies to Letter Carrier Craft employees who have accrued six years of “continuous service.”

The APWU asserts that once employees obtain protection against layoffs, they retain it. However, the USPS disagrees with the union’s position and contends that once employees transfer from a craft represented by the APWU to a craft represented by another union, they lose the protection against layoffs granted by the Memorandum of Understanding.

According to the Postal Service’s reasoning, employees with less than six years of continuous service who transfer to the Letter Carrier Craft could be subject to layoffs. The APWU has a pending national-level dispute challenging management’s interpretation. However, until the dispute is resolved, employees who voluntarily transfer (or are involuntarily reassigned by management) may be in jeopardy.

The loss of seniority and the potential for excessing and layoffs are not abstractions, the union points out. The Postal Service is planning workforce changes with the goal of eliminating tens of thousands of Letter Carrier positions.

“Transferring to another craft is an important decision,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey. “I encourage union members to think long and hard before they make such a major change. And I urge employees to be aware of the risks as well as the benefits when management promotes the transfers as a great opportunity.”

APWU Craft transfer risks

via APWU Warns Members: Beware of Risks in USPS Campaign for Voluntary Transfers to Letter Carrier.

(12/16/11) After several months of discussion with the APWU, postal management has agreed to eliminate the use of “dually appointed” Rural Carrier Associates and Postal Support Employees (PSEs). In accordance with a letter dated Dec. 7 [PDF], the dual appointments will end no later than Jan. 13, 2012.

As a result, there are now no circumstances under which a Rural Letter Carrier or Rural Carrier Associate may be permitted to perform APWU bargaining unit work. Light mail volume would not justify it, nor would heavy mail volume or an emergency. RCAs are simply prohibited from performing Clerk Craft duties.

Eliminating the dual appointments, which were prevalent in small offices, will protect Clerk Craft work for APWU members.

via ‘Dual Appointments’ to End in January.

An arbitration hearing began on Dec. 13, 2011, on the first two of several disputes that arose when management incorrectly implemented new provisions of the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The disputes involve the placement of newly converted full-time employees into non-traditional schedules, and the denial of retreats rights to Clerk Craft employees on posted Non-Traditional Full-Time (NTFT) duty assignments in their former installations.

The contract, which was ratified by union members in May, required the Postal Service to convert to full time all Clerk Craft part-time flexibles in Level 21-and-above offices and all part-time regulars, regardless of the size of their office. It also required management to convert all part-time flexibles and part-time regulars in the Motor Vehicle Craft, effective Aug. 27, 2011.

In accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the newly converted regulars should have been placed in residual vacancies or given schedules of five 8-hour days. Instead, management placed most of the employees into newly-created NTFT assignments, many of them with just 30 hours of work per week. This was improper, because the NTFT positions had not been posted for bid, so they were not residual vacancies. Residual vacancies are positions that remain vacant after the completion of a voluntary bidding cycle.

The union is asking the arbitrator to correct the contract violations by making all affected employees “whole” and instructing management to assign affected unencumbered/unassigned workers to schedules of five 8-hour days. We will report on the arbitrator’s decision as soon as we receive it.

via USPS Announces Moratorium on Post Office, Plant Closures; Arbitration Hearing Begins on Schedule of New Full-Timers.

Greg Bell
APWU Executive Vice President

(This article was first published in the November/December 2011 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

Postal workers are under constant attack by the forces of privatization. Unfortunately, this group includes the Postmaster General, members of the Board of Governors, some members of Congress and others.

Privatization is a clear and present danger — facility by facility, operation by operation, and job by job.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the Postmaster General for the recognition that he has earned — as an advocate of privatization of postal services.

Like so many postal workers, I am outraged that the PMG submitted legislative proposals to Congress in August that would abrogate our contract — less than four months after he signed it.

The Postal Service’s proposals seek to eliminate our protection against layoffs, and were accompanied by the announcement that the USPS planned to reduce the workforce by 220,000, and would need to lay off approximately 120,000 workers to reach that goal. The PMG also proposed to remove postal workers from the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program and federal retirement programs – which would provide a major pathway toward privatization of the Postal Service.

Yet earlier this year, the Postal Service, postal unions and management associations all recognized that we should focus our efforts on legislation that would allow the Postal Service to apply billions of dollars in pension overpayments to the congressional mandate that requires the USPS to prefund 75 years of healthcare benefits for future retirees in a 10-year period.

So what happened?

Issa’s Bill

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is what happened.

In June 2011, Rep. Issa introduced a bill (H.R 2309) that constitutes an irresponsible attack on postal workers and the Postal Service. The bill was designed to drastically reduce service to the American people by establishing a commission that would order billions of dollars worth of post office closures and facility closures within two years. This bill would enhance further contracting out of mail processing and retail services to the private sector.

The bill also would create a “solvency authority” with the power to unilaterally modify collective bargaining agreements any time the USPS defaults on “any obligation to the federal government for more than 30 days.” In addition, the board would be empowered to cut wages, abolish benefits, and end our protection against layoffs.

Furthermore, at the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreements, it would increase employees’ costs for healthcare coverage and life insurance; eliminate the right to bargain over these benefits, and allow the USPS to end Saturday delivery.
Downhill on Issa’s Bandwagon

So what about the Postmaster General? Somewhere along the road, it appears he made a right turn — downhill on Issa’ bandwagon.

The PMG’s treacherous actions against postal workers and their unions didn’t end with the proposals announced in August.

On Sept. 21, a House subcommittee approved Rep. Issa’s Postal “Destruction” Act, and on Oct. 13, the full Committee on Oversight and Government Reform passed the bill. Before each vote, Rep. Issa amended the bill to include additional provisions that are even more outrageous than those contained in the original legislation.

Unfortunately, the PMG’s fingerprints are all over the bill — which is designed to restrict collective bargaining and dismantle the United States Postal Service so that it will be ripe for privatization.

In addition to establishing a control board to carry out layoffs, the amended bill would prohibit the union and the Postal Service from negotiating protections against layoffs in the future.

The bill also would negatively affect workers who are injured on duty. It includes a provision that would cut the monthly compensation of totally disabled employees from 66.66 percent to 50 percent once they meet the age and service requirements for retirement. It also would force disabled employees to retire as soon as they are eligible.

Our Work

We have our work cut out for us. We must ensure that Congress rejects H.R. 2309.

Despite the PMG’s treachery, we must focus our efforts on saving America’s Postal Service. The first order of business is getting Congress to correct the requirement to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees, which forces the USPS to fund a 75-year liability in a period of just 10 years. The USPS must be allowed to use the billions of dollars in pension overpayments to meet its financial obligations.

Massive job cuts, reductions in service, extensive closures of post offices and mail processing facilities, and tampering with collective bargaining are unnecessary and unjustified.

Click here for news about the Sept. 27, 2011 Save America’s Postal Service rallies. Watch Fighting For Our Lives on YouTube

Sept. 27 Rallies

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the rallies on Sept. 27 to Save America’s Postal Service, especially those officers, stewards and activists who worked so hard on such short notice to organize the events. There were close to 500 rallies on the same day — at least one in nearly every congressional district in the country.

This is the first time that the four unions, the APWU, the National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union and National Rural Letter Carriers Association, joined together for a common cause. If we are to be successful, it cannot be the last. Even the National Association of Postal Supervisors went on record in support of the rallies.

Thanks to your efforts, more than 220 U.S. representatives are co-sponsoring H.R. 1351, the bill introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) that would allow the USPS to use pension fund overpayments to offset future retiree health care fund liabilities. Unfortunately, having a majority of representatives co-sponsor a bill is not a guarantee that it will pass – or even come up for a vote.

We are fighting for our lives, against those who would destroy us. It is crucial that APWU members stay active and participate.

From the American Postal Workers Union:

The Collective Bargaining Agreement obligates the Postal Service to make “every effort” to create desirable duty assignments from “all available work hours for career employees” when management posts full-time Clerk Craft assignments for bid, Clerk Craft Director Rob Strunk is reminding union members.

“‘Every effort’ means just that,” he noted. “A local manager cannot be excused from the requirement to post desirable schedules simply because his boss or someone at the District level insists that all Non-Traditional Full-Time (NTFT) duty assignments must be established with 35 hours per week or less,” he said.

“All available work hours” also means just what it says, Strunk notes: All work hours – including overtime, hours worked by Postal Support Employees (PSEs), hours worked by part-time flexibles from other offices, and cross-craft hours — must be considered when management creates new NTFT assignments. The contractual language clearly requires management to consider “all available work hours,” not “earned hours,” which are generated by management computer models.

But what are “desirable duty assignments?” It is easy to surmise that an assignment with five 8-hour days and weekends off is more desirable than five 6-hour days with split days off. But are four 10-hour days more desirable than five 8-hour days?

Ultimately, the question of desirability will be answered by members of the Clerk Craft. Each time employees choose to bid — whether by computer, telephone, or through the manual bid box — they are telling management and the union what they consider “desirable duty assignments.”

New York City, November 15, 2011 – The Executive Board of the New York Metro Area Postal Union, APWU, AFL-CIO unanimously passed a resolution in support of Occupy Wall Street and to condemn the eviction of the 99% from Zuccotti Park (Liberty Square). The union, which is the largest local in the American Postal Workers Union, believes that it is imperative that everyone take a stand in support of Occupy Wall Street and the right of the 99% to exercise its constitutionally protected right to free speech and the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The New York Metro Area Postal Union sees that Occupy Wall Street has been a beacon in the struggle that all working people are facing in the unrelenting attacks from Wall Street and, therefore, Occupy Wall Street must be defended.

Postal workers and the public that we serve are fighting to Save America’s Postal Service and prevent the closing of thousands of post offices and hundreds of mail processing facilities which will impact tremendously on the people who depend upon the Postal Service the most, the elderly, the disabled, the poor and small business owners. This is just one struggle in a myriad of attacks on working people that Occupy Wall Street has been able to bring into focus so everyone can see. An injury to one is an injury to all.

Occupy Wall Street is the vanguard of the movement of people who are seeking justice and accountability, it is more than just one physical space; it is an idea that can’t be stopped.

We are the 99%.