April 9, 2013
By Neal Tepel
The American Postal Workers Union won a major arbitration victory on March 29, when the Arbitrator issued a long-awaited decision that will affect Clerk Craft jobs in small post offices across the country. The ruling settles a long-simmering dispute about the amount of bargaining unit work postmasters and supervisors may perform in Level 18-and-below offices.
“This decision will mean more hours for the clerks who work in small offices and more Clerk Craft jobs,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.
The arbitrator upheld the union’s position that an agreement between the union and management hadd set absolute limits on the number of hours postmasters may perform bargaining unit work (BUW) in small offices. A “Global Settlement” that was included in the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement, says postmasters may perform up to 15 hours of bargaining unit work in Level 18 post offices and up to 25 hours in Level 15 and Level 16 offices.
During the 2015 bargaining session the postal service (USPS) had agreed that, “All time the supervisor or postmaster spends staffing the window during the day will be counted towards the permissible bargaining unit work (BUW) limits.”
