THE BULLETIN BOARD
March 2010
[March 2nd]APWU Wins Important Maintenance Subcontracting Grievance
excerpted from APWU Web News Article 016-2010
The union won a major victory against subcontracting Feb. 10, when Arbitrator Shyam Das directed the USPS to assign Maintenance Craft employees to maintain computers at approximately 8,000 of the nation's largest associate offices. The arbitrator also instructed management and the union to discuss the possibility of assigning additional computer maintenance work at AOs to the Maintenance Craft.
The dispute arose more than a decade ago, when the APWU challenged the Postal Service's decision to subcontract installation and maintenance of an Associate Office Infrastructure (AOI). Management notified the union in 1996 of plans to subcontract the work, which it said consisted of site surveys, installation of wiring, hardware, and telecommunication equipment, as well as acceptance and testing of the apparatus.
The union filed a Step 4 Interpretive Dispute asserting that the work in question was bargaining unit work and protesting the decision to assign it to private contractors. The Postal Service rejected the union's position, writing that the work it subcontracted "is not work that has ever been within the jurisdiction of the bargaining unit," and asserting that the USPS had no obligation to notify the APWU of its plans.
In his ruling, Arbitrator Shyam Das concluded that the program "obviously involved a considerable amount of work," including replacing modems, T-1 lines and other telephone wiring that had been maintained, and, at least to some extent, installed by maintenance craft employees. "Under these circumstances, I find that the Postal Service was obliged to meet and discuss the matter with the Union" consistent with Article 32.1.B of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, he wrote.
Read the entire article here.
[March 1st]No COLA in March
from APWU Web News Article 014-2010
In January, the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) rose to 633.176, well below the July 2008 index of 644.303 upon which the last COLA increase was based. The CPI-W must rise above 644.303 before another COLA would be due. After the final month of the six-month measuring period, the seventh COLA under the 2006 National Agreement and the Operating Services Agreement which would have been effective March 13, 2010 (pay period 07-10, pay date April 2, 2010), will be zero.
The next COLA will be based on the July 2010 Consumer Price Index-W.
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