2. 1
American Postal Workers Union
A Case Study
Submitted To: Dr. Muhammad Imran Hanif
Submitted By: Shabnum Naz
MBH-12-36
MBA (HRM)
7th
Semester
Date: 29-10-15
3. 2
American Postal Workers Union
A Case Study
About APWU:
The APWU was founded on July 1, 1971, the result of a merger of five postal unions.
The two largest unions involved in the merger were the United Federation of Postal
Clerks, which represented those who "worked the windows" at post offices and those
who sorted and processed mail behind the scenes, and the National Postal Union,
which claimed members in each craft. Both traced their origins to the National
Federation of Postal Clerks, which was created in Chicago in 1906. Two smaller
unions involved in the merger were the National Association of Post Office and
General Service Maintenance Employees, which represented those who serviced and
repaired machines located in postal facilities, and who cleaned and maintained the
facilities; and the National Federation of Motor Vehicle Employees, which
represented workers who drove, repaired, and serviced postal vehicles. The smallest
union in the merger was the National Association of Special Delivery Messengers.
All these workers are now covered by a single contract negotiated by representatives
of all the crafts within the single labor organization, the American Postal Workers
Union.
Four months before the Postal Reorganization Act was signed into law, U.S. Post
Office Department management and postal unions announced a joint agreement on
a reorganization plan. When the PRA became law on Aug. 12, 1970, it created the
United States Postal Service, which on Jan. 20, 1971, participated in the first
collective bargaining session with seven postal unions, including five that were soon
to merge into the APWU. Exactly six months later, on July 20, 1971, a two-year
contract was signed by the new USPS and the APWU unions, along with the
National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), the National Rural Letter Carriers
Association (NRLCA), and the National Postal Mail-Handlers Union (NPMHU). In
1973, 1975, and 1978, the APWU, NALC, NPMHU, and NRLCA bargained jointly
as they had in 1971. In 1981, however, the APWU and NALC formed the Joint
Bargaining Committee (JBC) and negotiated together. The JBC negotiated three-
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year contracts with the USPS in 1981, 1984, and 1987, and a four-year agreement in
1990. Since 1994, the APWU has bargained on its own. Successive agreements ran
from 1994-1998, 1998-2000, and 2000-2003. In December 2002, the APWU
membership voted to extend the 2000 agreement by two years, until Nov. 20, 2005.
In August 2005, APWU members ratified a one-year contract extension. In late
2006, the union reached an agreement with the Postal Service for a four-year
contract, which was ratified overwhelmingly APWU members on Jan. 12, 2007. On
May 11, 2011 approved a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The contract will
expire May 20, 2015.
Background Study:
The American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO, represents more than 200,000
employees of the U.S. Postal Service who are clerks, maintenance employees, and
motor vehicle service workers. Postal unions, in 19th Century, have experienced a
number of transitions, paralleling the growth of the former Post Office Department,
which became the U.S. Postal Service in 1970. Upon the creation of the USPS, postal
unions were allowed to bargain collectively over wages and conditions for the first
time. The early unions had essentially no bargaining rights. They existed largely as
promoting organizations that otherwise would have had no say about their working
conditions. Wage increases depended on the impulse of Congress. As a result, postal
workers were chronically underpaid. In March 1970, full-time employees earned
about $6,200 to start, and workers with 21 years of service averaged only $8,440 —
barely enough to make ends meet at that time. In fact, many postal workers qualified
for food stamps. The periodic raises they did receive never seemed to amount to
much, particularly in high-cost urban areas. From 1967 to 1969, postal wages were
not increased at all, although Congress did raise its own pay 41 percent during that
time. In 1968, the Kappel Commission, a special panel that had been studying postal
reform during President Johnson's administration, concluded that postal workers
deserved the same collective bargaining rights afforded to private-sector workers
under the National Labor Relations Act. Congress failed to act on the commission's
recommendation.
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Unions:
Our union is a democratic organization comprised of dues-paying members
who belong to more than 900 state and local unions and retiree chapters in
every state and territory. APWU officers are directly elected by union
members.
The union's state and local affiliates are autonomous organizations that rely
on the national union to represent their interests in contract negotiations and
in national-level grievances.
The union negotiates a national Collective Bargaining Agreement and fights
for our members' interests on Capitol Hill.
The APWU also has many Retiree and Auxiliary chapters so that former
postal workers and postal families can remain active in union affairs.
Departments & Divisions:
There are three main Executive Officers in APWU:
1. President
2. Vice President
3. Secretary Treasure
Departments are:
Industrial Relations
Legislative & Political
Organization
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Research & Education
Human Relations
Health Plan
Retirees
There are four major Divisions:
1. Clerk Division
2. Maintenance Division
3. MVS Division
4. Support Services Division
Issues and Union strikes & Negotiations:
1. The Great Postal Strike of 1970:
This is the first strike that is held in 1970. The workers have low wage rate, no fringe
benefits and they have also health & safety issues. On March 18, 1970, thousands of
New York City postal workers walked off the job in protest. The strike was
continued for 7 days. The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which allowed unions
the right to negotiate with management over their wages, benefits and working
conditions.
The strike was soon settled, with Congress approving a 6 percent wage increase,
backdated to the previous December. In lieu of the right to strike, a mandatory
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negotiation process was established for resolving contract disputes. The law granted
postal workers an additional 8 percent raise and enabled them to advance more
quickly to higher-paying positions. In the first contract, a starting postal worker's
salary was raised to $8,488. Since that first contract more than four decades ago,
APWU has fought for dignity and respect on the job for the workers we represent,
as well as for decent pay and benefits and safe working conditions. And as part of
the AFL-CIO, the APWU fights for social and economic justice for all working
families.
2. A Safe Workplace Must Be the Right of Every Worker!
Last year, more than 36,000 postal workers were injured or sickened at work.
At least 10 suffered loss of life.
Here’s the simple truth: If we want a safe workplace, we have to work together
to make it happen.
Please join this important effort. A safe workplace must be the right of every
worker!
Workers at the Bronx GPO and their union officers got their first feeling that there
was a problem after the facility’s air conditioning unit tested positive for the bacteria
that causes Legionnaires’ disease. Management didn’t bother to notify them until
Aug. 9, the day after the information was reported in the New York Daily News. The
test had been performed on Aug. 6, without any notice to workers or the APWU.
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Fortunately, no postal workers died as a result of the Legionnaires’ outbreak, which
caused 12 deaths in New York City over the summer. The outbreak was linked to
five infected cooling systems in the South Bronx. Legionnaires’ bacteria was also
found at the London, KY, post office, said Industrial Relations Director Tony D.
McKinnon Sr. This indicates that safety is a problem in all offices, large and small.
“This is a risk that management did not have the right to take with the employees’
safety and health,” said New York Metro Area Local President Jonathan Smith.
“Management’s unacceptable handling of the Legionnaires’ incident highlights the
importance of our Safety and Health campaign,” said President Mark Dimondstein.
Declaring that “there are far too many serious safety problems at post offices and
facilities,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein and Industrial Relations Director
Tony D. McKinnon Sr. are calling on union members across the country to launch a
Safety Awareness and Enforcement Campaign in mid-October. The performance of
the workers was decreased due to the issues regarding health & safety.
The Aug. 28 letter called on local unions, state organizations and Contract Action
Teams (CATs) to enhance safety education among union members and take the
necessary steps to ensure that unhealthy and unsafe conditions are corrected.
Highlights of the campaign will include:
Reinforcing an understanding of contractual safety rights
Mobilizing union members to correct safety issues
Using PS Form 1767 to report and document safety hazards
Calling for OSHA investigations to curtail unsafe conditions
Building safety committees
Winning results from Labor-Management safety meetings.
“The Industrial Relations Department is leading this work but it is work that can
only succeed if all of our local and state organizations are fully engaged and we
empower the members to take up the fight for safety,” Dimondstein and McKinnon
wrote. “A safe workplace must be the right of every worker!”
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3. Stop Staples!
U.S. Postal Service sale to the Staples. U.S. Postal service is government based and
Staples is private company. The American Postal Workers Union, whose members
have average pay of just under $25 an hour. The union represents 200,000 postal
workers, or roughly half the total. The postal service is seeking a way out of a
deepening financial crisis as more people use email and pay bills online. The agency
had an operating loss of $5 billion for the year ended Sept. 30, with $61 billion in
liabilities, including for retiree health benefits, compared with about $20 billion in
assets. Between 2007 and 2013, total mail volume in the U.S. fell 25%. Still, online
shopping has advanced its package business, which rose 8% last year.
The APWU is fighting a private deal between the U.S. Postal Service and Staples
that risks mail service and local post offices along with thousands of living-wage
jobs. The Postal Service and Staples launched a no-bid, trial program in the fall of
2013 that established postal counters in 82 of the office-supply stores, which they
planned to expand to locations across the country. The knock-off post offices were
staffed with low-wage, poorly-trained Staples employees rather than USPS
employees.
The APWU objected to the program, asserting that the American people have a right
to post offices staffed by highly-trained, uniformed Postal Service employees, who
are confirmed to safeguard the mail and who are accountable to the people. The
union offered to participate in the trial program if the postal counters in Staples stores
were staffed with USPS employees, but postal managers and Staples rejected the
idea. They also refused to provide the union with information about the deal.
After months of avoiding by the USPS and Staples, in April 2014, the APWU
launched a ‘Don’t Buy Staples’ campaign, which was endorsed by the AFL-CIO,
the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association,
AFSCME, SEIU, and many other labor organizations.
In an effort to spoil the ‘Don’t Buy Staples’ movement, in July 2014 the USPS and
Staples announced they were ending the trial program, but replacing it with another
program that was essentially the same. Soon after, they announced the “new”
program would be expanded to all of Staples’ 1,500 U.S. stores.
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The Staples program is bad for postal customers, who receive less-than top-notch
service, and whose letters and packages are unprotected while they sit in Staples
stores awaiting pick-up by USPS employees. It threatens the Postal Service as we
know it, as postal management closes neighborhood post offices and shortens
operating hours. The deal also replaces living-wage jobs that our communities
depend on with low-wage jobs that hurt our economy.
The APWU is continuing to fight the shady Staples deal with ongoing protests at
Staples stores in numerous cities and by telling supporters: 'Don't Buy Staples.'
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Contract Campaign / Negotiations 2015:
'Stop Staples!'
Sign a Postcard: 'I Stand with Postal Workers'
The American Postal Workers Union has launched a postcard campaign to mobilize
support for postal workers during the final stretch of contract negotiations. To show
support for postal workers and a vibrant, public Postal Service, please complete the
postcard
APWU members are working to secure signatures on postcards that bear the
message, “I Stand with Postal Workers,” which will be mailed to Postmaster General
Megan Brennan. I Stand with Postal Workers in the fight to keep post offices open
and expand hours, for shorter wait time in line, rapid mail delivery, and enhanced
services, such as postal banking. Good service is crucial to maintaining a energetic,
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public Postal Service that connects residents and businesses in all areas and provides
living-wage jobs that strengthen our communities!
"I urge every APWU member to sign a postcard, ask your family, friends and
neighbors to sign a postcard as well, and mail them or return them to your local union
officers," said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “Let’s turn up the heat and show
the Postmaster General that the people stand with us!” On Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015.
Young people representing over 20 locals assembled during the All-Craft
Conference decide in Meeting by President Mark.
Stop Staple:
The Boycott is Still On!
When the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) voted to join the ‘Don’t Buy
Staples’ movement on July 12, it struck fear into the hearts of Staples bosses and
USPS management. So much so that just two days later Staples and the USPS
resorted to dishonesty to try to spoil the boycott. They announced they are
terminating the no-bid deal and replacing it with an “approved shipper” program.
The problem is that “Staples and the USPS are changing the name of the program,
without addressing the fundamental concerns of postal workers and postal
customers.
Even the Postal Service has publicly acknowledged that the “new” program they are
substituting it with is the same as the old Staples program. The chain will still offer
the same postal service products and services, but will be free to charge higher rates
and offer the services of competing shippers, such as FedEx or UPS.” In These
Times: Also, In fact, USPS spokesperson Darleen Reid confirms to In These
Times that “the Staples program, as it moves to the Approved Shipper program, will
be offering the same exact suite of services that it offered before.”
This attempt at trickery shows that the ‘Don’t Buy Staples’ movement is having an
effect. We intend to keep up the pressure until Staples gets out of the mail business.
The U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale.
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The need for future leaders to learn about labor history especially the roots of the
postal labor movement was emphasized, so young workers can prepare themselves
to face today’s struggles and avoid the trap of satisfaction. Participants were urged
to educate, shake and organize in the fight to save good jobs and preserve a vibrant
public Postal Service in the Age of Technology.
