BILL BURRUS UPDATE August 9, 2000 Following is an update on pending important issues at the national level. This update is intended to keep local presidents informed of activities within the union. * MAIL PROCESSOR UPGRADE A clarification of the Fargo award was issued by arbitrator Mittenthal on July 12, 2000 setting forth the eligibility criteria to be applied in the upgrading of Mail Processors from Grade 4 to Grade 5. Arbitrator Mittenthal ruled that the following duties justify the re-identification of eligible employees: 1. Verification (not merely riffling) 2. Responsible for prescribed dispatch schedules 3. Verification or dispatch responsibility as a regular part of the duty assignment are sufficient for re-identification Consistent with the agreement to refer the parties disputes over the Fargo award, the parties are now negotiating the drafting of a joint memorandum to be issued to the field to be applied to all pending grievances. The clerk craft officers are presently in discussions with postal management on the development of the memorandum. * PRIORITY MAIL It has been decided to return the processing of priority mail to postal employees. The timing of the transition will be determined by the current discussions between USPS and Emery attorneys on the termination of the Emery contract. By the terms of the contract, if the USPS terminates the contract prior to its expiration date they must assume significant termination cost. These discussions have been ongoing for the past month and not being a part of the discussions I am not in a position to estimate a date of finalization. Any agreement to terminate this year must be concluded prior to October so that the Xmas mailing season is not affected by the transition. No formal agreement has been reached between APWU and the Postal Service on the contractual provisions governing postal employees when the processing operation is converted. Discussions, including verbal commitments, were held between the union and USPS officials at the stage when decisions were being made whether or not to continue the Emery processing operation. When postal management was satisfied that conversion of the operation to postal would not lead to significant increased cost a decision was made to begin termination discussions. Several draft documents reflecting the verbal commitments have been exchanged and discussions have transpired but a final agreement cannot be reached until the contract with Emery has been terminated. There appears to be several issues that are still in dispute between the union and management that must be resolved prior to a final agreement. I am aware of the postal instructions issued to qualify Emery employees as postal employees. This is a standard procedure when the Postal Service assumes a private operation. Any such contract employees must qualify on the appropriate entrance exams and as a part of any final agreement between the union and USPS I will insist that the document grant priority to jobs in the facilities to employees wishing to transfer. * CASUALS The opening day of arbitration hearing was held on the employers right to use casual employees under the provisions of Article 7. The USPS advocate requested that the arbitrator dismiss the union’s grievance based upon two previous awards by arbitrator Zumas. The arbitrator refused the motion and agreed with the union that the stipulated issue in the Zumas national award was not the issue in the present case and ordered that the hearing on the merits continue. The union presented evidence representing the party’s long-standing agreements on the use of casuals, reflected in Step 4 national decisions and numerous Regional arbitration awards. The union also introduced several national awards that decided that arbitrator’s musings included in awards are not interpretations of the contract and that restricts the use of casuals to unusual circumstances. The next scheduled date of hearing is October 5 and 6 at which time the union will present witnesses and the Postal Service will present its case. It is expected that the hearing will be concluded on October 6. The final decision in this case will decide the proper use of casuals and whether or not their continuous use is in lieu of career employees in violation of the contract. The postal argument is that the only restrictions are the percentage caps. Those areas experiencing high usage of casuals will be greatly affected by the outcome of this award, either being eligible for significant back pay for the improper use of casuals or the sanctioning of casual use up to the contractual percentages. No discussions are underway or under consideration to resolve this issue. The issue will be decided in arbitration. * SEPARATION OF CASUALS The next scheduled date for the dispute over the Postal Services obligation to separate all casuals when excessing career employees is scheduled for September 21, 2000. In the opening day of hearings the Postal Service requested that the arbitrator dismiss the case on procedural grounds. This motion was denied and the case proceeded to arbitration where postal management informed the arbitrator that they agreed with the union that casuals must be separated prior to the excessing of career employees from their craft or installation. Managements next procedural move was to request that the arbitrator be dismissed since the parties no longer have a disagreement. This maneuver also failed and the issue now before the arbitrator is back pay for those employees excessed in violation of the parties joint understanding that casuals must be separated. The hearing on the 21st of September will conclude the arbitration and we will await a final decision on back pay only in that the parties now agree that casuals must be separated. * PAYMENT DATE FOR DOBRANSKI AWARD The payment date for eligible employees will be September 8, 2000. The checks will be issued to the local installations for distribution. Payment will be by separate check. Disputes over the appropriate higher level pay for employees who were not placed in an improper step after promotion must be discussed at the Local or Regional level. They will not be decided and compensated in the payment. Employees who received higher level pay and who were also promoted and placed in an improper step will receive full compensation in the September 8, 2000 payment. * PAY SCALE MODIFICATION Discussions continue on a modification of the slotting process for employees in Steps B and C. It appears that agreement will not be reached prior to the beginning of negotiations and if not the subject will be a major issue in negotiations. I am committed to resolving this issue with back pay for those employees who have already been slotted. * FMLA A national grievance has been initiated protesting the hiring of a medical consultant company to contact an injured employee’s physician. Employees suffering an injury on duty are covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act and the law prohibits the contact with an employee’s physician without the employee’s consent and only for the purpose of clarification. * POLYGRAPH TESTING A national grievance has also been filed on the right of the Postal Service to make written reference to an employee decision to refuse to volunteer to submit to a polygraph test. Postal management has communicated the employee’s decision to OWCP in contested cases of injury compensation. * REDRESS In response to an APWU grievance, management has responded that a union steward is required to “make clear his/her status when representing an employee in the REDRESS program and the settlement form does not provide for the employee’s representative to sign and commit on behalf of the union.” Stewards who serve as representatives in REDRESS should notify the management official whether or not while serving as the employees representative they are also representing the union. * TRANSFERS The automated system for effectuating transfer request is operational. Two mailings have been made to eligible PTF employees and responses received from interested employees. It is anticipated that the Web page will be fully operational by August 15. Information available on the Web page will be: 1. Transfer information including the rules, regulations and tips on transferring. Future plans will include information about real estate, schools and other details about specific locations. 2. Transfer Requests. Employees will be able to complete a general transfer form requesting consideration for transfer to specific districts or general geographical areas.