Nashville APWU Maintenance Craft

Maintenance Craft

____________________________________________

Machine Relocation / Removal Teams

On May 9, 2023, the APWU was notified that the Postal Service intends to develop teams of volunteer maintenance craft employees to perform the removals and/or relocations of mail processing equipment, in conjunction with their 10 Year Plan. Maintenance Division resident officers immediately met with the Postal Service to discuss this project and relay our concerns. While we are pleased that this work will remain in-house, and not be subcontracted, other areas of concern remain.

We learned that the Postal Service intends to solicit volunteers from Electronic Technician (ET), Mail Processing Equipment Mechanic (MPE), and Maintenance Mechanic (MM) employees with the goal of getting individuals to participate on the MPE machine removal/ relocation teams. Participation will be strictly voluntary, and selection will be based on geographical location and training. Volunteers will be expected to work 10 hours a day and six days a week, maximum, and overtime will be paid in accordance with Article 8 of the National Agreement.

The volunteers will first be solicited from those facilities scheduled to have a machine removed and/or relocated by the local facility. If additional volunteers are needed, solicitation will be expanded to other facilities. Maintenance craft employees who are trained on the equipment being removed and/or relocated will be considered before those employees who have not been trained. However, employees not trained on the equipment will be considered if additional volunteers are needed. The removal and/ or relocation of machines is set to begin in August 2023 in Atlanta, GA, followed by Charlotte, NC. It is anticipated that additional sites will be identified where the subject machine’s removal/relocation teams will be utilized. However, those sites have not yet been determined.

The machine removal/relocation teams will consist of at least one MTSC EAS, NST, or MTSC contractor team leader. The number of team members will vary based on local circumstances. Employees selected to be part of the MPE machine removal/relocation teams may be required to travel to other sites as needed based on the removal and/or relocation schedule. It is anticipated that each team will work up to three weeks depending on the machines to be removed and/or relocated. Projects lasting longer than three weeks will require rotation of teams every three weeks.

Maintenance Defines Custodial Staffing in POStPlan Clusters
Web News Article #: 67-2017 [from www.APWU.org]

07/06/2017 - On June 30, Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg issued a national award for Case No. Q10T-4Q-C 15206030 concerning custodial staffing in POStPlan office clusters (a group of postal facilities consisting of at least one Remotely Managed Post Office [RMPO] directly reporting to the postmaster located at the Administrative Post Office [APO]).

Arbitrator Goldberg’s award certified that a POStPlan office cluster, is an installation as defined in Article 38.2.B and the custodial staffing formula outlined in the Maintenance Craft "Subcontracting Cleaning Services" Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) applies. This means the USPS cannot continue to freely subcontract out bargaining unit work in these small offices.

“This MOU requires applying a formula which adds together the gross interior and exterior square feet of all facilities within an installation to determine if the Postal Service can subcontract custodial work,” Maintenance Director Steve Raymer explained. “Locals and state organizations representing POStPlan ‘clusters’ should determine whether the MOU is being complied with. If the result of applying the formula is 1 or greater, then management is prohibited from contracting out the Maintenance Craft’s work.”

Article 38.2.B of the CBA defines an installation as, “a main post office, airport mail center or facility, terminal, bulk mail center, processing and distribution center or facility, Maintenance Support and Repair Facility or any similar organizational unit under the direction of one postal official, together with all stations, branches and other subordinate units.”

“As the Union points out, the POStPlan office structure is almost identical to the main post office - station/branch structure described in Article 38.2.B,” confirmed Arbitrator Goldberg. “Simply switch the names from APO to main post office and from RMPO to station or branch, and the management and operational structure of the POStPlan and non-POStPlan offices are exactly the same.”

If you have questions or concerns, contact your Maintenance National Business Agent for help.

Click here to read the article at www.apwu.org

_________________________________________________________________________________________

USPS Submits Updated List Of New Maintenance Jobs

APWU Web News Article 81-2012, July 12, 2012
The Postal Service has provided the APWU with an updated list of 1,500 post offices where custodial work that had been subcontracted will be returned to the Maintenance Craft, Director Steve Raymer has announced. The return of subcontracted work complies with the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement, Item 1.A, of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Maintenance Jobs.
An earlier list, provided to the union in March, was replete with errors, and included stations, branches and other facilities of larger independent installations. The custodial duties at these facilities will be returned to the Maintenance Craft as well, based on Item 1.B of the Memo, Raymer said.
The March list also included sites where custodial work hadn’t been contracted-out, although the MOU stipulates that a minimum of 1,500 post offices where custodial work was fully subcontracted would be assigned to the Maintenance Craft.
Establish Positions Now
Maintenance Craft officers are urging the Postal Service to immediately assign the work to the craft and to establish custodial duty assignments at the post offices on the list, Raymer said. “This differs from the position we took in March, when we insisted that the USPS had to correct the list. The stalling has to stop,” he added.
Maintenance Craft officers are encouraging locals to identify small offices that may not be on the list and to contact management about combining duties at the small offices with offices on the list to establish full-time duty assignments. “The jobs must be full-time if they are going to provide ‘landing spots’ for any excessed Maintenance or Clerk Craft employees,” Raymer said.
Cross-installation duty assignments can be created under the terms of the MOU. It is possible that the drive-time between installations could be considered a commute and therefore non-compensable, he said. “This is because in offices of this size, the Postal Service may establish 8-hour work days that are completed within 10 hours.”
Under current regulations, an employee can be given a break in service of an hour. In addition, a meal break of a minimum of 30 minutes must be included. “This accounts for 1.5 hours of the possible two hours between shifts, leaving 30 minutes for the employee to ‘commute’ to the next post office,” Raymer said. “This does not apply to stations, just to the cross-installation small office combinations,” he noted.
Please contact your National Business Agent if further guidance is needed.

New List Is Here

___________________________

APWU, USPS Settle Dispute,
Protect Maintenance Work
APWU Web News Article 73-2012, June 8, 2012
The APWU and USPS have reached an agreement that will preserve Maintenance Craft duties for employees in the craft,
Maintenance Director Steve Raymer has announced. The June 8 agreement stipulates that opening of the DBCS-EC machine stacker panel doors to clear jams, etc. should remain the duty of the Maintenance Craft, despite the fact that there is no longer a lock and latch on the rear panel doors.
The agreement was reached as a result of the union’s objections to the Postal Service’s May 22, 2006,
issuance of Maintenance Work Order (MWO) 014-06.
The Step 4 settlement provides that, “This alleged directive is no longer in effect.
” Local grievances held pending the outcome of the dispute are remanded to the grievance-arbitration procedure
for resolution including regional level arbitration if necessary.

______________________________

Maintenance Agreement Protects Staffing
Floor Deduction Dispute Resolved,
Duty Assignments Restored
(5/25/2012) The APWU and the USPS reached a settlement [PDF] on May 25 that will protect staffing, Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer has announced. The agreement prohibits the Postal Service from deducting square footage of floor space, including under mail processing equipment, in developing a Building Inventory. The agreement resolves Case #Q06T-4Q-C 10269698, which was scheduled for arbitration next week.
Management began deducting the square footage as a ploy to reduce staffing.
The agreement requires the Postal Service to inform USPS representatives and to have restored the deducted square feet of floor space within 30 days. The settlement does not permit “new” staffing packages to be created.
“Local management needs policing by local unions to ensure that the only adjustments made are in fact restoration of the square feet of deducted space,” Raymer said. The agreement stipulates that all other entries on the inventory and the frequencies of work remain the same.
Duty Assignments
The settlement also provides that local postal management take immediate action to restore any duty assignments established by the return of the deducted floor space. Such duty assignments must be posted and filled within 60 days of the settlement, which is in accordance with Article 38.4.A of the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The initial vacancies and all following vacancies are to be filled with career employees. The Postal Service may not fill any of these vacancies with PSEs.
All other issues and remedies regarding, for example, posting and filling of other duty assignments; other reasons for challenging the current staffing package; or anything outside of the returning of the deducted floor space; which may be in grievance cases that were held pending the outcome of this case, will be sent back to the field for resolution or arbitration.
______________________________

APWU, USPS Settle Dispute
On Covering Custodial Absences
APWU Web News Article 49-2012, May 1, 2012
The APWU and Postal Service have settled a grievance regarding the proper procedure for covering absences of custodians, Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer has announced. The April 25 agreement stipulates that in offices with multiple custodians, the staff that is present can work additional hours, using additional part-time flexible hours or overtime for full-time regulars.
In offices with just one custodian, the duties may be performed by non-custodial personnel, including mechanics, part-time flexible clerks, part-time carriers, etc. Normally, when the work is to be performed by non-custodial personnel, it will be assigned to available APWU-represented employees.
The settlement is here
_________________________________

Maintenance Stewards NASHVILLE P&DC Tour 1 - Kevin Dudenbostel Tour 2 - Cord Fletcher Tour 3 - Jason Purcell MUSIC CITY ANNEX Tour 1 - Juan Soler Tour 2 - Chris Toney Tour 3 - Chris Toney City Stations All Tours - Cord Fletcher Alternatives for all sections Cord Fletcher, Maintenance Craft Director Juan Soler, Assistant Maintenance Craft Director	Maintenance Craft ____________________________________________ Machine Relocation / Removal Teams On May 9, 2023, the APWU was notified that the Postal Service intends to develop teams of volunteer maintenance craft employees to perform the removals and/or relocations of mail processing equipment, in conjunction with their 10 Year Plan. Maintenance Division resident officers immediately met with the Postal Service to discuss this project and relay our concerns. While we are pleased that this work will remain in-house, and not be subcontracted, other areas of concern remain. We learned that the Postal Service intends to solicit volunteers from Electronic Technician (ET), Mail Processing Equipment Mechanic (MPE), and Maintenance Mechanic (MM) employees with the goal of getting individuals to participate on the MPE machine removal/ relocation teams. Participation will be strictly voluntary, and selection will be based on geographical location and training. Volunteers will be expected to work 10 hours a day and six days a week, maximum, and overtime will be paid in accordance with Article 8 of the National Agreement. The volunteers will first be solicited from those facilities scheduled to have a machine removed and/or relocated by the local facility. If additional volunteers are needed, solicitation will be expanded to other facilities. Maintenance craft employees who are trained on the equipment being removed and/or relocated will be considered before those employees who have not been trained. However, employees not trained on the equipment will be considered if additional volunteers are needed. The removal and/ or relocation of machines is set to begin in August 2023 in Atlanta, GA, followed by Charlotte, NC. It is anticipated that additional sites will be identified where the subject machine’s removal/relocation teams will be utilized. However, those sites have not yet been determined. The machine removal/relocation teams will consist of at least one MTSC EAS, NST, or MTSC contractor team leader. The number of team members will vary based on local circumstances. Employees selected to be part of the MPE machine removal/relocation teams may be required to travel to other sites as needed based on the removal and/or relocation schedule. It is anticipated that each team will work up to three weeks depending on the machines to be removed and/or relocated. Projects lasting longer than three weeks will require rotation of teams every three weeks. Maintenance Defines Custodial Staffing in POStPlan Clusters Web News Article #: 67-2017 [from www.APWU.org] 07/06/2017 - On June 30, Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg issued a national award for Case No. Q10T-4Q-C 15206030 concerning custodial staffing in POStPlan office clusters (a group of postal facilities consisting of at least one Remotely Managed Post Office [RMPO] directly reporting to the postmaster located at the Administrative Post Office [APO]). Arbitrator Goldberg’s award certified that a POStPlan office cluster, is an installation as defined in Article 38.2.B and the custodial staffing formula outlined in the Maintenance Craft "Subcontracting Cleaning Services" Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) applies. This means the USPS cannot continue to freely subcontract out bargaining unit work in these small offices. “This MOU requires applying a formula which adds together the gross interior and exterior square feet of all facilities within an installation to determine if the Postal Service can subcontract custodial work,” Maintenance Director Steve Raymer explained. “Locals and state organizations representing POStPlan ‘clusters’ should determine whether the MOU is being complied with. If the result of applying the formula is 1 or greater, then management is prohibited from contracting out the Maintenance Craft’s work.” Article 38.2.B of the CBA defines an installation as, “a main post office, airport mail center or facility, terminal, bulk mail center, processing and distribution center or facility, Maintenance Support and Repair Facility or any similar organizational unit under the direction of one postal official, together with all stations, branches and other subordinate units.” “As the Union points out, the POStPlan office structure is almost identical to the main post office - station/branch structure described in Article 38.2.B,” confirmed Arbitrator Goldberg. “Simply switch the names from APO to main post office and from RMPO to station or branch, and the management and operational structure of the POStPlan and non-POStPlan offices are exactly the same.” If you have questions or concerns, contact your Maintenance National Business Agent for help. Click here to read the article at www.apwu.org _________________________________________________________________________________________ USPS Submits Updated List Of New Maintenance Jobs APWU Web News Article 81-2012, July 12, 2012 The Postal Service has provided the APWU with an updated list of 1,500 post offices where custodial work that had been subcontracted will be returned to the Maintenance Craft, Director Steve Raymer has announced. The return of subcontracted work complies with the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement, Item 1.A, of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Maintenance Jobs. An earlier list, provided to the union in March, was replete with errors, and included stations, branches and other facilities of larger independent installations. The custodial duties at these facilities will be returned to the Maintenance Craft as well, based on Item 1.B of the Memo, Raymer said. The March list also included sites where custodial work hadn’t been contracted-out, although the MOU stipulates that a minimum of 1,500 post offices where custodial work was fully subcontracted would be assigned to the Maintenance Craft. Establish Positions Now Maintenance Craft officers are urging the Postal Service to immediately assign the work to the craft and to establish custodial duty assignments at the post offices on the list, Raymer said. “This differs from the position we took in March, when we insisted that the USPS had to correct the list. The stalling has to stop,” he added. Maintenance Craft officers are encouraging locals to identify small offices that may not be on the list and to contact management about combining duties at the small offices with offices on the list to establish full-time duty assignments. “The jobs must be full-time if they are going to provide ‘landing spots’ for any excessed Maintenance or Clerk Craft employees,” Raymer said. Cross-installation duty assignments can be created under the terms of the MOU. It is possible that the drive-time between installations could be considered a commute and therefore non-compensable, he said. “This is because in offices of this size, the Postal Service may establish 8-hour work days that are completed within 10 hours.” Under current regulations, an employee can be given a break in service of an hour. In addition, a meal break of a minimum of 30 minutes must be included. “This accounts for 1.5 hours of the possible two hours between shifts, leaving 30 minutes for the employee to ‘commute’ to the next post office,” Raymer said. “This does not apply to stations, just to the cross-installation small office combinations,” he noted. Please contact your National Business Agent if further guidance is needed. New List Is Here ___________________________ APWU, USPS Settle Dispute, Protect Maintenance Work APWU Web News Article 73-2012, June 8, 2012 The APWU and USPS have reached an agreement that will preserve Maintenance Craft duties for employees in the craft, Maintenance Director Steve Raymer has announced. The June 8 agreement stipulates that opening of the DBCS-EC machine stacker panel doors to clear jams, etc. should remain the duty of the Maintenance Craft, despite the fact that there is no longer a lock and latch on the rear panel doors. The agreement was reached as a result of the union’s objections to the Postal Service’s May 22, 2006, issuance of Maintenance Work Order (MWO) 014-06. The Step 4 settlement provides that, “This alleged directive is no longer in effect. ” Local grievances held pending the outcome of the dispute are remanded to the grievance-arbitration procedure for resolution including regional level arbitration if necessary. ______________________________ Maintenance Agreement Protects Staffing Floor Deduction Dispute Resolved, Duty Assignments Restored (5/25/2012) The APWU and the USPS reached a settlement [PDF] on May 25 that will protect staffing, Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer has announced. The agreement prohibits the Postal Service from deducting square footage of floor space, including under mail processing equipment, in developing a Building Inventory. The agreement resolves Case #Q06T-4Q-C 10269698, which was scheduled for arbitration next week. Management began deducting the square footage as a ploy to reduce staffing. The agreement requires the Postal Service to inform USPS representatives and to have restored the deducted square feet of floor space within 30 days. The settlement does not permit “new” staffing packages to be created. “Local management needs policing by local unions to ensure that the only adjustments made are in fact restoration of the square feet of deducted space,” Raymer said. The agreement stipulates that all other entries on the inventory and the frequencies of work remain the same. Duty Assignments The settlement also provides that local postal management take immediate action to restore any duty assignments established by the return of the deducted floor space. Such duty assignments must be posted and filled within 60 days of the settlement, which is in accordance with Article 38.4.A of the 2010-2015 Collective Bargaining Agreement. The initial vacancies and all following vacancies are to be filled with career employees. The Postal Service may not fill any of these vacancies with PSEs. All other issues and remedies regarding, for example, posting and filling of other duty assignments; other reasons for challenging the current staffing package; or anything outside of the returning of the deducted floor space; which may be in grievance cases that were held pending the outcome of this case, will be sent back to the field for resolution or arbitration. ______________________________ APWU, USPS Settle Dispute On Covering Custodial Absences APWU Web News Article 49-2012, May 1, 2012 The APWU and Postal Service have settled a grievance regarding the proper procedure for covering absences of custodians, Maintenance Craft Director Steve Raymer has announced. The April 25 agreement stipulates that in offices with multiple custodians, the staff that is present can work additional hours, using additional part-time flexible hours or overtime for full-time regulars. In offices with just one custodian, the duties may be performed by non-custodial personnel, including mechanics, part-time flexible clerks, part-time carriers, etc. Normally, when the work is to be performed by non-custodial personnel, it will be assigned to available APWU-represented employees. The settlement is here _________________________________	Cord Fletcher Maintenance Craft Director Juan Soler Assistant Maintenance Craft Director Chris Toney Chief Steward