Category: Maintenance

UPDATE: After a meeting with APWU President Jonathan Smith, DIR Charlie Cash and Maintenance Director Balogun; the Postal Service has decided to delay the discontinuance of the NCED Per Diem Pilot until June 1, 2026, for the purpose of facilitating further discussion regarding this matter.   During the 2024 contract negotiations, the APWU submitted a proposal to make per diem rights permanent for APWU-represented employees. The Postal Service balked at this proposal but ultimately agreed to extend […]

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September 23, 2024 In 2021, the APWU Maintenance Division filed a National Dispute (USPS # 6X 18T-6X-C 21354335) regarding the Postal Service’s violation of Article 7 section 3 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), specifically concerning the 2.5 percent cap on the total number of Part-Time Regular employees in the Maintenance Division. According to the CBA, the total number of part-time employees who “may be hired” should not exceed 2.5 percent of the total number […]

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Idowu Balogun Happy New Year! 2023 brought many changes and introduced several pilot programs to the Maintenance Division. Your national Maintenance Division officers met with the Postal Service and tackled these challenges head on, including the initiation of national disputes. This article will summarize the changes and pilot programs introduced in 2023. Maintenance Craft Conference: We successfully completed the 2023 APWU All-Craft Conference in Las Vegas, NV. It started on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, and lasted […]

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Idowu Balogun We successfully completed the 2023 APWU All-Craft Conference in Las Vegas, NV. The Maintenance Craft Conference started on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, and lasted for three days. The Saturday before the conference, we attended the Maintenance Council meetings. The conference started with a general session on Monday, Oct. 2, and continued with regional breakouts and workshops on Article 32 Subcontracting, and Line H in small offices following on Tuesday and Wednesday. During the […]

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Idowu Balogun 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 […]

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On Jan. 18, 2023, the parties signed off on national Questions & Answers on the In-Service Examinations, Register and Eligibility Ratings MOU. As a reminder, on an annual basis during the month of March, all career employees have the opportunity to request to be tested for Maintenance Craft eligibility ratings and placement on In-service registers. Also, during the month of March, those career employees already on In-service registers have the right to submit a written request […]

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As promised, this is an update on the newly negotiated per diem provisions of the collective bargaining agreement. Maintenance Division resident officers met three times in 2022 (twice via zoom, and once in person at Norman, OK). The Postal Service has been working on renovating the Training Center to facilitate the transfer to per diem, with updated communications to the APWU and employees in September. The target effective date of Full Per Diem is November […]

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In accordance with Article 21 of the American Postal Workers Union Constitution & Bylaws, Kenneth Lester has been appointed to serve as Maintenance Division, Eastern Region National Business Agent. Kenneth Lester was selected by Maintenance Division Director Idowu Balogun to replace Jason Treier, recently appointed Assistant Director B of the Maintenance Division. Brother Lester received unanimous consensus by the Maintenance Council. He started serving in the new position on October 25, 2021. In 1987, Kenneth […]

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(This article first appeared in the May/June 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine) Editor’s Note: The following column includes language from the Article 12 Impact Guide. The full guide is available on the Maintenance Division page on apwu.org. The Electronic Workhour Estimator Program, or eWHEP, is the program the Postal Service uses to estimate Maintenance Craft work hours and to authorize positions in each of the functional Maintenance Craft areas. MMO-102-18 is the […]

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The Maintenance Division recently concluded the negotiation for National Support Technicians Local Memorandum of Understanding on April 19, 2021, after several months of delays due to the COVID pandemic. The parties agreed to continue to explore Modified Work Week, even after the conclusion of the Negotiation timeframe. The only item that was declared impasse was the request to Tele Commute.  WE REACHED AGREEMENT ON THE FOLLOWING LMOU ARTICLES: Changes to LMOU Article 2 include: For […]

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(This article first appeared in the March/April 2021 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine) In the March-April 2019 issue, we raised the alarm that the Custodial Team Cleaning Program (CTC), along with its chemicals, was doomed to fail. We raised the alarm that CTC drastically reduced custodial staff employees by over 30 percent across the country. Cleaning Frequencies were gutted to bare bones and cleaning chemicals and tools were “standardized.” We loudly warned the USPS […]

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The Local Memorandum of Understanding (LMOU) below was discussed and developed by the APWU and USPS pursuant to the 2015 National Agreement, Article 38.7.F and the MOU Re: Electronic Technician PS-11 (NTSN Technician). The LMOU is applicable only to the employees of the Electronic Technician PS-11 (or ET-11) occupational group of the Maintenance Division, APWU and the Maintenance Technical Support Center (MTSC): The parties at the Headquarters level agree to further extend the deadlines for […]

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February 28, 2020 Recently, the Postal Service informed APWU of a potential breach in testing materials related to Maintenance Selection System Exam 955, stating the following: As a precautionary measure, a temporary hold on Exam 955 test scheduling has been issued until a full investigation has been completed. Individuals currently in process to complete testing will be rescheduled for a later date. According to a follow-up conversation at the headquarters level between the National Maintenance […]

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Article 38 Section 4.A.1 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement requires the USPS to post a Notice of Intent for a period of seven days when a vacancy or newly-established position is to be filled. Section 4.A.2 requires that all vacant Maintenance Craft duty assignments be posted within 30 days of when the vacancy occurs. When local management fails to post a vacant position within 30 days, it must post a notice explaining the operational justification […]

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On Aug. 8, the Maintenance Craft reached a settlement with the USPS regarding Handbook MS-1, TL-5 and TL-6 Revisions and Related Maintenance Management Orders, originally grieved by current Maintenance Division Director Idowu Balogun. On Sept. 13, 2017, Arbitrator Goldberg remanded the MS-1 revisions case nos. Q10T-4Q-C-14171644/ Q10T-4Q-C-16481407 back to the APWU and USPS for resolution, directing the Postal Service to provide the APWU with all data and data analysis collected by the Postal Review Team. […]

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(This article first appeared in the March/April 2019 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)  By Maintenance Division Director Idowu Balogun Beginning in 2012, The US Postal Service embarked on a “Pilot” program to replace the 1983 Housekeeping Handbook MS 47 TL 3 with Custodian Team Cleaning (CTC). The CTC concept was created by a Utah based company called Manage Men. The new handbook was titled MS 47 TL 5. By the end of 2014, USPS rolled […]

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By Maintenance Division Director Idowu Balogun A staffing review is an important tool for protecting Maintenance Craft jobs, and we encourage locals to request reviews if there is a valid reason to believe that your office is understaffed under TL 3 or TL 5. Staffing packages in the Maintenance Division can be broken into two general categories: custodial staffing and mechanized staffing. Custodial staffing is determined by following the step-by-step process outlined in the MS-47 […]

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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 […]

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2016 has been a busy, roller coaster of a year. We hope you all enjoyed the wild ride along with us.We opened the year with the Interest Arbitration for a new contract, made progress through the arbitrator’s decision, and scrambled to disseminate information about it. Soon after, we participated in the union’s National Convention, followed by the election of APWU officers.Thank you for the vote of confidence you have given us by returning us to office. […]

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