Category: Maintenance

COVID-19 Emergency Considerations for Fiscal Year 2020 MS-47, TL-5 Line H Liabilities

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties agree the following conditions will be applied when determining any MS-47, TL-5 Line H liabilities for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20): Custodians should be utilized to the maximum extent possible, including overtime, in order to ensure all necessary cleaning is completed. Due to custodians needing to complete regular custodial team cleaning (CTC) routes and the cleaning requirements as stated in MMO-031-20, Influenza and Coronavirus Cleaning Contingency, each day a […]

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USPS Announces Potential Breach in Maintenance Exam 955 Materials

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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Agreement Reached on POStPlan Award Implementation!

On February 10, the Maintenance Craft Director, Idowu Balogun and the Postal Service signed off on the implementation of Arbitrator Goldberg’s Award on POstplan Custodial Staffing in (APO/RMPO) Installations  in case number Q10T-4Q-C 15206030. The outstanding issue in implementing the Award was the process of returning custodial cleaning in POStPlan Installations to the Maintenance Division. In the settlement, the parties agreed to the following: Determining whether a contract cleaning service can be utilized in an Administrative Post Office […]

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Filling Maintenance Vacancies

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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New MS-1 Settlement and Implementation

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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How to Get a Custodial Staffing Review

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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Maintenance Defines Custodial Staffing in POStPlan Clusters

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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Maintenance Defines Custodial Staffing in POStPlan Clusters

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 […]

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Maintenance Craft Agreement with USPS Resolving Line H Dispute

Maintenance Craft Agreement with USPS Resolving Line H Dispute05/19/2017 – The Postal Service and the Maintenance Division of the APWU signed an agreement resolving a national level dispute regarding custodial hours on line H of Form 4852 (case number Q15T-4Q-C 17274095). The issue in the case is “the determination of compliance with item 6 of the July 9, 2014 TL-5 MOU.”The Postal Service filed this dispute to challenge the results in the field, based on […]

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USPS Testing New Machine to Automate Craft Work

By Maintenance Craft Directors The new year certainly started with a bang! while we are, of course, very proud of the efforts of the Maintenance members involved, all the members of all American Postal Workers Union (APWU) bargaining units are deserving of praise and congratulations for a hard won success on the Staples issue. Everyone, regardless of craft, came together to press for what was right.Whether you actively walked a picket line, talked with family, friends, etc., […]

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Staffing, Assignments, Hiring

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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