By National Business Agent: “Chuck Locke“ Get Involved Before Its Too Late As we head into the midterm elections, there is a lot at stake. The current administration is attempting to make the Postal Service the organization to determine who can vote in our country by limiting mail in voting. This is simply a strategy to discourage voting and to reduce the publics opinion of the Postal Service. Make no doubt about it, this administration […]
» Read moreIn his first national-level arbitration Article 19 award for the APWU and the Postal Service, Arbitrator Homer LaRue reviewed the Postal Service’s new Dispatch Coordinator position to determine whether it complied with the National Agreement and was fair, reasonable, and equitable. APWU and USPS, Case No. 6X21C-6X-C23174015 (LaRue 2026). Arbitrator LaRue took testimony from postal witnesses that the Postal Service “needed to create a position that reported through Function 3, Logistics, for 24-hour coverage and […]
» Read moreOn March 4, 2026, Arbitrator Margo Newman issued an interim award holding that the APWU’s Clerk Craft Jobs MOU Step 4 grievance may proceed to arbitration at the national level. The decision clears the way for the APWU to litigate on the merits of its claim that the Postal Service violated Article 1.5, the Clerk Craft Jobs MOU, and related work-preservation provisions of the National Agreement by assigning non-managerial and non-supervisory work outside the Clerk […]
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By National Business Agent: “Chuck Locke“ TIME TO STAND UP Time to Stand Up It’s no longer enough just to pay your dues and allow others to fight the battles for you. We are in challenging times and your Union needs you to participate! Don’t be afraid to write a statement when you see something that violates the Collective Bargaining Agreement in your office. Come to a local union meeting and get to know your […]
» Read moreThe Clerk Division held its general session and workshops at the 2023 All-Craft Conference in Las Vegas, NV. We taught classes on steward training, local leadership, RI-399 Craft Jurisdiction, Articles 12 and 16, gaining clerk craft work, and POStPlan. Prior to our officer reports, NBA Linda Turney recognized and honored recently retired Central Regional Coordinator Sharyn Stone, followed by former Clerk Division Assistant Director Dr. Pat Williams honoring the life and work of recently departed […]
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By National Business Agent: “Chuck Locke“ BEING A MEMBER IS NOT A NONE PARTICIPATION SPORT Attendance As mail volumes continue to decline and the Postal Service moves forward with their consolidation plans, they are looking for ways to reduce their staffing. One of the best ways for the Postal Service to reduce staffing is to discipline employees. Itis important that you are regular in attendance. What does that mean? There is not a definition of […]
» Read moreThe Clerk Craft and the Postal Service have agreed to an implementation process in order to comply with the national-level award by Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg in Case #Q10C-4Q-C-15174956. The Goldberg award centered around the Clerk Craft Jobs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the Postal Service’s failure to create all 800 administrative and technical jobs that the MOU required. Goldberg not only ordered the USPS to create and post the additional 362 jobs that were needed […]
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By National Business Agent: “Chuck Locke“ BEING A MEMBER IS NOT A NONE PARTICIPATION SPORT Just paying dues to your Union is not enough anymore. You need to take action. The Clerk Craft is under attack and management is attempting to eliminate Clerk Craft jobs and reduce staffing. Your Union needs help. Not everyone needs to be a shop steward but you do need to be the eyes and ears for the Union. When you […]
» Read moreOn November 4, 2022, the parties agreed to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Re: Bulk Mail Tech and Mailing Requirements Clerk Position Qualification. This MOU originated during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been extended on several occasions, leading to the latest agreement to continue it for one year from the signing of the agreement. The MOU establishes the required training for employees bidding to Bulk Mail Tech and Mailing Requirements Clerk duty assignments, including the […]
» Read moreLamont Brooks Where We’ve Been Since 2009, the USPS has wanted to cut our workforce and reduce the retail footprint using Contract Postal Units (CPUs), approved shippers, and reducing or closing retail operations, which, if successful, would have reduced mail processing and retail/customer service clerks to under 50,000 clerks in each case. However, the clerk complement was 154, 061 in 2011; as of 2022, there are 155,895 employees in the craft — an increase of […]
» Read moreOn September 1, 2022 Arbitrator Joseph M. Sharnoff issued his latest national-level RI-399 award, this one concerning the Automated Delivery Unit Sorter (ADUS). The ADUS award was the last in a series of four RI-399 craft jurisdiction awards that the APWU, NPMHU (Mail Handlers Union) and the Postal Service had presented at the national-level. In the ADUS case, Arbitrator Sharnoff found that the Postal Service had “acted appropriately and within its right to exercise discretion […]
» Read morePosition Qualification MOU Extended On June 7, 2021, Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks reached agreement with the Postal Service to extend the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Re: Bulk Mail Tech and Mailing Requirement Position Qualification. The MOU, which was originally dated April 3, 2020, is extended through August 6, 2021. The MOU was agreed to because of COVID-19 issues that prevented employees from receiving training for these positions in the customary manner and instead created […]
» Read moreThe training guides for Lead Sales & Services Associates (LSSAs) were recently revised in May of 2021. The training materials include the following: Lead Sales and Services Associate On-the-Job Training Guide Lead Sales and Services Associate (LSSA) Training – Participant Guide Lead Sales and Services Associate (LSSA) Training – Facilitator Guide Lead Sales and Services Associate (LSSA) Administrator Guide The updated course materials were a result of joint efforts between the APWU and the Postal […]
» Read moreViolations Set to Begin on April 30, 2021 On April 26, 2021, the Postal Service informed the Clerk Craft that it had partially input the second round of payments required by the national-level award, dated June 17, 2017 authored by Arbitrator Stephen B. Goldberg in Case #Q10C-4Q-C-15206043. The arbitrator’s award was due to the Postal Service’s failure to honor a December 22, 2014 agreement between the parties surrounding the POStPlan Staffing for Remotely Managed Post […]
» Read moreAPWU Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Postal Service that upgraded the known remaining Level 6 Mailing Requirements Clerks (MRC) to Level 7. The MOU, dated April 20, 2021, identified four (4) Level 6 MRC duty assignments by Job Identification number – one in Charleston, SC, one in Fort Worth, TX, and two in Houston, TX – that were entitled to be upgraded to Level 7. The MOU, […]
» Read moreThe APWU will begin negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in June. The current CBA is set to expire on September 20, 2021. As such, the Clerk Craft officers have begun preparing for negotiations on issues related to our craft. We are currently reviewing all resolutions that were adopted by the delegates at past National Conventions applying to Article 37. These resolutions involve issues such as bidding, assignment of unencumbered regulars, 204-B restrictions, […]
» Read moreOn December 1, 2020, Arbitrator Joseph M. Sharnoff issued a decision confirming Clerk Craft jurisdiction over operation of the Small Parcel Sorting System (SPSS) machine. The Award soundly rejects arguments made by the Mail Handlers Union which claimed that Mail Handlers should be assigned all the work on the machines. The Postal Service had issued a decision in 2015 designating the Clerk Craft as the primary craft for performing the work of “singulating/separating packages & facing/feeding […]
» Read moreDisputes over work assignments — and which craft should be assigned responsibility for performing specific duties — are known as “jurisdictional disputes.” Disagreements over whether duties in mail processing operations should be assigned to Clerk Craft employees or to Mail Handlers are often referred to as “RI 399” disputes, named for Regional Instruction #399, Mail Processing Work Assignment Guidelines. [PDF] RI 399, which was issued in February 1979 by the Postal Service and modified several times […]
» Read moreBy Clerk Division Director Clint Burelson The single most effective bang for the buck method to significantly reduce inequality at the Postal Service is to convert a Postal Support Employee (PSE) to career. The increase in pay and benefits is estimated at $26,000 a year or about $2,000 a month. With career status, the PSEs will earn retirement, see a boost in pay, be eligible for good health care, get set schedules with regular hours, […]
» Read moreOn February 9, the Clerk Craft reached a $49.9 million dollar settlement with the USPS on POStPlan staffing violations. The monetary settlement follows a ruling by Arbitrator Stephen Goldberg that the Postal Service violated Arbitrator Goldberg’s previous award of September 5, 2014 and a subsequent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) dated September 22, 2014. The dispute was initiated after the Postal Service admittedly failed to honor their agreement that after December 22, 2014, the ‘POStPlan’ Remotely-Managed […]
» Read moreOn Saturday, Feb. 24, workers will gather from coast to coast for a Working People’s Day of Action to demand an end to the rigged economic system. They will to stand together to fight for social and economic justice including the right to fair bargaining and union representation! The Day of Action, organized by AFSCME and Jobs with Justice, comes at a crucial time in labor movement history. It is part of the commemoration for […]
» Read more01/09/2018 – On Jan. 5, the APWU and USPS signed a Memorandum of Understanding Re: Clerk Craft PSE Hiring and One Day Break. The new MOU designates Saturday, the first day of the pay period, as the hire date of all Clerk Craft Postal Support Employees (PSEs). “The MOU accomplishes three key things,” said Clerk Craft Director Clint Burelson. “First, the MOU helps restore some order and fairness to PSE hiring, as all employees will […]
» Read more01/04/2018 – Today, January 4, 2018, the APWU was notified by letter that the USPS is offering voluntary early out retirement (VERA) for eligible clerk craft employees. This letter was received with no advance notification to the union or negotiations with the APWU over who the VERA applied to and under what conditions. The APWU immediately initiated information requests to USPS management regarding this VERA and demands for bargaining over its scope and impact. […]
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By: National Business Agent “Chuck Locke” THE CLERK CRAFT IS UNDER ATTACK! The Postal Service has launched an attack on the Clerk Craft and they are out for blood! The Postal Service wants to eliminate over 16,000 clerk jobs nationwide and more than 2000 clerk jobs in our area. Their plan is to revert and abolish as many jobs as they can, as fast as they can despite the specific circumstances in the section or facility. […]
» Read moreClerk Craft Gains 362 Administrative and Technical Jobs 04/24/2017 – Arbitrator Goldberg ruled that the Postal Service failed to make a good faith effort to return 362 administrative and technical jobs to the Clerk Craft. The arbitration award was issued on April 21, 2017 and settles a long-standing dispute over the Clerk Craft Jobs Memorandum of Understanding in the 2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement.The memo called for the Postal Service to return 800 positions to the Clerk […]
» Read moreWeb News Article #: 250-2016 12/09/2016 – The APWU prevailed in an arbitration that keeps hundreds of Clerk Craft jobs in the union’s bargaining unit. The decision clarifies what ability the Postal Service has to change craft work assignments for new machinery. When the new Small Parcel Sorting System (SPSS) machines were installed, the Postal Service first assigned all of the work to the Mail Handler Craft. After a closer and better review, the USPS reassigned […]
» Read moreWeb News Article #: 196-2016 09/01/2016 – The APWU and USPS signed two important Step 4 settlements recently, Industrial Relations Director Tony D. McKinnon Sr. has announced. On Aug. 24, with the help of Assistant Clerk Craft Director Lynn Pallas-Barber, McKinnon reached agreement with the Postal Service on the issue of whether the “normal staffing” of two clerks per machine on Delivery Bar Code Sorters (DBCS) should be a minimum requirement. The settlement is designed to address […]
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