On March 4, 2026, Arbitrator Margo Newman issued an interim award holding that the APWU\u2019s 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 Craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In concluding that the Union\u2019s grievance is arbitrable at the national level, Arbitrator Newman found that it presents an interpretive dispute concerning the \u201cscope and meaning of the phrase \u2018non-managerial and non-supervisory work\u2019 contained in Article 1.5.A\u201d and related work-preservation MOUs. She concluded that resolving that question requires application of contract-interpretation principles to determine the parties\u2019 intent, and therefore the dispute is \u201cnot just a question of fact.\u201d Arbitrator Newman also rejected the Postal Service\u2019s argument that it lacked adequate notice of the dispute raised by the Union, finding that the record showed the Postal Service understood the nature of the dispute during the grievance process, including in the Postal Service\u2019s correspondence holding related grievances in abeyance and in the parties\u2019 15-day letters at Step 4, where the Union made clear its position that the agreement draws a \u201cbright red line\u201d between bargaining-unit work and managerial or supervisory work and leaves no contractual room for \u201cshared duties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arbitrator Newman further found that the dispute is one of general application because the framework created by Article 1.5 and the related MOUs is national in character. As the award explains, those provisions involve national-level notice to the Union, national-level creation of positions and assignment of work, national job audits of EAS positions, and position descriptions that exist at the national level. Because \u201cthe entire context for the work preservation provisions of the National Agreement is nationally focused\u201d and may affect job descriptions and work assignments across the country, the Arbitrator concluded that this is \u201cnot a factual dispute about the assignment of specific duties at a particular location,\u201d but rather an interpretive dispute concerning the scope of non-managerial and non-supervisory work being performed in positions outside the bargaining unit. For these reasons, Arbitrator Newman held that the Union\u2019s Step 4 grievance may proceed to arbitration at the national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n