In his first national-level arbitration Article 19 award for the APWU and the Postal Service, Arbitrator Homer LaRue reviewed the Postal Service\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arbitrator LaRue took testimony from postal witnesses that the Postal Service \u201cneeded to create a position that reported through Function 3, Logistics, for 24-hour coverage and visibility within logistics control centers due to the amount of truck traffic moving on and off the yards of Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (\u201cRPDCs\u201d).\u201d This position was the Dispatch Coordinator which the Postal Service initially assigned to the Clerk Craft, but reassigned to the Motor Vehicle Craft in its final version of the position description. In reviewing the propriety of the craft assignment of the new position, Arbitrator LaRue first addressed the process for creating the Dispatch Coordinator, PS-8 and found that the Postal Service \u201c\u2026followed the proper procedures for evaluating and creating a new position.\u201d Arbitrator LaRue determined that the Postal Service adequately demonstrated that the work of the Dispatch Coordinator was \u201cmeaningfully different\u201d from the work of comparable clerk craft positions. Particularly when comparing \u201cthe functional purposes\u201d of the clerk General Expeditor and the motor vehicle Dispatch Coordinator, Arbitrator LaRue found \u201ca clear and substantive distinction between their roles.\u201d The Dispatch Coordinator, he found, is \u201cresponsible for the movement of trucks\u201d while the General Expeditor \u201cprimarily handle[s] the movement of mail.\u201d Arbitrator LaRue noted that the Postal Service explained that the Dispatch Coordinator does not handle mail or engage in mail-processing tasks, and that the position\u2019s \u201cfocus remains on vehicle flow, yard visibility, and trip coordination \u2013 not on mail flow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arbitrator LaRue went on to assess the Postal Service\u2019s application of the criteria of Article 1.5 to the new position, and he also compared the Dispatch Coordinator to existing clerk craft positions. He concluded that the Postal Service\u2019s assignment of the Dispatch Coordinator to the motor vehicle craft was proper under Article 1.5 of the National Agreement and fair, reasonable, and equitable under Article 19. Finally, in reviewing whether the Dispatch Coordinator should be best or senior qualified, Arbitrator LaRue was convinced by other lower-level best qualified motor vehicle positions that the Dispatch Coordinator was properly made a best qualified position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n