USPS "unwilling" to commit to settlement, says APWU
Negotiations between the US Postal Service and the American Postal Workers’ Union over the holiday period have failed to secure agreement. Representatives of the APWU met with USPS officials in the week between Christmas and the New Year in an attempt to find a way to a new collective bargaining agreement.
The previous agreement, setting employment terms for the APWU members in the USPS from 2006 to 2010, ran out at the end of November.
However, yesterday the union revealed that more than a month’s bargaining has still not achieved any deal between the two sides, “and none appears imminent”.
“I am increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress in contract talks,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey in a statement to members. “Six weeks later, management negotiators seem unwilling to make the commitment necessary to reach a negotiated settlement.”
USPS spokesman Mark Saunders confirmed to Post&Parcel that as of today, discussions with the union were still ongoing, but he could not comment further on the situation.
As the USPS seeks to continue reducing its costs in the wake of its $8.5 billion loss posted for 2010, the unions are holding out for an employment contract that would safeguard jobs and protect workers from the brunt of planned cuts.
The APWU, which represents 220,000 USPS clerks, maintenance workers and motor vehicle service staff, has been pushing to prevent the outsourcing of work by the USPS, the closure of post offices and the process of “excessing” – the relocation of USPS workers to other locations or activities, which the union sees as an attempt to coerce staff into leaving.
The APWU has now called members of its Rank and File Committee to Washington to be updated on the status of negotiations and provide input to the negotiating team.
If agreement does not come between the USPS and the APWU within 60 days of the expiry of the previous collective bargaining agreement, the process moves to arbitration. This would involve a panel, comprising a representative of each side and a neutral arbitrator, drawing up a compromise agreement.
The National Rural Letter Carriers Association is already headed for an arbitration process, after calling off talks with the USPS in November.
Two other unions – the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union – are set to begin negotiations for their next employment agreements later this year.
