APWU, USPS Reach Agreement on TACS Jobs

The APWU and USPS have reached an agreement regarding management’s plan to transfer work currently being performed by more than 330 TACS Clerks in locations across the country to a single location in Eagan, MN. In August, the USPS notified the union of plans to reassign the Time and Attendance Collection System work to members of the ITASC (Information Technology Accounting Service Center) bargaining unit at the Midwest facility.

The Feb. 1 agreement allows TACS Clerks to transfer — with their seniority intact — to the new Level 13 positions. It also guarantees that there will be a minimum of 100 duty assignments in Levels 13, 15 and 18 on the ITASC pay scale. TACS Clerks also will be eligible to compete for Level 15 and Level 18 positions, and other Clerks Craft employees who wish to transfer will have priority over other employees for the position, provided they are minimally qualified.

“We met many times with our USPS counterparts to hammer out the agreement,” said Clerk Craft Director Rob Strunk. “Our goal was to protect Clerk Craft work and to give current TACS Clerks the opportunity to get the new jobs. We are pleased with the outcome,” he said.

Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU):

1. The ITASC will be staffed with at least 100 duty assignments at Levels 13, 15 and 18 under the ITASC Rate Schedule Code N. These are APWU bargaining unit positions covered by the ITASC Collective Bargaining Agreement. Pay rates for these bargaining unit positions compare favorably with Level 7, Step O positions currently held by TACS Clerks:
   

   Level 7, Step O - $54,800
   Level 13, Step M - $57,711
   Level 15, Step O - $61,745
   Level 18, Step Q - $70,797

The new duty assignments at the ITASC TACS Help Desk will be filled in the following order:

1. All current Level 7 TACS Clerks will be allowed to transfer with their seniority to Level 13 positions. Requests to transfer must be submitted to the installation head at the Eagan, MN ITASC no later than July 1, 2013. 
2. The remaining Level 13 positions and the Level 15 and Level 18 positions will be posted for application in accordance with the ITASC Collective Bargaining Agreement. Any current Level 7 TACS Clerk who requests a transfer will be eligible to compete for the Level 15 and Level 18 positions.
3. Residual TACS Help Desk positions, as well as other ITASC positions that become residual as the result of ITASC employees moving into the Help Desk assignments, will be made available for transfer to career Clerks who meet the minimum qualifications in any office within the Northland District (or within 100 miles of the Eagan ITASC) impacted by excessing.
4. Residual TACS Help Desk positions, as well as other ITASC positions that become residual as the result of ITASC employees moving into the Help Desk assignments, will be made available for transfer to career clerks who meet the minimum qualifications in any office in the country impacted by excessing in accordance with the terms of the MOU on Transfer Opportunities to Minimize Excessing at pages 422-427 of the CBA.
5. Residual TACS Help Desk positions, as well as other ITASC positions that become residual as the result of ITASC employees moving into the Help Desk assignments, will be made available for transfer to career clerks who meet the minimum qualifications in any office in the country not impacted by excessing in accordance with the terms of the MOU on Transfers at pages 338-442 of the CBA.
6. Residual TACS Help Desk positions, as well as other ITASC positions that become residual as the result of ITASC employees moving into the Help Desk assignments, will be made available for transfer to other APWU craft employees (e.g., Maintenance and MVS) who meet the minimum qualifications in any office in the country not impacted by excessing in accordance with the terms of the MOU on Transfer Opportunities to Minimize Excessing at pages 422-427 of the CBA and the MOU on Transfers at pages 338-442 of the CBA, in that order.
7. Only after every one of these steps has been completed, the USPS may offer the remaining opportunities to supervisors, Letter Carriers, Rural Carriers, or Mail Handlers who might wish to apply.
8. Transferring employees will not be eligible for relocation expenses or “retreat rights.”
9. In order to protect Clerk Craft bargaining unit work, the local parties are directed to identify all the work currently being performed by Level 7 TACS Clerks. These inventories will be critical, since any work that remains in the office and is not transferred to the Help Desk will continue to be performed by Clerks.

“It certainly would have been our preference that all of this work remain at the plants and district offices and continue to be performed by the Level 7 TACS Clerks,” Strunk said. “Unfortunately, Article 3 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement gives management the right to determine where work will be performed. We believe this agreement protects our craft and our work to the maximum extent possible.”