Initial Payment Disbursed

The Postal Service has informed the APWU that initial payments of a $56 million grievance settlement were included in paychecks dated Jan. 15, reports Clerk Craft Director Clint Burelson.  Eligible retirees have been receiving their settlements and that process should be completed with the last of the retirees expected to receive their payments in checks dated Jan. 30. 

The payments are a result of a “global settlement” of grievances protesting the performance of Clerk Craft duties by managers and supervisory personnel in Level 15, 16, and 18 offices in violation of contractual limits.

Under the terms of the settlement, the APWU identified eligible employees, computed the amounts due to them, and provided the information to the Postal Service.

However, there are rumors that some of the payments do not match the amounts the union submitted to the Postal Service.  Any deviations from the information provided by the APWU are the responsibility of the Postal Service. The Postal Service must correct any such errors, Burelson said.  

Current employees can check if the amount of their payment is correct by visiting the APWU website entering their Employee Identification Number (EIN). Upon entering the EIN, the amount the APWU submitted to the Postal Service for payment will appear. The payment for the settlement will be identified on the pay stub as “PP 20/1998.”

Former employees can verify the amount they should receive using the same procedure with their former EIN, which can be found in the corner of their old paystubs.

"It is not necessary for employees to notify the APWU at the local, state, regional or national level of any discrepancies because we will be able to identify them at the national level."  Burelson said.

The APWU has filed a national-level dispute (Case #HQTC20160014) to cover anyone who was not paid the full amount, he reported.

“Assistant Clerk Craft Director Lamont Brooks, who is the APWU’s lead officer on this issue, did an amazing job in getting the dispute filed quickly and enabling employees to verify their payments online,” Burelson said.

On Jan. 12, the APWU requested information that would help determine if information submitted by the APWU matched the names and amounts that the USPS disbursed to employees. 

The Postal Service has not provided any information at this time despite repeated requests. The Postal Service stated the information should be provided early next week. 

On Jan. 13, the USPS Payroll Department sent an email to TACs Coordinators that said:

 “A Global Settlement (attached) between the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the US Postal Service resulted in lump sum adjustments for a large number employee’s in PP 2016-01. These adjustments were made to approximately 13,000 employees represented by the APWU.  This includes employees currently represented by the APWU as well as employees that were previously represented by the APWU.

“In addition, some of the adjustments due employees that no longer work for the Postal Service will require additional time to process. We anticipate these payments will be made by PP 2016-03 (check dated 2016-01-30.)

“These adjustments were processed via the Grievance Adjustment Tracking System (GATS) and cover a large timeframe.  The APWU provided the list of employees to be paid as well as the dollar amount of the payment.  They are identified on the pay stub as PP 20/1998.”

The payments currently being made are only the initial payment for the settlement remedy.