Maintenance Dream Team 2024

As 2024 Negotiations begin, it is important to understand how proposals are drafted. Throughout the year, Maintenance Craft resolutions are submitted by local and state organizations. Resolutions are proposed changes to the national agreement. Resolutions are reviewed by the Maintenance Resolutions Committee and thoroughly discussed and voted on at the Maintenance Craft Conference. Once the Craft Conference ends, the entire body of the National Convention discusses and votes on the same resolutions. Resolutions that are adopted at the convention become embodied in and with all other resolutions from past conventions. They are a road map for our national negotiations because they identify the priorities the body of the National Convention wants the negotiators focus on.

2024 Maintenance Division Negotiating Team

• Idowu Balogun, Maintenance Division Director
• Terry B. Martinez, Assistant Director (A)
• Jason Treier, Assistant Director (B)
• David Sarnacki, Northeast Region NBA
• Curtis Walkers, Central Region NBA
• Hector Baez, Western Region NBA

Reflecting on Our 2021 APWU/USPS Contract Negotiations

During the 2021 National Negotiations, one of the first steps was establishing the ground rules for how negotiations would proceed. Negotiators from both sides submitted proposals to the main table, and shortly thereafter the craft table meetings began. On occasion, the scope of some proposals went beyond Article 38 and were referred to a different Article table. The Part-Time Regular (PTR) cap for example, falls under Article 7 and 38. The Juneteenth holiday had to be adopted under Article 11 prior to changes being made to the PS Form 4852.

Negotiations are not as simple and straight forward as most would think. It is not as simple as walking into negotiations, demanding what we want, and then having it given to us on a silver platter. For example, The Per Diem Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for employees traveling to the National Center for Employee Development (NCED) in Norman, OK was a significant achievement for the Maintenance Craft. The APWU requested per diem during the 2015 National Negotiations, but management rejected the proposal after weeks of discussion.

During the 2021 National Negotiations, the APWU submitted four separate proposals concerning the NCED per diem and training to benefit our members. This time around, the Postal Service agreed that they had a vested interest to incentivize training and travel to the NCED and agreed to our proposal.

When craft table negotiations begin, APWU Article 38 team members break into subcommittees to discuss specific proposals with their counterparts. Once the subcommittees have finished, team members return and present their work to the entire Maintenance team for discussion. If necessary, the subcommittees can reconvene for further discussion concerning delicate details and other concerns. On occasion, either party may submit a counterproposal to the initial proposal, which requires even more internal discussion and debate. The Maintenance team members thoroughly discuss (sometimes spiritedly) all proposals, and the Maintenance Division Director makes the final decision on how to proceed from the APWU side.

In addition to the table discussions during negotiations, a lot of research goes into each proposal submitted by both parties. APWU Search, the APWU case log database, is utilized to research arbitral history on each issue. We review the archives and notes from previous negotiations to determine the intent and reasoning of the parties for adopting previous language, sometimes going back decades. During negotiations, each side has a note taker to record what transpired during negotiation sessions. The notes are reviewed by the team, and any necessary additions or corrections are made. The notes can be reviewed for several reasons, including determining the intent of the parties. Previous negotiation notes are also reviewed by the APWU Article 38 team to better understand the history of negotiations on a variety of subjects.

We are the Dream Team, and we have your back! ■