MVS New Hire Salary Dispute Settled

On Jan. 26, the MVS Division and the USPS settled Class Action Grievance USPS NO. Q15V-4Q-C17473798/APWU No. HQTV20170179.

In the settlement, the parties agreed that when an external posting to hire contains an incorrect salary for the position in question, the Postal Service may correct the error pre-employment. Correction of the error must be made prior to a written job offer being accepted by the applicant.

If an applicant accepts a written job offer which incorrectly lists a salary higher than the entry level for that position, the applicant will be placed in a salary which is on the appropriate Article 9 pay table, but not lower than the salary on the accepted job offer.

In various parts of the country, the USPS was recruiting and hiring PVS operators by offering to pay these new employees higher than the entry level salary for that position. This action is against every principle of Article 9 Salaries and Wages of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

In some locations, management would then rescind the offer after the employee was hired and pay a lower rate. Often, the employee would receive a letter of demand for overpayment of their salary.

The parties agreed to resolve this issue with language that dictates once the USPS hires an employee with an improper salary, they are contractually obligated to pay that employee at the rate they agreed to upon hire.

“The APWU is pleased to resolve this issue and bring relief to the newly-hired drivers who left previous employment on the assumption that the USPS would abide by the accepted salary,” said MVS Director Michael O. Foster. “There are no authorized salary exceptions for career employees. Every employee should be hired and paid off of the Article 9 pay chart. Any letter of demand based on this issue can now be resolved using this settlement.”

Click here to view the full settlement.