Electrical Switchgear Maintenance Agreement Reached

The APWU and USPS reached agreement May 17, 2011, regarding the performance of switchgear maintenance by Maintenance Craft employees. The settlement stipulates that subcontracting decisions involving switchgear maintenance will be made at the local level, and that instructions contained in the MS 28 Handbook are not intended to remove any electrical work from the bargaining unit, decrease staffing levels, or encourage or mandate subcontracting. It also calls for ongoing training of bargaining unit employees to perform electrical switchgear work.

The dispute arose in 2005, when the Postal Service issued two sets of instructions to field managers encouraging them to contract out switchgear maintenance. In February 2005, he Material Logistics Bulletin (MLB-CO-05-003) designated Eaton Electric as the Postal Service’s single provider nationwide of switchgear maintenance. In June of that year, the MS-28 Handbook, Maintenance of Electrical Switchgear, also made Eaton the sole-source provider of these services.

The management instructions said subcontracting services were to be used whenever a postal facility lacked a maintenance employee who could “inspect, test and maintain” the electrical switchgear.

The union contended that the two sets of instructions encouraged subcontracting, and could result in decreased staffing levels and deprive the bargaining unit of work that had historically been performed in-house. The union filed a national-level grievance on June 3, 2005, (Q00T-4Q-C-05112929).

The agreement stipulates that subcontracting decisions regarding electrical switchgear maintenance will be made at the local level, in accordance with Article 32 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Section 530 of the Administrative Support Manual. Article 32 governs subcontracting.

The settlement also stipulates that:

The information in this handbook [MS-28] will be used only by USPS personnel for ongoing training and performance of maintenance by career maintenance bargaining unit employees. Changes are not intended to remove any electrical work from the bargaining unit e.g. decrease staffing levels, nor to encourage or mandate subcontracting.

The agreement is significant because it provides for ongoing training and the performance of maintenance by career Maintenance Craft employees. It will enable local Maintenance Craft union officers to ensure that a sufficient number of trained employees are available to perform the work.