2010 MVS Jobs MOU Arbitration Decision

The Motor Vehicle craft has received National level Arbitrator Brent’s ruling in case Q10C-4Q-C 4256800, interpreting the language from the MVS Jobs Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In this MOU, the parties agreed to return a minimum of 600 Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) routes to the MVS craft, along with other work guarantees, in exchange for billions of dollars in work-rules changes and salary concessions made by the union in the 2010-2015 contract.

After the contract was ratified, the USPS took the position that “600 PVS routes” meant 600 PVS duty assignments. The APWU interpreted the language that the “600 routes” were 600 Highway Contract Routes (HCRs) converted to PVS that would be more than 600 individual duty assignments. Arbitrator Brent agreed with the APWU position regarding the bargaining history and other national level arbitrations interpretations. We will continue to report on the implementation of this award.

Postal Vehicle Operators Pilot MOUs Expanded

The national parties have agreed upon additional MOUs for establishing and developing Postal Vehicle Operators (PVOs). The PVO position is intended to assign to the MVS craft the transportation of bulk quantities of mail without driving a vehicle that requires a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). The parties have agreed that these are career bargaining unit positions, and have agreed on the position description and qualifications standards.

The parties agreed to establish 63 PVO positions at the Richmond, VA S&DC, 38 PVO positions at Charlottesville, VA transfer hub (future S&DC), 14 PVO positions at the Hampton, VA transfer hub (future S&DC), and 25 positions in Athens, GA. These will bring work to the craft that had previously been performed by contractors. The PVOs in the Richmond facility should not perform bargaining unit work that is performed by the Richmond Motor Vehicle Operators (MVOs), and Tractor Trailor Operators (TTOs).

The PVO candidates will be certified by Driver Safety Instructors (DSIs) that they can safely operate the vehicles. The parties also agreed that, during the pilot program, the Postal Service will make available the required training to obtain a CDL for interested PVO employees who volunteer to be trained. Once CDL training has been completed, and a CDL license has been obtained, those PVO employees will be considered qualified for promotion to MVO and TTO positions. This language strengthens our position that the training of our CDL license holders and those Postal Service employees seeking a CDL license should be performed by our DSIs.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Process (ADRP)

As part of the PVO expansion and integration MOU, alleged violations will be handled through the Alternative Dispute Resolution Process (ADRP) and the normal grievance procedure. We are negotiating an MOU to further define and identify which violations will be handled by the ADRP and which alleged violations will stay within the normal grievance-arbitration procedure. We expect management’s compliance with these MOUs, but from the disputes, problems, and experiences from the OKC PVO Pilot, the ADRP and grievance processes remain necessary.

MVS Dispatch Coordinator

The Postal Service recently provided an Article 19 notification of a new MVS bargaining unit position, the Dispatch Coordinator. This position has a variety of duties and responsibilities, as proposed by the Postal Service, however those duties greatly overlap with other duty assignments in the MVS and other crafts. We do not agree with certain components of the position, and have initiated a National Dispute on the notification regarding this position, which would make it difficult to track the work being performed by the bargaining unit and would shift bargaining unit work to supervisors.

We continue to fight to bring additional work to and retain the work in the MVS craft. We ask all of you to join us in that fight and stand up for our work. ■