The APWU-USPS Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) contains a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) titled Retail Training Taskforce. Over the last several years, the Clerk Division has utilized this taskforce to encourage the Postal Service to look for new ways to offer services that have not previously been available to postal customers. These new services are a benefit to the Postal Service in terms of additional revenue, while also advancing the APWU’s goals of new work and jobs for the members we represent.
For example, during the past few years, services such as FBI fingerprinting and the General Services Administration (GSA) background checks have each expanded to over 4,000 locations. Both programs combined have netted the Postal Service millions of dollars in additional revenue. Passport revenue has already garnered over $100 million during this postal fiscal year. The market share for the Postal Service in passports continues to hover around 70 percent nationwide. This is why the Clerk Division leadership urges our Sales and Services Associates (SSAs) and Sales Service and Distribution Associates (SSDAs) to voluntarily accept, with the proper training and qualifications, passport processing duties. We want to add to that 70 percent market share because our clerks can process passports more efficiently than other agencies or businesses. More work for the craft means more union jobs.
USPS Connect Local has also expanded in size since its launch in February 2022. It offers small and medium-sized businesses the opportunity for same-day or next-day delivery service of Parcel Select Packages and First-Class Mail (now referred to as Ground Advantage) if brought to a participating post office before a certain time of the day. The original plan was to expand this program to over 2,600 locations. Several offices were added this year. Postal employees must be available at these offices to accept and process mail targeted for the program.
These are just a few of the services we have pushed the Postal Service to expand, but we want more. New laws and regulations make it possible for the Postal Service to negotiate with local and state authorities for services that do not necessarily fall under the federal umbrella.
We have proposed offering services such as processing marriage licenses, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) pre-checks, drivers’ permits, fishing and hunting licenses, notary services, and safe and secure packaging for customers. These are just a few of the suggestions we have made. Nevertheless, all these services represent value to the Postal Service in terms of revenue and would enhance job opportunities for the Clerk Craft.
A recent study ascertained that one in six packages are returned to the sender. This gives the Postal Service the opportunity to gain return postage revenue and have retail postal clerks box the returns for major retailers. This would allow companies to compete with Amazon for same and next day local deliveries, even at the local level chain stores.
The Clerk Division has been specifically discussing the following opportunities through the USPS/APWU Retail Task Force:
- Gun Permits
- Marriage Licenses
- TSA Pre-Checks
- Driver’s Permits
- Tax Refunds (State and Federal)
- Property Permits
- Border Crossing Passes
- High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Transportation Passes
- Voter Registration
- Fishing Licenses
- Notary Public Services
- Package Returns and Fulfillments
- Package Wraps
- Stamp Collecting
The unfortunate truth we must face is that First-Class Mail volume continues to be on the decline. For the Postal Service and its employees to survive, both parties must look for new, innovative approaches to providing services that are both desired and necessary. Change is inevitable, and our job is to make sure those changes benefit our Clerk Division members while ensuring a strong, viable Postal Service for decades to come. ■