Greetings APWU Family!
With our main Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring on September 20th, I wanted to give you a status report.
Simply put, the work of negotiations is proceeding.
Over the summer, your negotiating committee and many of your officers and staff have been laser focused on negotiating the strong new contract you deserve.
Under the solid leadership of Industrial Relations Director Charlie Cash, who serves as our chief spokesperson, we’ve worked tirelessly to strategize and formulate proposals. We’ve had main table with meetings with postal management about once a week.
So far, the union has presented some 80 proposals to management. These include vital issues for our members, including an all-career workforce, bridging the divisive multi-tier wage structure, improving workplace safety, better staffing and job security. At this point management has presented 11 proposals.
Once proposals are made and placed into the record, they are often sent to subcommittees for deeper discussion, including Craft Subcommittees, which are headed up by each of the four craft directors.
This Saturday, September 14th, the APWU and management will be locking down for seven days of intense negotiations.
While it is not uncommon for our negotiations to go beyond the expiration date, we do hope to make real progress in the week ahead. In 2021, we reached a tentative agreement in early December. If a new agreement is not reached by September 20th, our union contract will continue in full force and effect.
This is great time to declare, “Union Proud, Say it Loud!” by wearing your union gear and sending management the message that we are united in securing a good contract that respects and rewards postal workers for our dedication and hard work.
We will continue to keep you posted with messages like this on our hotline, which you can reach by calling (202) 642-9049, as well as at apwu.org and on our social media channels.
Solidarity forever APWU members!
