September 23, 2008
The APWU and USPS resolved a national-level grievance on Sept. 15, 2008, stipulating that, “Evaluations generated through the Mystery Shopper or similar programs shall not be used as the basis for discipline.” The agreement [PDF] settles a Step 4 dispute, filed in 2007, which challenged management’s policy of issuing discipline to employees as a result of programs that are similar to but not technically part of the “Mystery Shopper” program.

U.S. Postal Service Selects NCR for Hardware Technology Refresh

NCR workstations to be installed at 16,000-plus post offices utilizing NCR POS ONE software platform

July 7, 2008

DAYTON, Ohio –The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has selected NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) as the exclusive provider of retail point-of-service (POS) hardware for thousands of postal counters across the United States.

Under the three-year, multimillion-dollar contract, the USPS will install NCR RealPOS™ 80XRT workstations at larger, high-traffic post office locations currently running the NCR POS ONE postal software solution.  This comprehensive solution from NCR, designed to deliver improved operational efficiencies and streamlined customer service, is expected to be installed beginning in the second half of 2008.  NCR will also provide services, including help desk, project management and maintenance.

“This contract is an affirmation of the successful relationship NCR has shared since 1996 with the world’s largest postal service,” said Jim McMullen, president of NCR Government Systems, LLC.  “NCR’s industry-leading solution is delivering dramatic improvements in performance and efficiency, enabling the USPS to better manage expenses while enhancing the customer experience.”

The NCR RealPOS 80XRT is NCR’s most advanced workstation.  Employing next-generation architecture, this device delivers industry-leading power, scalability and systems management capabilities to the point of service.  Coupled with the NCR POS ONE software, NCR’s solution allows the USPS to focus on accommodating customers with faster service and better information during visits to local post offices.

A new decal prohibiting stamped mail weighing more than 13 ounces from being deposited in collection boxes began appearing this month.

Currently, customers using collection boxes are greeted by a familiar label instructing them to take stamped mail weighing 16 ounces or more to a retail service counter at a Post Office. Starting July 30, that weight limit changes from “16 ounces and over” to “over 13 ounces.”

USPS is distributing a new decal for collection boxes announcing the change. The decal also reminds customers that any mail placed in the collection box that weighs more than 13 ounces and bears only postage stamps as postage will be returned to the sender. The change was made to reflect the threshold between First-Class Mail and Priority Mail as well as for heightened security reasons.

The Postal Service also is eliminating the “Known Customer” designation. That means city carriers and rural carriers as well as contract and delivery service suppliers — highway contract carriers — will no longer be allowed to accept stamped mail weighing more than 13 ounces from a customer or a customer’s mailbox.

Rural carriers and contract and delivery service suppliers will, however, be able to accept mailpieces more than 13 ounces that require a retail transaction and that have a return address matching the point of pickup. (USPS News Link - 7/17/07)

Mystery Shopper Evaluations Should Not Be Used to Discipline Window Clerks - From Gary Kloepfer, National APWU Assistant Maintenance Director : "This is a summary of Arbitrator Michael Wolf’s decision "This is a summary of Arbitrator Michael Wolf’s decision in case C00C-4C-D-05085599. The issue in this case involved the discipline of an employee under the mystery shopper program. The Union took the position that the discipline was improper in light of the Postal Service's position that the Mystery Shopper program was only to be used as a diagnostic tool and not the source for disciplinary action." (9/02/06)

Postmasters and supervisors now have a new staffing tool to help them better manage and staff their retail windows. 

 “WOS Earned/Actual Staffing Graph” takes the guess work out of how many employees are needed at the retail window throughout the day. With one mouse click, “WOS Earned/Actual Staffing Graph” compares the earned staffing level to the actual staffing level for each 30-minute interval within a business day and recommends the number of employees needed to staff windows at different times of the day. Senior Operations Vice President Bill Galligan calls it the best tool available to field managers to manage their unit.

 So how can you start using it? It’s simple. The report is available in the Retail Data Mart (RDM) in the “Shared Folder” under the “RDM WOS” folder. For instructions and additional details on the tool, follow this link from the Delivery and Retail website: http://blue.usps.gov/delivery/ldc45/improvement/initiative/welcome.htm.

source: USPS (5/3/06)

It’s looking like 2006 will be a good year for resolving several long-standing and lingering disputes. I expect four cases that I appealed to arbitration more than 10 years ago to be scheduled for national arbitration in the next few months

Contracting Window Work — In this case, we are contesting situations in which the Postal Service contracted out only the labor in a so-called Contract Postal Unit: The property used is leased to the Postal Service, and the USPS pays all utilities, but the USPS contacts for labor separately through a so-called Contract Postal Unit. Our position is that these duty assignments must be posted to the APWU bargaining unit. Furthermore, the contract employees utilized in these circumstances were employed in lieu of career employees. Our position is supported by the Das awards on “Kelly Girls” and casuals hired in lieu of.  March/April 2006 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine

From the July August American Postal Worker: APWU Requests Polo Shirt Program to Go Nationwide-" The pilot polo shirt has been concluded with extremely successful results. Our sales associates love them and the Mystery Shopper scores demonstrate that there is a good reason to make these shirts part of the uniform program." (7/26/04)

Q & A: APWU position on deployment and use of Automated Postal Centers

As reported in articles and reports to the Clerk Craft Conference, Automated Postal Centers (APCs) are being deployed throughout the United States. The automated equipment is designed to reduce lines at the windows and provide customers another way to mail items and purchase special services.

The following answers to frequently asked questions present the position of the American Postal Workers Union on the deployment and use of this equipment.

USPS, Hallmark join forces -to offer customers added convenience The Postal Service and Hallmark Gold Crown Stores are teaming up to serve their mutual customers better. Hallmark stores sell cards and gifts. USPS sells stamps and mailing services. Customers can now do their shopping and shipping at the same location. “USPS and Hallmark Gold Crown are highly respected brands that customers know and trust,” said USPS Chief Marketing Officer Anita Bizzotto. “This partnership is about expanding access, increasing customer convenience, and generating new revenue,” — important Transformation Plan strategies. Selected Hallmark Gold Crown stores will offer postage stamps, special services, and package services. Customers can send First-Class Mail and Priority Mail cards, letters, and packages up to 20 pounds. Special services offered include certified mail, insured mail, return receipt, Delivery Confirmation, and Signature Confirmation service. USPS employees collect mail from the stores each day.

(USPS April 2003)

What You Should Do When Issued A Letter Of Demand

By Cassandra Sharpley, Chief Shop Steward Stations Oakland Ca. #78 APWU Local

 The Preamble of Article 28 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) requires management to inform an employee in advance in writing of any money demand, and the demand must include the reasons therefore. The procedures that management must adhere to in order to collect a debt are found in section 462.2 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) and Article 28, Section 4 of the CBA.

 If you are issued a “Letter of Demand”, and believe that you are not in debt to the Postal Service, you should contact your shop steward immediately and file a grievance. If you fail to initiate a timely grievance or the union fails to make a timely appeal, or you receive a partial settlement of your grievance, or your grievance is declared nonarbitrable by an arbitrator, you have a right to petition for a hearing, pursuant to the Debt Collection Act. Sections 452.336 and 462.22 of the ELM provide the procedures an employee should follow when petitioning for a hearing.  If a grievance is initiated and advanced through the grievance-arbitration procedure or a petition has been filed pursuant to the Debt Collection Act, regardless of the amount and type of debt, collection of the debt will be delayed until disposition of the grievance and/or petition has (have) been had, either through settlement or exhaustion of contractual and /or administrative remedies. (Article 28, Section 4 of the CBA)

 If you are issued a Letter of Demand for the recovery of pay that was erroneously paid , you may request a waiver of the debt by submitting a PS Form 3074 in triplicate to the installation head within 3 years immediately following the date on which the erroneous payment of pay was discovered. (Section 437 of the ELM) However, the submission of a Form 3074 does not stay the collection of the debt. (Section 451.6 of the ELM)

 To effect the collection of a debt, management must complete a PS Form 3239 in triplicate, and submit copy 1 to the Postal Service’s Accounting Service Center in Minnesota, copy 2 to Personnel and copy 3 to the employee. (Section 462.5 of the ELM)

 The incorporation of the retail floor stock concept under the Segmented Inventory Accountability (SIA) has virtually eliminated the need to issue window clerks Letters of Demand.

April 7, 2004
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Question : I am a SSA in an office with POS ONE terminals. Is there a certain number of transactions or a formula used to determine how many SSA's should be on the window, or how many hours are needed on the window in a day ?
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Answer: PM 21- Yes, a WOS report. Your supervisor can pull this for you. Key thing to remember if your a window clerk is to hit the non transaction button whenever you collect hold mail, answer a question, or do something that does not require a transaction. Its a great report. Of course it must be utilized with some common sence. Have your supervisor check it out for you.
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Answer: betz:-Jim, any ssa authorized to consolidate can run the report. make sure your ssa's are entering the nonrevenue transactions--hold mail, passport requests, coa's and parcel pickups, otherwise the report will show you only need 1.1 clerks and not reflect heavy pickup volumes.

Senate Approves Extension for Breast Cancer Research Stamp -The U.S. Senate today (January 22, 2004) voted to authorize the USPS to continue selling the Breast Cancer Research Stamp for at least two more years

Excerpts of a  letter dated 11/14/03 from John W. Dockins Manager Contract Administration

"Business success includes controlling funds through a system of internal controls including controlling revenues........, a Retail Data Mart' Revenue Unit report will .soon be made available. This report will help individual field management spot patterns that are known to Indicate a loss of revenue control. A prototype is attached with column headings that show what a postmaster/manager or supervisor should be monitoring. In addition, a Random Operation Count worksheet is attached. Conducting random counts on a regular basis In accordance with the F-1 is expected to result In retention of more retail revenue."

"Offices will be monitored for progress concerning revenue retention. Those offices that continue. to show a need. for improvement will be visited by an SIA support team made up of Area, District, and Headquarters employees for the purpose of assisting under performing units In gaining control of their revenue."

Mystery Shopper Results Are In:' Questionable Retail Practices to Change

DURING THIS PAST SUMMER, THE POSTAL SERVICE CONTRACTED WITH the Gallup Corporation to survey customers, sales and service associates and supervisors regarding the effectiveness of the Mystery Shopper program. The results are in - there will be changes.

If nothing else was revealed by the survey, it was firmly documented that the American public believes that APWU workers offer professional service. We knew that. A surprising result of the survey, however, is that USPS customers want to know their options and want our sales associates to ask the questions.

The survey also showed that the public wants continued access to the retail postal services upon which it relies. What the public doesn't want is long lines.

 We Do Windows (Well)

In a recent meeting with APWU representatives, postal managers from retail, marketing, and labor relations informed the union that window-staffing practices would be a focus for increasing revenue and customer satisfaction.

Management acknowledged that staffing cuts at retail facilities can hurt the Postal Service and if the USPS wants to "grow the business," increased staffing must be considered. Postal Service managers told us that other products and services are being contemplated as well and cited pilot pro­grams in Miami, Denver and Dallas that have resulted in an increase in revenue and customer satisfaction.

As to the Mystery Shopper program, the methods for scoring window clerks will change.

The survey demonstrated that our sales associates didn't like the program's requirement that made them seem so robotic when asking customers questions. From now on, sales associates can use their own methods of phrasing to meet the requirements of the program. No longer will saying "thank you" be such a rigid requirement - as long as the transaction is closed with some variant on "have a great day" or other acceptable phrase.

The associates will not be obligated to ask the customer the "debit card/credit card" question, and making eye contact with a customer will no longer be a requirement.

The changes to the scoring system will be distributed to all offices and will be provided on the APWU Web site once it becomes available.

Agreement Reached on Compromised Exam

The APWU recently reached an agreement regarding sales associates who were in training on or around Aug. 22, when the retail examination was compromised because copies of the qualifying test and/or the answers ^,ere made available around the country.

 APWU subject-matter experts have been working with management to formulate a new exam that is to be validated and tested by mid-November. The affected tail associates will be allowed to continue in the hours and days off of the duty assignment that they bid until they receive a chance to take the new test.

 Immediately prior to the test date, those trainees will be given another 40 hours of classroom training. Employees will be allowed to maintain their training materials during this  period, which will be considered an extension of the training on a one-time basis. However, the training materials must be stored at the retail unit; employees will not be allowed to take them home.

The APWU negotiated this agreement to ensure that all our members would be granted a full opportunity to qualify for these important duty assignments. In the meantime, sales associates who have completed training and are working the window will be held accountable for the amount of their fixed credit if they fail to exercise reasonable care in the performance of their duties.

 Unusual Number of Failures

The APWU has initiated a national-level grievance on a previous test that was deployed beginning in late March that resulted in a higher than normal number of trainees failing.

 Although we received a commitment from management that no one was terminated due to this test, the APWU has challenged the training and testing that took place. We have met with dozens of workers who believe the test was flawed, and we have received dozens of completed questionnaires echoing that sentiment.

 Any other members who have not yet come forward and who feel they were impacted by this test should complete the form on the Clerk Craft page on the APWU Web site, ("Sales and Service Test Score Survey," posted July 25, 2003). We will continue to collect the data until the case is heard.

("Questions & Answers" about the retail exam issue are available on the "Information and Documents" page in the Clerk Craft pages at www.apwu.org.)

Sales and Services Associate Exam

Questions & Answers

The parties understand that the Sales & Services Associate exam (CBT 421) has recently been subject to a security breach. As as result of the breach, the exam and related training have been suspended. Exams taken after close- of- business August 22, 2003 are considered invalid and the score will not be considered for any purposes.

This document represents the mutual understanding and agreement of the parties concerning employees who have completed the Sales and Services Associate (SSA) training, however, have not taken the qualifying exam or their exam was invalidated by the suspension.

Question: What is the status of the employees who have completed the SSA classroom and on-the-job training, however, due to the pending exam revisions, have not taken the exam or their exam was invalidated by the suspension?

Answer: Employees who completed their SSA classroom and on-the-job training, will remain in the window position that they bid and are seeking qualification, however, permanent assignment to the position will be deferred until successful completion of the testing. The employees will continue to perform window duties in the hours of this assignment until the test results are received, provided the employee's on-the-job training rating was acceptable.

Question: Will SSA employees who have completed training and are working the window be accountable for the amount of their fixed credit?

Answer: Yes. An employee shall be financially liable if the employee does not exercise reasonable care in the performance of duties.

Question: Will the employee be entitled to out-of-schedule compensation?

Answer: No. Out of schedule provisions will not apply because this is an extension to the training program.

Question: When will the employees be tested?

Answer: The employees referenced above will be tested by close of business on November 19, 2003

Question: Will employees be entitled to any type of brush- up training?

Answer: Yes. Employees will receive 40 hours of classroom training.

Question: Will employees be allowed to maintain their training materials during this period?

Answer: Yes. This will be considered an extension of the training on a one-time basis but the training materials will be stored at the retail unit and not allowed to be taken home.

USPS Letter on Mystery Shopper Evaluations

The Mystery Shopper Program was implemented to improve the level of customer service and generate revenue by ensuring customers are aware of the numerous postal services available. The Program consists of lobby evaluations and retail employees observations. AS stated in previous correspondence from the Chief Operations Officer, dated April 30, 2003, the Mystery Shopper evaluations are not be used as as source for disciplinary action

HAZMAT source: Postal Bulletin 9/4/03

Last month's Retail Coaches Corner included information on the mandatory HAZMAT question at retail - "Does this article contain anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous?" Several readers had additional questions:

What do retail acceptance employees do if the customer answers "yes" to the mandatory question?

If customers answer yes, they must state the contents. Following identification of the article's contents, the retail associate should consult the HAZMAT-1, Quick Reference poster; DMM C020-024; Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail; or the IMM to determine mailability of the material and required packaging, labeling, documentation, and any mail class restrictions. If the package meets the requirements, then the item should be accepted.

Where can we get HAZMAT shipper's declarations and hazardous materials labels?

Changes in the F-1 331 Cash Reserves

[Revise 331 to read as follows:]

The HAZMAT Question: Important, Necessary, and Mandatory