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ITEM 1 - ADDITIONAL OR LONGER WASH-UP PERIODS

A reasonable period for wash-up time shall be granted as necessary for employees who perform dirty work or who work with toxic materials.

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ITEM 2 - THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A REGULAR WORK WEEK OF FIVE DAYS WITH EITHER FIXED OR ROTATING DAYS OFF.

All regular duty assignments will have fixed days off.

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ITEM 3 - GUIDELINES FOR THE CURTAILMENT OR TERMINATION OF POSTAL OPERATIONS TO CONFORM TO ORDERS OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES OR AS LOCAL CONDITIONS WARRANT BECAUSE OF EMERGENCY CONDITIONS.

The determination as to what constitutes sufficient emergency conditions as to require the curtailment or termination of postal operation swill be made by the installation head, who will give every reasonable consideration to the safety and welfare of employees in making the determination.  Reasonable consideration shall be given, but not limited to, such conditions as:

If conditions exist where the curtailment or termination becomes necessary, an available APWU representative will be advised and leave will be granted as appropriate.  The type of leave granted will be subject to the grievance procedure.

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ITEM 4 - FORMULATION OF LEAVE PROGRAM.

A.  Definition of a section for annual leave purposes will be:

 Other stations or new sections will be negotiated locally.

B.  To prepare for the circulation of leave boards, an annual leave planning meeting with be held during the 3rd week of October during which management and the APWU will consult to configure the leave boards for all sections.  The boards will be distributed no later than the 1st week in November.  The agenda for this meeting will include:

• The number of leave slots earned on each board.

• The employees assigned to each leave board (listed by seniority and name in accordance with their official duty assignment).

• The calendar dates and identification of choice vacation weeks.

• The dates and slots reserved for APWU convention of each board.

• The annual leave category for each employee.

C.  During a one-time circulation of the leave board in each section, employees will be allowed to sign for leave as follows:

 D.  Employees will be provided with a copy of LMU Items 4, 6, 7,  and 12 at the time they receive the leave board.

E.  The tour supervisor and the APWU representative in the section shall be responsible for the prompt circulation of the leave board.  Each employee shall be limited to two (2) working days to apply for vacation.  Circulation of the leave board shall be by seniority, highest seniority first and proceeding in descending order.  Employees not signing up for their vacation during his/her turn shall be passed over, however may, upon written request, sign at a lower seniority spot on the leave board.  In the event an employee is on extended leave or absence, i.e., sick, COP, etc.  the APWU will be allowed to notify the employee.

F.  Special consideration will be given to employees needing additional continuous leave weeks, provided it is not to the detriment of other employees or the needs of the service.

G.  Upon the approval of the supervisor, an employee may trade his/her approved leave selection for an equal amount of open leave week(s) (as described in Item 12.C.2).  The trade must be requested by no later than Monday of the week preceding the new leave week requested.  In order to prevent an unmanageable number of trades, employees will be allowed no more than one (1) trade per leave year.

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H.  Only one (1) employee name shall be permitted in each section leave board slot.

I.  Approved leave can be canceled at the employee's option by the Monday prior to the affected scheduled leave week.  Management, upon request of the employee, may cancel approved leave after the Monday of the preceding leave week.

J.  During the circulation of the leave board, Management must place the employee's name in the vacant leave slots(s) on the leave board within two (2) calendar days of the date the form 3971 is submitted and approved.  The Employees name would then be placed on the board before being given to the next employee.

K.  When changing sections, an employee will retain their vacation selection when reassigned involuntarily.  When an employee voluntarily bids to a new section, he/she will retain only one (1) week of their previously approved guaranteed leave of their choice, and may apply for open leave week(s)  (as described in Item 12.C.2).  As a result of a voluntary bid, leave previously approved in the employees losing section will be reopened in accordance with Item 12, except for the week the employee chooses to transfer.

L.  Consideration will be given not to require employees to work overtime on their last regular work day preceding their scheduled choice vacation or on their non-scheduled days adjacent to or during their choice vacation selection.

M.  These provisions will be effective through the 1998 leave year or a new LMOU.

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ITEM 5 - THE DURATION OF THE CHOICE VACATION PERIOD(S).

The duration of the choice vacation period shall be from the first full week in May through the second full week in October,  December 26 through January 1, plus the one week period designated as spring break for the Wichita Falls Independent School District.

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ITEM 6 - THE DETERMINATION OF THE BEGINNING DAY OF AN EMPLOYEE'S VACATION PERIOD.

An employee shall sign for annual leave for the week in which the majority of his/her leave will be taken.  The beginning day shall be Saturday unless an alternate beginning day is requested on Form 3971.  This request will allow the employee the benefit of adjacent non-scheduled work days subject to the approval of the supervisor.

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ITEM 7 - WHETHER EMPLOYEES AT THEIR OPTION MAY REQUEST TWO SELECTIONS DURING THE CHOICE VACATION PERIOD, IN UNITS OF EITHER 5 OR 10 DAYS.

Employees may request two choice vacation selections in units of either 5 or 10 working days, the total not to exceed the 10 or 15 days for which they are entitled to sign.

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ITEM 8 - WHETHER JURY DUTY AND ATTENDANCE AT NATIONAL OR STATE CONVENTIONS SHALL BE CHARGED TO THE CHOICE VACATION PERIOD.

Employees on jury duty during their choice vacation period shall be eligible to reapply for another available vacation selection if the vacancy exists within the 12%.

Attendance at the National or State conventions shall be charged against the allowed choice selections, and the slots reserved for this purpose.  After delegate elections, the APWU and management will consult and may reopen slots previously reserved but which will not be used, in accordance with LMU 12.C.

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ITEM 9 - THE DETERMINATION OF THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WHO SHALL RECEIVE LEAVE EACH WEEK DURING THE CHOICE VACATION PERIOD.

The maximum number of employees allowed off during the choice vacation period will be in accordance with Article 10, Section 3D of the National Agreement and Item 4 of our Local Memorandum.

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ITEM 10 - THE ISSUANCE OF OFFICIAL NOTICES TO EACH EMPLOYEE OF THE VACATION SCHEDULE APPROVED FOR SUCH EMPLOYEE.

An employee's name appearing on the posted section leave board weekly slot or the approved 3971 shall be official notice of leave approved to him/her.

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ITEM 11 - DETERMINATION OF THE DATE AND MEANS OF NOTIFYING EMPLOYEES OF THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW LEAVE YEAR.

Management shall, not later than November 1, publicize on bulletin boards and by service talks the beginning date of the new leave year.

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ITEM 12 - THE PROCEDURES FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS FOR ANNUAL LEAVE DURING OTHER THAN THE CHOICE VACATION PERIOD.

A.  Employees may sign for leave outside the choice vacation period during the circulation of the board as described in Item 4, Paragraph C.

B.  After the circulation of the leave boards has been completed in each unit, employees may apply for incidental leave at any time during the year on a first come, first served basis.  Applications for incidental annual leave should be dated and show the time of receipt by the supervisor.

C.  After the circulation of the leave boards has been completed, management and the APWU will consult to identify and mark vacant slots on each leave board which may be open for advance approval as follows:

D.  The supervisor may, following consultation with the APWU President or Steward, restrict leave (other than guaranteed leave) subject to other leave taken for illness, injury, etc. during open weeks described in paragraph C above.

E.  Employees requesting additional annual leave under the provisions of this item must have enough annual leave to their credit to cover each request.

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ITEM 13 - THE METHOD OF SELECTING EMPLOYEES TO WORK ON A HOLIDAY.

When scheduling for a holiday, clerks will be utilized by Overtime Section in accordance with these specific steps:

One copy of the Holiday Schedules, when posted, will be mailed to the Local APWU official address.  Stewards in each section will be given a copy of the holiday schedules upon request.

METHOD OF SELECTING MAINTENANCE EMPLOYEES TO WORK A HOLIDAY OR DAY DESIGNATED AS THE HOLIDAY.

In the maintenance craft, holiday work will be offered, according to the needs of the service, to qualified volunteers of the regular work force on a rotating basis.  If sufficient manpower is not achieved, personnel may be required to work holidays on a juniority basis according to qualifications and tour assignments.

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ITEM 14 - WHETHER OVERTIME DESIRED LISTS IN ARTICLE 8 SHOULD BE BY SECTION AND/OR TOUR.

Overtime desired lists will be circulated in each section as defined below:

 Other stations or new sections will be negotiated locally.

When overtime is scheduled, regular employees on the overtime desired list will be considered first.

MAINTENANCE

Overtime in the Maintenance sections will be solicited first from volunteers on the overtime desired list on a rotating basis.  No available volunteer of the same level as the work to be performed will be denied overtime by a volunteer of a lower level.  If sufficient manpower is not achieved by the above methods, overtime may be solicited, and if necessary, required from any qualified personnel on a juniority basis.

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ITEM 15 - THE NUMBER OF LIGHT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS WITHIN EACH CRAFT OR OCCUPATIONAL GROUP TO BE RESERVED FOR TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT LIGHT DUTY ASSIGNMENT.

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ITEM 16 - THE METHOD TO BE USED IN RESERVING LIGHT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS SO THAT NO REGULARLY ASSIGNED MEMBER OF THE REGULAR WORK FORCE WILL BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED.

No regular employee will be bumped from a bid assignment to provide light duty for another employee, nor moved from their own regular bid assignment unless physical limitations mandate otherwise.

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ITEM 17 - THE IDENTIFICATION OF ASSIGNMENTS THAT ARE TO BE CONSIDERED LIGHT DUTY WITHIN EACH CRAFT REPRESENTED IN THE OFFICE.

Each request for light duty will be considered on its own merits in accordance with provisions of the National Agreement.  Reasonable effort, based on the needs of the service and the employee's limitations will be made to provide work within their physical limitations.

The APWU president will be notified of all light duty assignments affecting the crafts represented by the APWU via a copy of Form LD-1 as soon as practical but not to exceed three (3) working days from the decision date.

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ITEM 18 - THE IDENTIFICATION OF ASSIGNMENTS COMPRISING A SECTION, WHEN IT IS PROPOSED TO REASSIGN WITHIN AN INSTALLATION EMPLOYEES EXCESS TO THE NEEDS OF THE STATION.

In accordance with Article 12, Section 5.C.4.A. of the National Agreement, the identification of assignments comprising sections for the purpose of reassignments within this installation of employees excess to the needs of a section are as follows:

 Other stations or new sections will be negotiated locally.

For the purpose of this item, pool employees' sections shall be the same as their leave sections.  Every effort will be made to assign excess employees according to their knowledge or job skill.

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ITEM 19 -- THE ASSIGNMENT OF EMPLOYEE PARKING SPACES.

Management will provide five (5) parking spaces for the APWU.  Of these five, two will be at the MPO, one will be at UP Station, one will be at Morningside Station, and one additional at the facility designated by the APWU President.

A single parking space shall be provided at the MPO for use by the senior employment otherwise authorized a parking space, as designated by the APWU.

If the leasing of an office in the building depends on the availability of a lease-able parking space and the senior employee's space is the last available, as determined by the Postmaster, it shall be surrendered.

Management shall provide bicycle parking inside the MPO and shall attempt to provide it if space is available, at the Stations and Branches.

4 Motorcycle parking spaces shall be supplied by at the MPO.

Management shall attempt to procure parking adjacent to the Main Post Office property for all employees.

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ITEM 20 -- THE DETERMINATION AS TO WHETHER ANNUAL LEAVE TO ATTEND UNION ACTIVITIES REQUESTED PRIOR TO THE DETERMINATION OF THE CHOICE VACATION SCHEDULE IS TO BE PART OF THE TOTAL CHOICE VACATION PLAN.

Leave to attend union activities requested prior to the determination of the choice vacation schedule will be included within the choice vacation period.  The number of weeks needed by each section, if known, will be provided by the APWU President during the annual planning meeting.

A member of the APWU duly elected to attend a duly scheduled seminar shall be allowed to take leave (AL or LWOP) and such leave shall not be charged as part of the employee's choice vacation.

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ITEM 21 -- THOSE OTHER ITEMS WHICH ARE SUBJECT TO LOCAL NEGOTIATIONS AS PROVIDED IN THE CLERK PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.

CLERK CRAFT -- ARTICLE 37

Section 2.C -- Management shall furnish the APWU with five copies of the seniority list each quarter.  Management shall notify the APWU in writing of seniority list changes Quarterly.  Seniority list changes shall be mailed to the Local APWU address.

Section 3.A.4_b -- Should there be a change in the duty assignment as posted, the affected employee and the APWU shall be consulted on whether to repost or not to repost the duty assignment.  If a mutual agreement is not met, the duty assignment shall be reposted.

Section 3.A.4 c -- When any change or combination of changes result in the starting time of a duty assignment  being changed in excess of 1 hour the assignment shall be reposted.  This shall apply to any employee from the date of his/her bid in his/her existing duty assignment.

Section 3.D -- Posting will be for ten calendar days, ending at 5:00 PM on the day of closing.

Section 3.F.2 -- The successful bidder, unless deferred, shall be placed in this new assignment within 10 days of the posting of the notice of the successful bidder.

MAINTENANCE CRAFT -- ARTICLE 38

Section 3.D. -- Management shall furnish the APWU with five copies of the seniority list each quarter.  Management shall notify the APWU in writing of seniority list changes Quarterly.  Seniority list changes shall be mailed to the Local APWU address.

Section 4.A.4. -- When the starting time of a duty assignment is changed by more than 2 hours the duty assignment shall be reposted.

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ITEM 22 - LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS AGREEMENT RELATING TO SENIORITY REASSIGNMENT AND POSTING

Section 1 -- Seniority

For the purpose of higher-level assignments, work areas are defined as follows:

Other stations, branches and new sections will be negotiated locally subject to the grievance procedure.

AM Incoming Includes Manual, Mail processors (F1), SPLSM, Timekeeping, ODIS

PM Outgoing Includes Manual, Mail Processors (F1), SPLSM, Bulk Mail Mailing Req.

MPO Window Section includes Window Clerks, Window Technician, CFS,/Box Records, Telephone, Claims, SSPC

Administration includes, Clerk/Steno (personnel), Postmaster Secretary.

Morningside Station includes Window Clerks, Window Technician, Non window and Mail Processors.

Section 2 -- Posting

A.  All bids must be sealed in an envelope and addressed to the Postmaster and should be designated bid assignment.  Duty assignment bids must be postmarked.  A steward or local official may submit a bid card for employees on leave.

B. Any bid submitted on the last day which bears a PM postmark will be considered as meeting the deadline.

C.  The notice of successful bidder or senior bidder will not be posted earlier than two (2) days after the closing date.

D.  All posting requiring flexible credits shall state the approximate amount of the flexible credit.

E.  Management will keep the bids confidential until the postings close.

F.  All bids for an assignment shall be kept for a period of 90 days and may be seen by any officer or steward of the APWU upon request.

G.  Regular relief assignments as determined by management shall be filled by bid using the same procedure used in filling other assignments.

H. A copy of each posting, along with the notice of each duty assignment award shall be sent to the successful bidder or senior bidder and to the official local APWU address.

I.  The starting time of regular duty assignments shall not deviate more than two hours unless posted as a relief/pool assignment.

J.  Duty Assignments postings and awards will specify overtime and leave sections.  In future postings, all relief/pool duty , shall designate the section he/she shall receive annual leave.  Management will not expedite this provision in order to change existing duty assignments.

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LOCAL MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

This Memorandum of Understanding constitutes agreement between the Wichita Falls Area Local of the APWU and the Postmaster of the Wichita Falls Post Office.

This Memorandum of Understanding is entered into pursuant to the terms of Article 30 of the 1994 National Agreement between the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO and the United States Postal Service.

This Local Memorandum shall continue in full force and effect from March 15, 1996 through November 20, 1998.

Agreement was signed to continue this agreement until November 22, 2000.

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INDEX OF FORMER AND CURRENT RESOLUTIONS

Former Articles 5 (Prohibition of Unilateral Action), 14 (Safety and Health) and 17 (Representation) were Local Memorandum of Understandings that were a part of the 1978 Local Memorandum of Understanding carried forward into the 1987 Local Memorandum of Understanding.  These are continued on a precedent setting basis, as PROHIBITION OF UNILATERAL ACTION, SAFETY AND HEALTH (Items A. through J.) and REPRESENTATION (ITEMS A. through D.).  These items shall be placed and remain in at the back of the Wichita Falls, Texas Local Memorandum of Understanding, and shall bear as much authority as current Local Memorandum of Understanding items.  Local precedent setting grievances and agreements may be added to these items in the future by mutual agreement.

PROHIBITION OF UNILATERAL ACTION

The employer shall consult with the President or Designee of the APWU on actions affecting hours of work and other terms and conditions of employment.

SAFETY AND HEALTH

A.  Management and the APWU will jointly insure that sacks of mail will not be placed under or around cases.

B.  The use of rest bars shall be permitted at letter cased provided the safety requirements are met, i.e., one foot must be on the floor at all times and the seat must be placed at an angle.

C.  Relief must be provided employees during sustained distribution.

D.  The employer shall furnish cups and dispensers for placement at water fountains in the Wichita Falls Post Office.  Such dispensers will be at each of the two fountains on the workroom floor at the Main Office and at each Branch or Station.

E.  Good housekeeping practices will be used to keep all distribution cases free of duty accumulation.  Every effort will be made by employees to keep distribution cases free of litter.

F.  The safest possible working conditions shall prevail.  Both parties will cooperate to the fullest extent in their continuing objective to eliminate accidents, safety hazards, and unsafe work conditions.  Every practicable precaution shall be used to ensure the safety of employees during hours of employment.

G.  The workroom and washroom areas will be lighted ventilated, and heated in the best manner possible consistent with the source of heat, ventilation, air conditioning, and light available.  Drinking receptacles and washrooms will be kept in good repair and in a clean sanitary condition.  Lighting, cooling, and heating levels shall be those prescribed by Departmental Standards at all times (excluding breakdowns).

H.  No overhead work shall be performed while employees are working in the immediate area.

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I.  A statement showing receipt and disbursement of all funds made by the Employee Social and Recreation Committee will be published for the information of all employees after each meeting.

J.  The Employee Social and Recreation Committee will meet at least once each two months.

REPRESENTATION

A.  The officers and representatives of the APWU shall be accorded the same respect, courtesy and dignity from all levels of management that the U. S. Postal Service demands for its own representatives.

B.  An officer of the APWU shall be permitted, with permission of the supervisor, to use the PA system to announce union meetings, and other union business.

C.  Labor-management meetings shall be held once every eight (8) weeks with the appropriate representatives of the Local APWU and management.  Four (4) members from the APWU shall be permitted to attend the Labor-Management meeting with one member from each craft on official time.  Labor-management meetings shall not continue for more than two (2) hours unless mutually extended by all parties concerned.  A room large enough to comfortably accommodate all parties concerning will be furnished.  Three (3) copies of the minutes shall be furnished the organizations involved.  These minutes shall be furnished within six (6) working days following the day of the meeting.  Agenda items shall be furnished two (2) days prior to the date of the meeting;  other items may be discussed by mutual consent.

D.  At each Station and Branch the APWU will be furnished a bulletin board.  The main office board located on the workroom floor shall be no smaller than 4' X 8' in size and for the exclusive use of the APWU.

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This Memorandum of Understanding has been in effect since 1994, while there are a number of changes that could be made to update this agreement, it has been decided not to pursue this at this time.

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