Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Eagan Bulk Mail Center employee protest - 8/20/1984Postal workers hold informational picket
By JEFF BURRILL
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Bulk Mail Center on Lexington
Avenue held an informational
picket from 3 -5 p.m. Wednesday,
Aug. 15, outside the center.
According to Jan Bly, bulk mail
center coordinator of the Min-
neapolis area local of the
American Postal Workers Union
(APWU), "We picketed because
of the U.S. Postal Service's
unilateral imposition of a two -tier
wage system which would pay
postal workers hired on or after
Aug. 4, 1984, at a 23 percent
reduced salary scale. This is an
illegal and deliberate attempt to
weaken the unions, which repre-
sent over 600,000 postal
workers."
The informational picket at the
Eagan Bulk Mail Center was one
of a series conducted nationwide
by the APWU the week of Aug. 13
in order to explain the union's
side of the controversy to the
public.
It was also held because a
negotiated settlement between
Postmaster General William
Bolger and the APWU was not
reached during 90 days at the
bargaining table. Bly stated that
Bolger has taken it upon himself
to unilaterally implement the en-
suing two -tier wage proposal.
"We believe Bolger's action is
illegal and it clearly
demonstrates his unwillingness
to act in a responsible fashion,"
Bly said. "We feel we have no
choice but to take our case direct-
ly to the American people."
The APWU has taken the
Postal Service to U.S. District
Court and is seeking a
preliminary injunction to halt its
POSTAL WORKERS at the Eagan Bulk Mail Center
held an informational picket last week in an attempt
to explain to the public the implementation of a two-
current wage system proposal.
According to Bly, the Postal
Service has turned a profit in
three of the last five.years. "And
volume has increased to approx-
imately 130 billion pieces of mail
handled each year by postal
workers,'•' he said.
There are approximately
320,000 members of the APWU,
including workers in the follow-
ing fields: clerk, maintenance,
motor vehicle, and special
delivery messenger grafts.
Federal law prohibits postal
and federal workers from strik-
Photo by Jeff Burrill
tier wage system by the U.S. Postal Service. The wage
system would pay postal workers hired on or after
Aug. 4, 1984, at a 23 percent reduced salary scale.
ing, but it does mandate a dispute
resolution process which calls for
a 45 -day fact finding period
followed by a 45 -day period of
final and binding third party in-
terest arbitration. By law, if the
current dispute is not resolved by
Oct. 19, 1984 - 90 days after the
impasse - the arbitration process
automatically begins.
The APWU is currently holding
its convention in Las Vegas, NV,
with approximately 3,000 union
delegates attending in order to
determine what future course of
action the union will pursue.