APWU - South Jersey Area Local 0526

Special Enrollment for PSEs

On July 30, 2018, the Postal Service notified the APWU that there will be a special enrollment period for PSEs to enroll in the USPS Health Benefits Plan. The enrollment period will be open from August 20 2018, through October 4, 2018. Coverage will become effective on October 13, 2018.

This special enrollment is being conducted in accordance with the settlement agreement, RE: Workforce Benefits Fund. The settlement calls for the Postal Service to make additional contributions to USPS Health Benefits Plan for self plus one and family enrollments for PSEs. With these changes, it is necessary for the Service to offer eligible PSEs the opportunity to enroll.

Each eligible PSE will be receiving a letter (attached) from the Postal Service giving enrollment deadlines, enrollment methods, and plan premiums. The letter will instruct the employees to go the https://liteblue.usps.gov/uspshbp to learn about the plan. Enrollment will be through PostalEASE via liteblue, self-service kiosks in some offices, or by calling the HRSSC at 1-877-477-3273.

This enrollment is for the USPS non-career health benefits plan and should not be confused with the APWU Consumer Driven Option (CDO) plan. Enrollment will not be open for the APWU CDO plan during this special enrollment.

PSEs are eligible for enrollment in the APWU CDO plan after completing their first 360-day appointment. PSEs may enroll in the APWU CDO plan within 60-days of being appointed to a second term as a PSE or during regular Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) open season held in November and December of each year after meeting eligibility requirements.

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Fired Up and Ready to Go! Contract Negotiations Begin Between the APWU and USPS

(This article was first reported on the National Website on June 30, 2018)

The American Postal Workers Union began negotiations for a new union contract with the U.S. Postal Service with an opening session on June 26^th. In a display of postal union unity, NALC Executive Vice-President Brian Renfroe and NPMHU president Paul Hogrogian sat shoulder to shoulder with the APWU leadership. A host of notable labor and community allies, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and NAACP national leader Hilary Shelton, were present in support, underscoring the national importance of this round of bargaining. The APWU delegation of 80 national officers, the Rank and File Bargaining Committee, friends and supporters and local representatives marched to the meeting room chanting “Fired Up and Ready to Go!” while in a national day of APWU solidarity and unity thousands of members wore their stickers: “Fighting Today for a Better Tomorrow.”

APWU President and lead negotiator Mark Dimondstein presented the union’s opening remarks pointing out that “Since the advent of true collective bargaining gained as a result of the postal strike of 1970 – postal workers’ lives are vastly improved. And representatives of our union sit across the bargaining table from management as equals – not because we have important titles, but because we have a union sustained and supported by our members.”

With the recent White House proposal to privatize the Postal Service, Dimondstein didn’t mince words. “As we enter these negotiations, powerful forces on Wall Street and the likes of UPS continue to push for the breaking up of the postal service and selling pieces off to the highest bidders,” he said, adding that “management should not be afraid of bold and creative thinking and approach these negotiations as an opportunity to discuss various ways to protect and expand the public postal service.”

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UPS goes back to court on USPS costing methodology

(This article was first reported on savethepostoffice.com on July 16, 2018)

The United Parcel Service has gone back to court to continue its challenge of a ruling by the Postal Regulatory Commission concerning how the Postal Service determines the costs of its products.

In September 2016, the Commission, in Order No. 3506, denied a petition by UPS proposing changes in the way the Postal Service allocates costs among its various products. UPS then petitioned the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for review. In May of this year, a three-member panel of the Court rejected the UPS appeal.

Earlier this month, UPS filed a new petition, this one for a “rehearing en banc,” asking the full Court to reconsider the panel’s earlier decision. The petition is available here.

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