During the writing of my book, I searched my memory to recall those things that I was able to achieve that adds to the rewards APWU represented employees received on my watch. In that the primary magnet of employment is wages and benefits, I looked back and researched the contracts that I was directly responsible for and calculated how I helped advanced postal salaries during the years that I served as the chief negotiator. While I was involved in contract negotiations from the beginning of my national service, I did not assume sole responsibility for wages until the 2000 negotiations. In the 2000 negotiations, we did not succeed in finalizing a negotiated contract so it was decided in arbitration and prior to receipt of the decision the salary of a Grade 5 Step O employee was $39,515.
When I left office in 2010 the salary had progressed to $53,102, a difference of $13,587, but that does not tell the whole story because the increases received from the 2000 contract have been received each succeeding year. This is the difference between lump sum payments and wage increases in that one is a onetime payment while the other continues to be received year after year. In the interim, over successive agreements and contract extensions, employees received additional wage increases and cost of living adjustments and my review revealed surprising results.
The record shows that if an employee had frozen his/her expenditures at the level of the first increase in 2000 and banked every increase received to date, that employee would have received a cumulative total of $85,000 in additional wages. This amount includes each pay increase and COLA and the additional amount is credited for each year received (for full comprehension, the salary increases are credited for each year received to date).
Step increases were not included in the calculation. So an employee who was on the rolls when the 2000 contract was finalized and has continued as a postal employee to date has received wage increases over that period of time that added up to a total sum of $85,000 and is still counting. In contrast, the wage increases received since I ended my career comes to the grand total of ZERO, nada, none.
John.
For the record, I had one negotiated contract, two extensions and one arbitration.
John
You do not really want to compare the contracts that I negotiated with the 2010 disaster, do you? The record shows that ETs received almost $17,000 in pay increasaes over 10 years and cumulative increases of almost $90,000 as compared to $0.00 to date. And if you haven’t kept track, that means you have not received an increase in pay for three years
Do not give me the lame excuse that the Postal Service is loosing money. In six of the 10 years that I negotiated they lost money. Your analysis that those were golden years defies the real history but they repeatedly claimed poverty and first class single piece volume was dropping through the floor. My position was that it was irrelevant. The law requires comprability, no more, no less and I refused to get caught in the debate that ‘times are tough.’ That is a cop out and is unrelated to the compensation scheme designed by Congress and until the Republicans are successful in changing the law to establish a direct nexus between the USPS’ budget and employee compensation, the union is foolish to join in the chorus of ‘poor Postal Service.’ So what!
My fight was that arbitrators have concluded that postal salaries exceed comprability and how the adjustment should be made. We convinced the arbitrators that it should be achieved through ‘moderate restraint’ on future increases, but I rejected the suggestion that their financial position was directly relevant to wages..
You and obviously the current union negotiators believe that there should be a connection between employee pay and the USPS’ finances so they agreed to reduce pay in the amount of $500,000 per employee including salary and retirement annuity and you have the nerve to compare my record with this giveaway. That means that you are either stupid or a political lackey.
If you want to resort to name calling I suggest that you design your own blog because if you repeat a similar post, the next time you will be denied a voice on this website. I do not call you names and you do not have a license to show your ignorance by using negative references to me. That is one. You will not get another one.
Bill
Missed oppourtunities. During ur time we should have received double the raises.
The economy was doing good and the USPS was doing great. Instead you chose
to settle instead of going to arbitration. Hey wait. U did the same thing the
current leadership did. U settled. the only difference is the USPS is in the
dumps while during ur time they were doing fine. Why did u settle for so little.
The salary for a level 5 step o should have been close to 60 thousand per year never mind the Maint. and MVS. Give it a rest Bill. You will go down as the coward who left a sinking ship . U and ur buddy Potter both made a decision to leave because you knew it was going to get rough. Give me a break. I will start calling u the spin doctor but that is to good a name. U did it and u knew it. Labor will call u a coward in its history book no matter what spin u take. Facts are facts.
Bill,
Thanks for all you have done. I was just wondering why there is never any mention of the fact that a level 5 mailhandler earns more than a level 6 clerk? That would have been unheard of under yours and Moe’s regime. In my 30 yrs as a clerk and APWU member I never thought I’d see that. UNBELEVABLE.
OH PLEASE,
I do not suggest that employees could or did ‘bank’ the negotiated increases. The intent was to show the actual amount nengotiated. Although it was not as much as I asked for and thought that the employees were deserving of but $85,000 is a lot better that the $0 received since I left. If you interpret it as bragging I can acccept that because that is the record and I am proud of it.
Bill
Sounds like whining
, guess you should have banked all your increases too! Like some clerks or others could afford to bank all there raises while healthcare and the general cost of living was going up. The pay raises were nice Mr Burrus but they were not and are not enough for public self slaps on the back!
Thank you Mr. Burrus for this Journal..you continue to make great contributions to all union members. I only wish more union officials retired and otherwise would present their thoughts and accomplishments like you do.
Bangor Maine