* ALL settlement proceeds will be distributed to eligible recipients;
* ALL bargaining unit members for whom the union has employment data (1993 thru 2005) will be eligible;
* ALL bargaining unit members will receive a portion of the settlement, in accordance with the number of years worked during the time-frame the grievances were pending (1986-2005);
* ALL Clerk Craft and Maintenance Craft bargaining unit members will also receive a portion of the settlement based on casual hours used by the Postal service, by year during the period 1986-2005, in proportion to the craft in which the hours were actually worked.
* ALL distributions will be done using neutral, uniform formulas, based on the actual casual hours used by the USPS in 1986-2005.
Eligible recipients will get two checks during the period in which the distribution is being implemented. Your first check will be a portion of the settlement, in accordance with the uniform distribution method. Your second check (which won’t be issued until all the first checks are calculated and issued) will be a residual portion of the settlement – in other words, any monies that are unable to be distributed or are otherwise unclaimed for administrative reasons). All calculations will be made in accordance with the uniform distribution method. Please note: due to the need to identify and locate former bargaining unit members, current employees will receive the first check before retirees and other former employees.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during the past few months, while the Local gathered the data and information necessary to distribute the CILO Settlement in as comprehensive, fair and rational a manner as possible. Needless to say, it has been extremely difficult and time consuming for the Local to get data and information from the USPS that goes back to 1986. Some information (for example, any employee work history data prior to 1993) we simply have been unable to obtain.
However, the Local has succeeded in getting from the USPS the most critical information that I felt was needed to do a fair and even-handed distribution of the settlement: all the casual hours worked, by Craft and by year, during the entire period (1986-2005) that the grievances were pending.
The distribution of this grievance settlement has been one of the most challenging efforts in the history of the Philadelphia, PA Area Local. The long period of time that the grievances were pending, the large number of bargaining unit members affected, the many affects (both generalized and specific) caused by the use of casuals, the limits on data, and the administrative difficulties in locating former bargaining unit members and compiling work histories, all present (and will continue to present) significant obstacles. But I am satisfied that the APWU and the Local have done the best that we could (without getting bogged down for years in costly and never-ending information gathering) to make a fair and uniform distribution of the settlement monies, as quickly and practically as possible.
Please be patient while the calculations phase of the settlement distribution begins. My goal is to get the settlement distributed properly. The Local will work with the Postal Service to do that as quickly as possible in light of the administrative issues that we face. Thank you for your attention.
Fraternally,
Harmon P. Elliott Jr.
President
PHILA PA AREA LOCAL APWU
Return to Philadelphia Local APWU Homepage
Posted: April 25, 2006