6 thoughts on “What are Maintenance Mechanic Level 7 duties on APPS machine?

  1. Union and NAME of Local/Branch
    APWU in Clifton , NJ
    Office held, if any
    union member for 45 years
    A friend of the supervisor at out facility was losing his job as a stock room clerk.
    the supervisor manage to maneuver him into a MPE position with weekends and a day shift .
    The former stock room clerk has now been Grandfathered into maintenance and is now considered an MPE.

    For the last several years this guy has not had any IES training nor Training on a qualifying machine, that would be the APPS in our facility ?

  2. Union and NAME of Local/Branch
    APWU - Dallas Local 732
    Office held, if any
    Steward
    I fight this often. We have a 2 sided machine and if management assigns an MM7 AND an MPE or ET to oversee the MM7 on the same side I have no problem, seems like a redundant assignment but I am not in management. However, if the MM7 is assigned to monitor their side independent of higher level assistance,which means they have to seek assistance, I file Art. 7 and Art. 14. The Art 7 is obvious, reading the 2014 EWP agreement between the USPS and OSHA makes the Art. 14 obvious.

    Most of our MM7 are crossovers from Mail Processing or other non-maintenance positions which means they do not meet the USPS experience requirements contained in the EWP MMO for being qualified for live equipment LOTO authorization. In lieu of the required experience the new employees must receive 6 months documented OJT. This is supposed to be real OJT, not just someone giving a nod and a grin. If the employee does not meet the minimum qualifications to be authorized LOTO then they cannot be trained on the current ECP MMO for the APPS. The APPS ECP MMO itself states training on the document is required before work may be performed by an individual on the equipment.

    Also, in the APPS ECP MMO it states the “exceptions” to LOTO are in jam clearing PROVIDED there is an interlock activated and an E-Stop activated, I dare anyone to hit an E-Stop on the APPS every time they clear a jam, can’t be done without causing a major disruption to mail processing. Even entering the interlocked induction cages without being authorized is a safety violation. But if you are an MM7 that is concerned about your safety on the APPS and the lack of proper training I would personally file an OSHA complaint, in writing, certified mail, especially if I did not meet the minimum qualifications for LOTO authorization.

  3. Union and NAME of Local/Branch
    Atlanta Metro Area Local 32
    Office held, if any
    Workroom Floor Steward
    Good looking out Brother Hock…

    Probably the most frequent operational call on most types of MPE is clearing jams.

    So the real question is whether MM-7’s should be assigned to clear jams during an operational mail processing run on an APPS or not. It is a big question with big consequences to our Craft. If MM-7’s can be assigned to perform “Area Assurance” on the APPS, then we will see many more MPE’s and ET’s replaced with MM-7’s over time.

    But note that at the end of MMO 018-13, the word “jam” only appears in section: ATTACHMENT 4, APPS MASTER CHECKLIST, 09-APPS-AA-002-M Operational Maintenance (Daily). And in every instance where the word jam appears, it is either a Minimum Skill Level of 09 or 10.

    So, can MM-7’s be assigned the “Area Assurance” duties monitoring an operational APPS that is processing mail (and pull jams as they occur) or not?

    I say not. But that is going to depend on the arbitrator we draw as I have appealed several such grievances to Step-3 over this of management assigning MM-7’s to perform Area Assurance on our APPS in Atlanta. Here, management’s position is that the APPS fault monitor screens tell the MM-7’s where the jams are so no diagnosis is required.

    Like anything done at the Local and Regional levels, results may vary wildly. Which is why this issue should be addressed by our National APWU.

  4. Union and NAME of Local/Branch
    APWU - Central Florida, Local 1642
    Thank you Mike and Bob, I was able to answers many questions. I appreciated it.

  5. Union and NAME of Local/Branch
    Atlanta Metro Area Local 32
    Office held, if any
    Workroom Floor Steward
    If you look at the other recent MPE/ET post below here, you will see where I posted a downloadable .pdf package I compiled for the differences in MM/MPE/ET positions.

    If you analyze the job descriptions you will see that monitoring the operation of equipment is NOT among the MM-7 job descriptions. And why would it be? If the role of the MM-7 position is to only perform semi-skilled work and never to troubleshoot or diagnose problems, then what sense would it make for an MM-7 to perform “Area Assurance” or “Reactive” maintenance on any running equipment?

    The only sense that it would make is in allowing MM-7’s to do higher level MPE and ET work for MM-7 pay. Which of course has become management’s objective in our Craft. And they will get away with it in enough facilities to save far more money than management will ever have to pay in Art. 7.2 grievances in those facilities where the APWU is strong and on it’s “A-game.”

    Perhaps our National Officers should address this problem of “mission creep” at the national level where MM-7’s are assigned to do “Area Assurance” on operational equipment that should otherwise be ET work. Until then, follow your instructions, file your grievances for whatever inconsistent random results they will get you and hope for the best.

  6. Union and NAME of Local/Branch
    Gary Area Local (IN)
    Office held, if any
    Local President
    MMO 018-13 and emars for PM will guide you. The MMO can be found on the MTSC website along with other MMO’s and SMO’s. Minimum skill levels are identified. If your doing PM you would follow the minimum skill level identified. Other work would need to line up with your SPD
    http://eseries.apwu.org/bqnet/bq_alpha.cfm.

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