Via John P. Richards, President – Pittsburgh Area Retiree Chapter of the APWU
A Serious Unintended Consequence
Excerpt:
Holiday Clerk in Houston, TX (photo: APWU)
“For the last few holiday periods, the Postal service and the union agreed to a controversial procedure that permits some recently retired Clerks to be re-employed in select Post Office operations. The result for the retired Clerks was to earn a little extra money to help out for the holidays. We have had at least one member that we are aware of that has taken advantage of the procedure. That experience prompts this report.
Retirees that have done this are under the jurisdiction of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for their retirement annuity and management of Retiree Department dues. But when they go back-on-the-clock as employees, OPM either can’t or won’t maintain the retiree status and therefore drops them from paying the retiree dues. (It is unknown if our member is now carried as a ‘regular’ member, since we don’t have access to those records.) With a deduction of only $3.00 per month, most in this situation, if there are others in the same situation, either don’t notice the adjustment, or if aware, expects the matter to be automatically resolved by OPM or the Union when work at the Post Office ends.”
