What a steward does
You represent the contract. When management breaks it, you document it, you challenge it, and you hold them to the remedy. You are not expected to know every answer on day one.
Your job
- Listen to members and figure out whether the contract was violated.
- Investigate: get documents, interview people, take notes.
- Represent members in investigative interviews (Weingarten).
- File and argue grievances at Step 1, on time.
- Build a complete file so Step 2 has what it needs.
- Tell the member what is happening with their case.
Not your job
- Disciplining or judging members. That is management's call to prove.
- Guaranteeing an outcome. Promise effort and follow-up, never a result.
- Answering on the spot. "Let me check and get back to you by Thursday" is a complete answer.
- Working a case alone. Call your Chief Steward early.
Duty of Fair Representation. The union must represent every employee in the bargaining unit fairly and in good faith, whether or not they are a member and whether or not you like them. You can decide a grievance has no merit, but that decision has to come from an honest look at the facts, not from personal feelings, and it has to be explained to the employee.
Your first two weeks
Check items off as you go. This list is saved only in your browser.
Taking steward time
Article 17 gives stewards reasonable time on the clock to investigate and adjust grievances. Ask your supervisor first, every time, and note the date, time and answer. If the request is delayed or denied, write down the reason given and when you can go. A pattern of denials can itself be a grievance.
When you feel stuck
Every steward has a case they weren't sure about. Use the deadline calculator so the clock never beats you, then bring your notes to the Chief Steward. A late grievance is the only kind that can't be fixed later.
Articles you'll use most
Plain-language summaries to orient you. When you write a grievance, quote the actual language from the National Agreement, the APWU Contract Interpretation Manual (CIM), and the Local 239 LMOU.
Employee Classifications
Defines full-time, part-time and PSE employees, the limits on how many PSEs an installation may use, and when work can be assigned across crafts.
Watch for: PSEs over the cap, and employees being moved across crafts without meeting the contract's conditions.
Hours of Work
Work schedules, overtime, the Overtime Desired List (ODL), and limits on how much overtime someone can be required to work.
Watch for: ODL bypasses, overtime given out of rotation, and schedule changes without proper notice.
Leave
Annual and sick leave, the choice vacation period, and how leave is requested and approved. Read it with ELM 510, including ELM 515 (FMLA).
Watch for: FMLA-protected absences cited in attendance discipline, and leave denied in conflict with the LMOU.
Principles of Seniority, Posting and Reassignments
Seniority, excessing out of a section or installation, and reassignments.
Watch for: excessing out of seniority order, and missing notice requirements.
Assignment of Ill or Injured Regular Workforce Employees
Light duty requests for employees who can't do their regular job, and how those assignments are made.
Watch for: light duty requests denied without a real search for available work.
Safety and Health
Management's responsibility for a safe workplace, plus the employee's right to report hazards (PS Form 1767) and to have them corrected.
Grievance-Arbitration Procedure
The steps, the time limits, and who does what. A Step 1 grievance must be discussed with the supervisor within 14 days of when the employee or union first learned, or reasonably should have learned, of its cause. An appeal to Step 2 is due within 10 days of the Step 1 decision.
Watch for: deadlines. Count calendar days and file early.
Discipline Procedure
Discipline must be for just cause and should be corrective, not punitive. It covers discussions (which are not discipline), letters of warning, suspensions, removals, emergency placement, review by a higher-level manager, and the two-year limit on citing past discipline.
Watch for: discussions listed as "past elements," discipline older than two years, and missing concurrence from a higher-level manager.
Representation
How stewards are appointed, their right to reasonable on-the-clock time, and their right to interview the grievant, supervisors and witnesses and to review relevant documents.
Watch for: steward time delayed or denied, and information requests ignored.
Handbooks and Manuals
Makes the parts of USPS handbooks and manuals (ELM, etc.) that directly relate to wages, hours or working conditions enforceable, and limits how management can change them.
Tip: many winning grievances cite an ELM section through Article 19.
Local Implementation
The subjects Local 239 negotiates with local management, such as the vacation period, holiday scheduling and parking. These are written into the LMOU.
Get a copy of the current LMOU and keep it with your contract.
Union-Management Cooperation
Section 3 gives the union the right to information needed to enforce the contract. Cite it with Article 17 on every information request.
Clerk (37), Maintenance (38), Motor Vehicle (39)
Craft-specific rules on bidding, duty assignments, seniority and promotions. Read your own craft's article cover to cover, then skim the other two.
Full text and interpretation: apwu.org (National Agreement, Contract Interpretation Manual, MOUs).
From complaint to grievance file
Work every case in the same order, so nothing gets missed and the file is ready for Step 2 if it doesn't settle.
Listen and take intake notes
Who, what, when, where, and who saw it. Write the date the member found out. That date starts the 14-day clock.
Find the violation
Which article, ELM section, LMOU item or past settlement was broken? If you can't name a provision yet, keep investigating, but keep an eye on the clock.
Request information in writing
Cite Articles 17 and 31. Keep a copy and note when you sent it. A delayed or denied request goes in the file and can be its own grievance.
Interview
The grievant first, then witnesses, then the supervisor. Use open questions ("What happened next?"). Write down answers word for word when you can.
Hold the Step 1 discussion
Present the facts and the violation, then ask for a specific remedy. Stay calm and stay on the record. Note the supervisor's answer and the date of their decision.
Write it up for Step 2
Facts, contentions (what was violated and why), and remedy (exactly what makes the employee whole). Appeal within 10 days of the Step 1 decision.
Keep a complete file
Intake notes, information requests and responses, statements, documents, and a timeline. Assume someone else will have to argue it without you.
The seven tests of just cause
Discipline cases usually turn on these. A "no" to any one of them is an argument.
- Notice. Did the employee know the rule and the consequence?
- Reasonable rule. Is the rule related to safe, efficient operations?
- Investigation. Did management investigate before disciplining?
- Fair investigation. Was it objective? Did the employee get to tell their side?
- Proof. Is there real evidence the employee did it?
- Equal treatment. Were others treated the same way for the same thing?
- Penalty. Does the discipline fit the offense and the employee's record?
Weingarten rights
In an investigative interview that the employee reasonably believes could lead to discipline, the employee may ask for a steward. The employee has to ask. Management does not have to offer.
- You may meet with the employee before the interview.
- You may ask clarifying questions and add information.
- You may object to harassing or misleading questions.
- You may not tell the employee to lie, or answer for them.
The statement members can read aloud is under Quick reference.
What to request, by case type
| Case type | Ask for |
|---|---|
| Overtime bypass | Overtime Desired List for the quarter, TACS clock rings for the date(s), overtime equitability records, schedules for the employees who worked. |
| Attendance discipline | PS Form 3971s, PS Form 3972 (Absence Analysis), FMLA approvals, the disciplinary file, discipline issued to others for similar records. |
| Any discipline | The full investigative file, PDI notes, the concurring manager's name, the employee's past elements, comparable discipline in the unit. |
| PSE separation or discipline | Appointment start date, Employee Everything Report or TACS records showing every day worked, separation paperwork, the PSE count for the installation. |
| Crossing crafts / work assignment | Clock rings for the employees who did the work, operation numbers, staffing records for the craft that should have done it. |
The PSE 90-day counter
A PSE can grieve discipline or removal once they have completed 90 work days or 120 calendar days, whichever comes first. Management often counts only one of those, or restarts the count when it shouldn't. Count it yourself from the records.
How the count gets miscounted
- Counting only calendar days. A PSE scheduled 6 days a week reaches 90 work days around calendar day 105, well before day 120.
- Counting only work days. A PSE on a light schedule can reach 120 calendar days first.
- Restarting at a new appointment when an MOU credits the earlier one.
- Using a summary instead of records. Ask for the clock rings and count them yourself.
- Calling it "lack of work." Lack-of-work separations are generally not grievable, but pretextual ones are.
Before you argue it
- Get the start date from the appointment paperwork, not from memory.
- Agree with your Chief Steward on what counts as a "work day" (days worked, days in pay status) and on whether the start date counts as day 1.
- The protection is measured within the six months before the action. Check for breaks in service.
- Put your day-by-day count in the file.
Sources: 2013 MOU on PSE discipline · 2018 MOU on one-day breaks · Nov 2025 Step 4 on pretextual separations. Confirm against the current National Agreement.
Never miss the clock
Most rookie losses are timeliness losses. Enter the dates and file by the target date, not the last possible day.
Counts calendar days. If a deadline lands on a weekend or holiday, don't count on an extension. File before it.
Work the case
Read the facts, decide the violation and what you'd request, then open the answer. These are made-up scenarios.
The Saturday bypass
A full-time clerk signed the Overtime Desired List for this quarter. On Saturday, the supervisor gave two hours of overtime to a junior clerk who is not on the list. The clerk on the list was working that day and available.
Show the answer
Violation: Article 8 (Overtime Desired List). Overtime should go to employees on the list before employees not on it.
Request: the ODL for the quarter, TACS clock rings for both clerks on that date, overtime equitability records.
Remedy: pay the bypassed clerk for the hours at the overtime rate.
"She's not at 120 days"
A PSE clerk started June 15 and was usually scheduled 6 days a week. On October 1 she was removed. Management says she has no grievance rights because she hasn't reached 120 days.
Show the answer
Issue: protection starts at 90 work days or 120 calendar days, whichever comes first. October 1 is calendar day 109, but at 6 days a week she likely passed 90 work days around early September.
Request: TACS clock rings or the Employee Everything Report from June 15 to October 1, plus the removal paperwork.
Next: if she has 90 work days, she can grieve and the removal must meet just cause. Check it in the PSE counter.
"This is just a talk"
A driver had a minor accident. The supervisor calls him into the office to "go over what happened." He asks for a steward. The supervisor says it's just a conversation and he doesn't need one.
Show the answer
Issue: Weingarten rights. If the employee reasonably believes the interview could lead to discipline, and he asked for a steward, management must allow one, end the interview, or offer him the choice of continuing without one.
Record: the date, time, who was there, what he asked, and what the supervisor said. If discipline follows from that interview, raise the denial in the grievance.
The FMLA absence
A clerk receives a Letter of Warning for "failure to maintain a regular schedule." One of the three absences listed was approved under FMLA.
Show the answer
Violation: FMLA-protected absences can't be used to support discipline (ELM 515, through Article 19). Also check just cause: does the letter still stand on the remaining absences?
Request: PS Form 3971s, the FMLA approval, PS Form 3972, and the investigative file.
Remedy: rescind the Letter of Warning and remove it from all records.
The discussion listed as discipline
A maintenance employee gets a suspension. The "past elements" section lists a discussion the supervisor had with him four months ago.
Show the answer
Violation: Article 16. A discussion is not discipline and can't be listed as a past element. Management can use it only to show that the employee knew the rule.
Also check: any other past elements older than two years, and whether a higher-level manager concurred.
Remedy: rescind or reduce the suspension and make the employee whole.
Quick check
Seven questions.
Terms and templates
Keep these within reach. Copy a template, fill in the brackets, and keep a copy of whatever you hand to management.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|
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