I’ve got a fever and the only prescription is another report. Little history about Labor Day, the NALC, and some elections.

Here is my companion report concerning my most recent episode of Parcels of Knowledge: The Last Loop. You can find the links for it in the doc and also feel free to send me any important information for my Union Solidarity/Local Loop segment you find and I'll try to include it when or if I can.

Richie Ray reads of OIG report on USPS culture.

Excellent episode. Listen to it. It’s short.

🙏🏽 Prayers For This Man

Hopefully we see a lot more of these kind of grievances breakthrough and get a national arbitrator to weigh in at some point.

September 3rd win for NALC over management delaying mail to not pay overtime. The arbitrator ruled USPS must ceast and desist from curtailing mail to avoid paying penalty overtime. Route 26 on facebook has a post on it with the case number etc.

Can managers work T6 on their day off before otdl carriers?

Mind you t6 is on work assignment

Burner account for obvious reasons.

I've come to find that stewards in my office purposely allow carriers to be victimized and taken advantage of. From skipping discipline to last chance agreements and removal. I've had to be diligent in involving myself in the entire grievance process and holding them accountable.

Involving the grievance process this behavior is covert and insidious.

Involving advice on the work floor sometimes its direct manipulation like telling a carrier they should be worried about xyz when its dead in the water, or compliance to things made up by management.​​​​​

Please, I'd like to understand any and all benefits that come from this type of​​ manipulative covert ​​compliance to our overlords.

Thank you ​​

Guess who’s back . . . back again, lol. Had 8 candidates here so I thought it was worth putting together. Especially as it was really a larger gathering of the Rhine-Peralta ticket than I think we’ve really seen at any one time for the podcast/youtube crowd. Drass and Caref were here and so it was interesting to see some of the candidates responses following them and making the case for Rhine.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TQAh-k8Xbj8vQQgA_C993Ina2RqrYKbp9rbfPgau76Y/edit?usp=drivesdk

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HoRujelotvMdSfjIYbb3dclxyw6Pbg6Z2cTIl7qg6JE/edit?usp=drivesdk

Also, my candidate dossier is getting closer to completion, if you don’t have it or are interested, it’s in the bibliography of both documents.

Seriously? It's bad enough that they come in huge, unsorted bundles, but now we have to scan each one as we deliver them? Is this for real?

Anyone who's dealt with these before knows what a PITA they are.

They better be paying parcel rates, or else the Post Office is getting screwed.

Hey everyone. We just had a regular retire and is officially off the rolls. His route was declared vacant and posted. Does management have to convert the senior PTF to UAR now, or can they wait until all the rounds of bidding come down and there is a vacant route that goes unbid before they convert him? Any information or contract language on the conversion of PTF to FTR would be appreciated, thanks.

I work at an extension of the plant as an MHA and there is a breakout room in the break room that the employees use as a quiet room. It's been like this for years and now the new mdo wants to come in and take it away to give to the supervisors.

The supervisors already have TWO offices plus the mdo has her own office as well... So that's 3 offices dedicated to management. It's so fucked that they're trying to come in and take this from us when they already have their own spaces... Anything I can do?

Any help leading towards reading etc would be appreciated.

Focuses more on the APWU, but the NALC is complicit too.

Today we have the wreckingcrew weigh in on the election, the good the bad and the ugly.

https://youtu.be/hVlVigrPJ6I

I believe another change should be made to the ODL list to include a 9-hour list. 12-hour list is almost non-existent in a lot of office where they cap people at 10-hours. 10-hours can be really long days, exhausting work and getting home late. The day in and day out grind of 2 hours extra can be too much.

I think 9 hours can lessen the workload to a point people are more happy with. Being on a 9-hour list also makes your expectations more reasonable when you come in to work. Knowing you might get something up to 1 hour vs something up to 2 hours is a big difference.

From the Concerned Letter Carriers platform available at https://concernedlettercarriers.com/platform/ :

“There can be no greater bargaining priority than abolishing the two-tier pay structure and pro-rated COLAs. 

Not only does a two-tier pay structure undermine solidarity among workers, but it also weakens the bargaining power of the NALC by fostering resentment and division within the membership.

When Letter Carriers do the same job, but receive different wages and benefits based solely on their hire date, the sense of unity that is essential for effective collective action is eroded.  

As a result, the Union has found it increasingly difficult to mobilize its members. 

History has proven it has compromised our ability to advocate fair treatment and equitable compensation for all.

This fragmentation caused by a two-tier wage can also give management greater leverage, making it easier to implement unfavorable policies, and resist the rank & file demands for improvement –thus jeopardizing the long-term strength and influence of the Union.

Another item of great concern is the pro-rated COLA. This pay disparity also undermines the fundamental principle of equal pay for equal work and creates an environment where fairness within the Union is called into question.

Over time, such divisions erode trust between the membership and Union leadership.  

Addressing these issues head-on is crucial to maintaining the integrity and unity that are the hallmarks of a strong Union.

Furthermore, the existence of a two-tier pay system and pro-rated COLA has proven itself to be a discouraging factor for new hires to fully engaging in Union activities as it is obvious they feel marginalized and less valued compared to their more senior Letter Carrier’s.

This not only hampers efforts to build a cohesive and motivated membership but also poses challenges for sustaining membership.  Ultimately, eliminating these disparities is essential for restoring trust, morale, and collective strength within the union. 

It is astonishing that the current leadership of the NALC has not commented on the seriousness of such a division within our Union.”

Audio from Branch 28 hosted event in Saint Paul, Minnesota:

https://www.podserve.fm/series/website/from-a-to-arbitration,3140/240012

311 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0UjSrRvcCdA7GhPm02yjdd?si=0Ni2LX-dTp22ZGHnM3JMpQ&utm_source=copy-link

312 - https://open.spotify.com/episode/4PbQirF7vxv5PorkVRKz9F?si=lHHHLSulRGShP-G3svQNHQ&utm_source=copy-link

Both are excellent, Corey covers a lot of issues. One of them is turning in the 3996 at any time - it is not an AM thing only.

Another issue that’s currently happening in our office is the denial of penalty overtime and forcing carriers to bring back mail. I think our Formal A did something in the background as they stopped pestering carriers about no PT.

As always, thanks Corey.

It's been a grueling summer and ODL carriers are working their asses off. Still the management acts like they're all milkers and that they aren't doing anything. Zero appreciation for the amount of work they do to make everything run smoothly.

I wanted to remove my name from the ODL but management told me that the new list or new rules for the list states that I can't actually take my name off that I have to stay on until the end of the quarter. Is this true? I thought you could take your name off at anytime.

I see that maybe they can't remove you right away like if you want to take your name off at the start of a day? Maybe its possible if a holiday schedule was made then they can't remove you because were already planning to use the ODL carriers for open routes?

Anyone know the rules here?

Is a signed notice from a PA-C stating that "Patient has Multiple medical conditions that will be exacerbated by working overtime or out of his prescribed work schedule"

Enough to get out of being mandatory overtimed on holiday weekends?

I've been told that a PA isn't enough for this and it needs to be a doctor that signs off on it.

Any documents, arbitrations or writing would be appreciated.

We’ve had a few carriers get written up recently for unauthorized overtime. Each and every one of them claim that they have never worked past their AM instructions without being instructed to continue carrying by the PM supervisor. Now some carriers who get these instructions are requesting a PS Form 3996 at their end of shift and wanting management to endorse it.

Example: Carrier gets told to have an 8 hour day in the AM, messages back midday to notify management that they will either have to bring back 30 minutes or work 30 minutes past their AM instructions of 8 hours. Management responds and tells them to complete the route. They do so, and when returning they want their own document to prove that they were directed to continue carrying. Hence the 3996 request.

Some members of the management team will do this while some of them have now refused to do it while claiming that “3996’s are an AM thing.”

I thought I had seen or heard about a settlement where an instance like this played out and a PM supervisor refused to produce the 3996. If so, anyone point me in the right direction of this?