What is Considered an Act of God and What Are Your Rights?
It happens every year: a hurricane, a blizzard, a flood, severe weather of some kind that affects employees’ ability to get to work. Even the most dedicated carriers can’t stand up to Mother Nature when she is at her worst. This is why every carrier should know about administrative leave for “Acts of God,” what the rules are, and how best to get them to work for.
Section 519 of the Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM allows management to grant administrative leave when community disasters strike. Calamities such as blizzards, floods and hurricanes are just some examples of situations that could prompt an Act of God grievance. Arbitrators have made a number of rulings on the relevant language of Section 519 of the ELM to further clarify the circumstances in which administrative leave should be granted. But first, we need to know what that ELM language says.
ELM section 519.1 defines administrative leave:
Administrative leave is absence from duty authorized by appropriate postal officials without charge to annual or sick leave and without loss of pay.
Section 519.211 reads:
Acts of God involve community disasters such as fire, flood, or storms. The disaster situation must be general rather than personal in scope and impact. It must prevent groups of employees from working or reporting to work.
Section 519.212 identifies who has the authority to approve administrative leave for an Act of God:
Section 519.213 addresses determining the cause of the absences:
Postmasters and other appropriate postal officials determine whether absences from duty allegedly due to “Acts of God” were, in fact, due to such cause or whether the employee or employees in question could, with reasonable diligence, have reported for duty.
Section 519.214 deals with early dismissal due to an Act of God:
When employees are dismissed from duty before the normal completion of their duty due to an act of God, the following applies:
(1) The number of hours the part-time flexible worked on the same service day in the previous service week.
(2) The number of hours the part-time flexible was scheduled to work.
(3) The guaranteed hours as provided in the applicable national agreement.
And finally, Section 519.215 focuses on employees prevented from reporting:
Employees scheduled to report who are prevented from reporting or, who after reporting, are prevented from working by an act of God may be excused as follows:
Defining an Act of
God
Perhaps recognizing that one area’s disaster may be another area’s mild winter storm, Section 519.211 of the ELM sets up three criteria for determining the appropriateness in granting administrative leave for Acts of God.
First, no matter the event, it must create a community disaster. Second, that event must be general, rather than personal, in scope and impact. And finally, the event must prevent groups of employees from working or reporting to work. Most arbitrators agree that all three criteria must be met before a request for administrative leave will be considered appropriate.
Community disaster
The first criterion identified in Section 519.211 requires that Acts of God involve community disasters such as fire, flood or storms. In most cases, the Act of God event in question must have been of unusual severity. In considering whether these events fit the definition of an Act of God, arbitrators have looked at such factors as the amount of snow or rain, the length of the storm, wind strength, temperature and destruction. More important than these elements, however; is the fact that the event created disastrous conditions.
To support such a grievance, you should provide documentation concerning the devastating results of the event. Newspaper articles, information from local authorities and material from the internet can be used to show the severity of the situation. Do your research. One good resource for weather related events is the website Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com/history). This site provides historical data of the weather conditions on given date for any area you choose. It will give you the amount of snow or rain, wind speeds, temperatures, etc. Plan ahead and take pictures and videos of the event and its aftermath. The more documentation you add, the better your chance to meet the criteria by showing the event did in fact rise to the level of an Act of God.
Providing proof that there was a complete shutdown of all community services except emergency services such as fire, police and hospitals will go a long way in showing there was a community disaster. Were roads closed? Did police warn people to stay home? Were people advised to evacuate? Again, provide newspaper articles and look on the internet for stories regarding the event.
General Impact
The second criterion set forth in Section 519.211 requires that Acts of God be general in scope and impact. Although it seems likely that an Act of God event by definition would also be a general disaster, some arbitrators have looked to a different type of evidence to meet this standard, primarily the direct impact on and the reaction of the community as a whole. Reports of property damage estimates, vehicle accidents, casualties, utility outages, road closures, school and business closures, disruption of community services, “State of Emergency” declarations and such can be convincing to establish the impact of the catastrophic event was not limited to the Postal Service but rather overwhelmed the entire community.
Most arbitrators have agreed that the Postal Service does not have to shut down entirely before administrative leave can be granted. In C-00713; the arbitrator stated, “The determination of an entitlement to administrative leave does not depend on whether the post office was closed or not. Section 519.211 imposes no requirement that the office be closed or operations curtailed before employees may receive such leave.”
Employee Impact
The third criterion cited in the ELM is that the disaster affects groups of employees. Arbitrators are divided on their interpretation of what constitutes a group. While some arbitrators may require that 50% or more of the employees were unable to come to work because of conditions, other arbitrators have pointed out that the ELM sets no such arbitrary figures, and that the fact circumstances of each case must be considered.
Although some arbitrators look to employee reporting percentages of the office as a whole as the benchmark when determining the impact to the group, other arbitrators give consideration, when documented, to groups of employees within the office who are from a certain area more adversely impacted and as such were unable to report to work. Maps are useful in demonstrating areas where employees live and whether the event prevented employees from specific areas from reporting to work. The internet can be a good source for maps. Look at why carriers were unable to report and identify the similarities with those who did not report and the differences with those who did report. Employee statements are crucial pieces of evidence in establishing impact. Arbitrators will consider one employee’s particular difficulties in getting to work, but if other employees from the same area did come in, the arbitrator is likely to consider the disaster personal rather than general, and may refuse to grant administrative leave.
Reasonable Diligence
Remember, the standard for reporting for duty set in the ELM is reasonable diligence. Because management must weigh the amount of reasonable diligence the affected employees showed in trying to come to work, arbitrators may likewise evaluate the efforts of the employee. Some arbitrators will look at general conditions and not require specific proof of individual attempts to come to work-but in other cases, arbitrators have required that employees present evidence of their diligence. Sometimes, arbitrators look for an employee to show that alternative means were unavailable or the effort would have been futile.
In C-000581, the arbitrator granted administrative leave to two grievants who testified about their inability to come to work during a severe snowstorm, but the arbitrator did not give leave to the other employees who failed to produce affidavits or other evidence that they had exercised reasonable diligence.
On the other side of the coin, a recent decision by Arbitrator Miles (C-31918) quoted ELM section 519.213 and stated that it is the postmaster or other appropriate postal official’s job to determine whether the absences were in fact due to such cause, or whether the employees could, with reasonable diligence, have reported for duty. In this case (since the Postal Service didn’t investigate and could not show3 how carriers could have reported with due diligence), the carriers involved were awarded administrative leave.
In C-30400, Arbitrator Harris ruled that management was obligated to investigate an individual employee’s attempt to get to work and that the failure to conduct such an investigation suggested that the postmaster’s denial of administrative leave was arbitrary. In this case, management brought up that the transit rail had stops only a quarter-mile from the Post Office but failed to investigate where the grievant could have boarded the train.
To prevail in such a case and to show that carriers used reasonable diligence, you should discern the efforts they made to get to work. This information is best documented by interviewing the carriers and obtaining their statements. If carriers made multiple attempts to report, that should be included in their statement in detail. The following are examples of some of the questions that should be answered: How long did they work trying to dig out? How far away is the closest bus station? Was there any alternate transportation? Were the buses even running? Were the roads closed? Did the police turn them away? Was there a mandatory evacuation? In addition to employee statements, newspaper articles from the timeframe in question may also help provide some of the documentation and substantiate the carriers’ claims.
Early Dismissal
Don’t forget those carriers who actually made it to work but were then sent home early because of the weather. Maybe the mail did not make it to the office or conditions worsened, so delivery was suspended, and there was no productive work available. First, know that they can’t force you to go home without paying administrative leave. Once there, a full-time employee is entitled to eight hours work or pay. Part-time flexible employees are entitled to enough hours to complete their scheduled tour. Make sure the carriers are aware that they are not required to take annual leave when sent home. They should request administrative leave. Even if management denies the administrative leave at the time, the carrier should document that it was requested and state that management sent them home.
If carriers are unfairly denied administrative leave in severe weather conditions, the union should attempt to show that all the criteria of Section 519.211 existed and that carriers did indeed exercise reasonable diligence in trying to come to work. By knowing what arbitrators generally look for in such cases, union representatives can be true “foul weather friends” for all carriers. Also, be advised that carriers who request sick leave will be less likely to have their leave changed to administrative leave. The best approach is to remind the carriers that they should always request administrative leave from the start, even If it is initially denied.
CCAs and Their Insurance.
Numerous CCA’s have been given mis-information about their insurance coverage. Initially, CCA’s were told they could only receive health insurance after the second appointment of employment. I want to clear up all the misconception of insurance. The following information is for CCA’s Health Insurance coverage. Take advantage of it, it’s your benefit.
2016 CCA Information
If you are a CCA who has served 360 days (CCA or TE), you have three options:
1. You can choose self-only or self & family coverage in the USPS Noncareer Plan and receive a $125 contribution to the premium every two weeks
2. As a NALC member, you can choose to become a member and select self plus one or self & family coverage (not self-only) from the NALC Consumer Driven Plan or Value Option Plan and receive the $125 bi-weekly contribution from USPS.
3. You can choose self-only, self plus one or self & family coverage in any plan offered through the FEHB Program, but receive no contribution toward premium costs.
If you have not completed a 360-day period of service, you have only one plan option:
1. You can choose to enroll in USPS Non career plan (with either self-only or family coverage) and receive the $125 bi-weekly premium contribution from the Postal Service. However, if the NALC prevails in its dispute with the USPS, you may also have the option in the future to choose self & family coverage under either version of the NALC Consumer Driven Plan or Value Option Plan and receive the $125 bi-weekly contribution from USPS.
City Carrier Assistant (CCA)
NALC Health Benefit Plan Value Option Your Share
Self Only: $172.40 $172.40
Self Plus One: $374.38 - $125.00 $249.38
Self and Family: $374.39 - $125.00 $249.39
Regardless of what option you choose to take, I just to make sure that every CCA understands, you’re entitle to Health Insurance, whether you’ve been employed 30 days or 360 days. Make sure to contact HR, Greensboro, NC District. You’re entitled to this hard earned benefit, utilize your rights and enroll. Now it’s up to you.
I hope each and every NALC member has a wonderful Thanksgiving and rewarding Christmas.
You’re the One Responsible for You
I would like to thank all of Area 4 for allowing me to serve as your Area 4 Representative for the next two years. I take the position seriously and I pledge to serve you to the best of my ability. If any branch or members in the Area 4 needs any assistance from me, please contact me and I will do my utmost to help you and your branch anyway I can.
I had the privilege of attending the National Rap Session in Houston and it was very informative. I’m sure by now, you’ve received your Postal Record.
Congress will once again be trying their same old tactics, but we need to be ready to react when asked to call and get involved with bills that will effect the Postal Service’s interests. I won’t be redundant in repeating what our National President, Fred Rolando, has asked us to do.
I do want to make every letter carrier aware of all the safety issues we face on a daily basis. Safety is nothing new, it’s our job to be as safe as we possibly can everyday. I know, here we go again. Lip service. Management doesn’t give a rat’s a** about me. That probably has a lot of truth to it, but the fact of the matter is, you’re the one responsible for you.
Management’s only concern is the numbers, getting back by a fictitious return time. If you have an accident, the arbitrator will not give any weight to ‘hurry up and get back’ by this fictitious return time, because bottom line is, you’re responsible for you.
If there are safety hazards in your office, please fill out the 1767’s. I know you probably have already filled one out, but safety must start with us. Keep filling out the 1767’s until something get done. Don’t stop with one 1767, in addition to it, file a grievance. When the safety teams come around to your offices, make them aware of the safety issues.
The system works. It’s frustrating to keep repeating the same thing over and over, but sad to say, that’s what it takes to get things done.
Please be safe, if you see safety issues, fill out the proper forms, let the shop steward know. You might be surprised when something gets done.
The Horrific New Marriage Between Your
Post Office and Amazon Sunday
When I read this article on Postal News, it was so compelling; I couldn’t resist sharing it on our NC Letter Carriers State paper. The article was too long to include the whole article, so I’ll try to reduce it to the most important parts of the article.
It starts out “I’m a member of the USPS 'underclass' that was created to help pave the way so deals such as Amazon Sunday delivery could be reached."
By Paul Barbot
Amazon.com, the e-commerce company based out of Seattle, Washington, has recently partnered up with the USPS to deliver packages on Sundays to its Amazon Prime customers.
This rather benign sounding statement has been effusively thrown around the media circuit when discussing the arrangement that’s been made between these two organizations; oftentimes praising the USPS’s bravery in its time of embattlement, while also championing the cornering of another market (Sunday delivery) for Amazon.
But wait! There’s something missing from all these announcements! What has been ignored is the reality of what it means for the workers who are implementing this new, surprising arrangement.
See, I am a member of the USPS “underclass” that was created to help pave the way so deals such as Amazon Sunday delivery could be reached. I am a CCA, City Carrier Assistant, with the United States Postal Service. My hope here is to illuminate exactly what Amazon.com and the USPS’s program means for the cadre of employees who share this title; and more importantly what this means to the postal service as a whole.
Prepped for the Auction Floor
City Carrier Assistants are a brand new classification of employee within the postal ranks; we are the low-wage, non-career, complement workforce at the USPS. On January 11, 2013 this position was created by an arbitration board who settled the stalled labor negotiations between the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and the USPS management. This set the terms for the National Agreement, which is in effect for the years 2011-2016.
CCAs weren’t always considered a low-wage workforce. Before the reclassification we were called Transitional Employees (TE) and made a respectable $23.52 hourly rate, only several dollars per hour less than what the average career employee made. But with the USPS management’s financial woes and the recently concocted, yet unused, Negotiated Service Agreements plan-discussed in the next section-a low-wage workforce was needed to help entice big business into choosing the postal service to partner up with. City Carrier Assistants now perform the same work they did when they were called a TE, but now they get to do that work for 31 percent less pay—TE’s who were reclassified as CCAs now make $16.68 per hour. What’s worse is that newly hired CCAs will make even less—starting at $15 per hour.
The stage was now set for postal management to undercut all other competitors and offer up the postal network—at a drastically reduced rate—to any takes.
Enter the Amazon deal.
The devil is in the details…if we could see them!
With the USPS being financially burdened by congressionally mandated pre-funding for retiree healthcare packages (paying 80 plus years in advance at 100% compensation-a burden no private company has had to nor could endure), it has looked to find different avenues to help increase its profitability and fight to viable in this ‘age of digital mail.’ To help combat this huge economic disadvantage—along with the decrease in first-class mail volumes—the USPS management has attempted to implement many different approaches to their problem. They’ve tried ending Saturday delivery, contemplated neighborhood cluster boxes, which would oust door-to-door delivery, and of course, there’s the tried and true elimination of positions, which the USPS has been engaged in since the unprecedented 2006 pre-funding mandate was established. Their latest solution is a relatively new business concept called the negotiated service agreement or NSA.
So what exactly is an NSA
Well let’s see what USPS.com has to say about it:
“A Negotiated Service Agreement is a contractual agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and an individual company that provides customized pricing incentives or other arrangements justified by a shift in the company’s mail operations. NSAs are intended to meet the needs of specific customers for whom mail is an integral part of their business strategy.”
Essentially, NSA’s will initiate the piecemeal morphing of the postal service from a public entity into one that is beholden to its corporate partners; it’s privatization in a ‘death by a thousand cuts’ manner. Those who support the USPS and its workforce take notice.
On October 15, 2013 the postal service agreed upon an NSA with Amazon.com to deliver only Amazon packages on Sundays; the largest NSA to date. What’s actually contained within the document is anyone’s guess because, outside of the rather banal business jargon, the agreement is largely redacted.
Without any discernible details to suggest what constitutes this agreement, we’ll have to take a look at it in practice.
No End in Sight
The Amazon Sunday Delivery program became available to a large portion of the United States in November 2014. This is when my city, Greensboro, NC joined the bandwagon.
At an impromptu morning meeting our station manager announced to everyone that we, the USPS, would be delivering Amazon parcels on Sundays and that the CCAs would be the primary workforce to deliver this newly acquired workload.
Before the Amazon reveal, CCAs in Greensboro were already working six days a week at roughly 8-10 hours worked per day. The work we perform is grueling and the days are long. We spend the entire workday combating weather extremes, making sense of unfamiliar routes, and dealing with management’s repeated calls to hurry things up while making our rounds.
This morning announcement meant management was going to start scheduling the CCAs seven days a week—giving us no rest days and showing no regard for our personal lives and other responsibilities. Work has now consumed our entire lives. The seven-day workweek for the CCA is not exclusive to Greensboro, NC either; as the Federal Soup forums can attest, the same is being done nationwide. As with all things in life, CCA abuse runs along a continuum with some stations showing more mercy while others unrelentingly utilize their CCAs. Sadly, most stations seem to falling into the latter group.
An interesting point about all this new business the postal management has drummed up is that they are aggressively forcing all of it onto only a small segment of its total city carrier workforce. In fact, the USPS only wishes to add to the CCA’s burden. Sue Brennan, a USPS spokesperson, told DCVelocity’s Mark Soloman “If other merchants are interested in Sunday deliveries, we’d be happy to talk to them.” To a CCA, this comment would be translated into “We’re going to make your days even tougher!”
It’s no wonder why newly hired CCAs do not hang around for long. In the city of Greensboro alone, we have had many CCAs—five that I personally know of—quit shortly after starting; the euphoria of making over twice the current NC minimum wage of $7.25 is quickly dispelled once the harsh reality of what that wage entails sets in. Signing one’s life away for $15 per hour is not something which most people are willing to do.
Expand We Must
Now I really hate to sound so morose, but for the CCA workforce things will only get worse.
Amazon and the postal service are piloting a program in select cities that would make those seven days even longer for the CCA called AmazonFresh. AmazonFresh is a test-program where same-day deliveries of online ordered groceries will be made. The USPS has agreed to lend Amazon its postal fleet from the hours of 3:00-7:00 am and readied its CCA workforce in these chosen cities.
That’s right…your mailperson will now also be your neighborhood grocer!
With a low-wage workforce, NSA, and an eagerness to expand partnerships with just about any company willing to pay, there’s no telling what other non-mail related assignments the USPS wants to add to the CCA task list. One thing is certain though, CCAs will be having very, very long work days.
A shifting of Priorities
Since the Amazon Sunday program began in Greensboro, a very interesting development has started to take place involving how the Amazon packages are treated; Amazon packages are treated as ‘gold’ and given the utmost importance. An Amazon package trumps all others received to deliver that day; even the ones that are more profitable to the postal service, such as priority mailers.
At no time did this shift become more apparent to me than on a
day I was extremely overburdened with work and had to bring mail
back to the station.
When I came in, the evening shift manager stormed over to me and blurted out “There better not be any Amazon packages in there!”
“There may be. I was told to bring it all back.” I replied.
Rifling through by hamper she pulls out two very small Amazon packages and exclaimed “Great! Now I’m going to have to take these back out!”
What’s odd was that she left many Priority packages which the shippers paid top dollar to have delivered. Priority parcels are considered top tier for the USPS, just under Express mail. Amazon packages, in contrast, are Parcel Select—practically the very bottom of the parcel hierarchy. Those two Amazon packages generated no more than several dollars for the postal service; the Priority packages, on the other hand, had far larger profit margin yet were left on the floor.
Postal management is showing just how beholden it is to Amazon by screaming “Yes! Yes! Yes!” to them while giving everyone else a flat “No.”
What other concessions will be made to appease Amazon or any other business who signs an NSA with the USPS?
Only time will tell.
One thing is sure, the postal service is changing and not for the better.
The CCAs must be treated with dignity and respect. You are the future of the US Postal Service, as a fellow brother, I commend you for everything you’re enduring. The job has become almost unbearable and especially a thankless job. Management can’t wait to hire you, just to find every reason under the sun to fire you. Be Strong and resilient, you are the future of not the Postal Service, but CCAs are the future of the National Association Letter Carriers leaders. Though management will continue to try and destroy the service, letter carriers will continue to make sure of the survival of the Postal Service, just like we have since 1889.
CCAs and the New Carrier Workforce
As the future of the
Postal Service evolves, so does the NALC workforce. The
obvious answer for the future of the NALC is our CCA’s. We as
officers, stewards and letter carriers must embrace the
workforce. The new contract was rewritten in the make-up of
the new letter carrier workforce. We must take each and every
CCA under our wing to make sure that each of these men and women
has the best training that any letter carrier can receive.
The very basic that any CCA must have is the opportunity to be
properly trained.
They must be afforded the rights that the NALC and Postal Service have agreed to.
M-1823 states: “By letter dated May 15, 2013, the Postal Service advised that:
The final version of Handbook EL-804 included an unintended revision to language
Regarding on-the-job instructors {Section 137.2, Responsibilities. Provide 3 days (24 hours) of orientation and training when a new employee arrives at the duty station}…
Each CCA should be put with a NALC instructor to complete the Postal Service on training guide which has every facet of the letter carriers’ duties. If you’re not being offered this opportunity, please notify your shop steward immediately.
The next most important question CCAs have is when am I going to be converted to full-time regular and rightly so, they should have some idea when they’ll be converted to full-time regular status. One would think that this would be a simple answer, but in reality of the Postal Service, nothing is simple. Understandably so, some offices are converting CCAs faster that other offices and the CCAs don’t understand why, so here are some of the reasons and hopefully this will explain why some offices take longer than others, although there will always be some offices which fall under this situation.
Offices must first of all have vacancies, so what is considered a vacancy. Just because a route may seem to have vacant in the office, doesn’t necessary mean the office has a vacancy? Here’s why, for example, someone gets hurt on the job and has been out of work for months or longer and doesn’t seem like the person will ever come back to work. The carrier must have a chance to heal properly and have an opportunity to return to work on full duty, now we’re not going to get into the OWCP rules, because it would take entirely too long, but you’re welcome to contact your shop steward and can go through the rules, but anyway that’s one of the reason. Another reason the carrier could be on detail to another office, for example the joint route adjustments, the carriers wouldn’t lose their route, even though it seems the route is vacant. The carrier could be in a 204-B status. This is just a few examples of a route seeming to be vacant.
But let’s get to filling the legitimate vacancy and the process in what has to happen. The guidelines have been agreed to by the USPS and NALC, decision M-1834, which states the following must happen:
Full-time Regular
Opportunities-City Letter Carrier Craft--The parties agree to extend the August 30,
2013 Memorandum of Understanding Re: Residual Vacancies-City Letter
Carrier Craft through May 31, 2014.
Effective June 1, 2014 the parties agree to use the following process to facilitate placement of employees into full-time regular opportunities which include: 1) residual full-time regular city letter carrier duty assignments referenced in Article 7.3.A of the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, and 2) newly created full-time unassigned regular (incumbent only) positions which increase full-time complement and are in addition to the duty assignments referenced in Article 7.3.A
1. Full-time regular opportunities in the city letter carrier craft covered by this agreement (which are not subject to a proper withholding order pursuant to Article 12 of the collective bargaining agreement) will be filled as follows:
Full-time regular opportunities defined above will be filled with 28 days of becoming available in the following order:
a. If the opportunity is a residual vacancy(s), assignment of an
unassigned full-time regular or full-time regular status of a
part-time flexible city letter carrier in the same installation
pursuant to Article 41.2.B6 (b) of the collective bargaining
agreement.
2.Full-time regular opportunities that cannot be filled through item 1 above will be posted in eReassign for a 21 day period during the next available posting cycle. The eReassign posting will indicate the installation and number of full-time regular opportunities available. Application for these full-time opportunities will be accepted from all qualified employees. However, only requests from part-time flexible city letter carriers will be approved under item 2. Approval of such requests will be made based on the order the applications from part-time flexible city letter carriers are received and will include reassignment requests from part-time flexible city letter carriers already pending in eReassign as of the date of this agreement. Requests from part-time flexible city letter carriers will be acted upon without regard to normal transfer considerations. Requests from all other qualified employees may only be considered under item 3 below.
3. Full-time regular opportunities that remain after item 2 will be filled by 1) conversion of city carrier assistants to full-time regular career status in the same installation as the full-time regular opportunities or 2) acceptance and placement of voluntary reassignment (transfer) requests pending in eReassign from qualified bargaining unit employees (including full and part-time regular city letter carriers) or reassignment of bargaining unit employees within the installation (if there are insufficient requests from qualified bargaining unit employees, non-bargaining unit employees may be reassigned to a full-time regular opportunity). Reassignment (transfer) requests will be made with normal considerations contained in the Memorandum of Understanding, Re: Transfers, based on the order the applications are received. The number of career reassignments allowed under this paragraph is limited to one in every four full-time opportunities filled in offices of 100 or more work-years and one in every six full-time opportunities filled in offices of less than 100 work-years. At least three or five, as applicable, of full-time opportunities will be filled by conversion of city carrier assistants to full-time regular career status based on their relative standing in the same installation as the full-time opportunities. Such conversions will take place no later than the first day of the third full pay period after either the close of the posting cycle or, when an employee is being considered for transfer, the date the employee rejects the offer/request.
Part-time
flexible city letter carriers who elect reassignment to another
installation through this agreement will receive retreat rights
back to their original installation. Retreat rights will be
offered to the first full-time regular opportunity in the original
installation that cannot be filled through item 1 above. City
letter carriers who exercise retreat rights under this paragraph
will have their craft seniority restored, augmented by time worked
in the other facility, upon return to the original
installation. Failure to accept retreat rights ends the
opportunity to retreat back to the original
installation.
During the term of this agreement no reassignments in the city letter carrier craft will be made within or between installations or from other crafts, unless the reassignment is made pursuant to this agreement, based on a mutual exchange, through the Article 12 involuntary reassignment process, or by mutual agreement of the national parties.
Employees accepting a voluntary reassignment under this agreement will begin a new period of craft seniority in the gaining installation.
Non-probationary employees converted to full-time/career or transferred to an installation may participate in bidding for vacant duty assignments that are posted pursuant to Article 41.1.B of the collective bargaining agreement. If an installation is filling more than one full-time regular opportunity (including at least one residual vacancy) on a date when an employee(s) is being assigned/converted/reassigned, such employees(s) will be allowed to exercise their preference for residual assignments by the use of existing local practices.
Employees moving between installations pursuant to the terms of this agreement are solely responsible for any and all costs related to relocation.
The union will be provided a list of installations and the number of full-time regular opportunities posted in eReassign each posting cycle.
This agreement is effective form the date of signature until March 31, 2015, unless extended by mutual agreement of the parties. However, either party may terminate this agreement earlier by providing 30 days written notice to the other party.
Are You Stressed?
We generally use the word “stress” when we feel that everything seems to have become too much—we are overloaded and wonder whether we really can cope with the pressures placed on us.
Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is stress. Some stresses get you going and they’re good for you. Without any stress at all many say our lives would be boring and would probably feel pointless. However, when the stresses undermine both our mental and physical health, they’re bad.
The difference between “stress” and “a stressor” — a stressor is an agent or stimulus that causes stress. Stress is the feeling we have when we’re under pressure, while stressors are the things we respond to. Examples of stressors are noises, unpleasant people, a speeding car, or even going out on a first date. Generally (but not always), the more stressors we experience, the more stressed we feel.
Fight or Flight?
The way you respond to a challenge may also be a type of stress. Part of your response to a challenge is physical. When we’re faced with a challenge or a threat, our bodies activate resources to protect us—to either get away as fast as we can, or fight.
Our fight-or-flight response is our body’s sympathetic nervous system reacting to a stressful situation. Our body produces larger quantities of the chemicals cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, which make your heart beat faster, heightens muscle preparedness, sweating, and alertness. All these things help us protect ourselves in a dangerous or challenging situation.
When we’re stressed, our body functions slow down, such as our digestive and immune systems when we’re in a fight-or-flight mode.
When we’re stressed the following things happen: blood pressure rises, breathing becomes more rapid, our digestive system slows down, our heart rate rises, the immune system crashes, we tense up and we don’t sleep.
We all deal with stress differently. Some of us focus on what happens to us, such as breaking a bone or getting a promotion, while others think about the event itself. What really matters, however, are our thoughts about the situation.
Although we may not be conscious of it, we’re continually sizing up situations that confront us. We analyze each situation and decide whether it’s a threat, how we can deal with it and what resources we can use to cope with it. If we decide that the required resources needed to effectively deal with the situation aren’t available to us, we get stressed, and we react with a classical stress response.
On the other hand, if we decide our resources and skills are more than enough to deal with the situation, it won’t be as stressful to us.
How we respond to stress affects our health:
It’s important to learn that what matters more than the event itself is usually our thoughts about the event when we’re trying to manage stress. How you see the stressful event will be the largest single factor that impacts on your physical and mental health. The way you see events and challenges in your life will decide whether you see them as invigorating or harmful.
A persistently negative response to challenges will eventually have a negative effect on your health and happiness. Experts say that people who tend to see things negatively need to understand themselves and their reactions to stress-provoking situations better. Once you’ve done this, you can learn to manage stress more successfully.
The way you handle stress affects your chances of having a heart attack. People who believe their stress is affecting their health in a big way are twice as likely to have a heart attack 10 years later.
In another study carried out at Pennsylvania State University, the investigators found that stress wasn’t the problem, but it is how we react to stressors. It appears that how patients react to stress is a predictor of their health a decade later, regardless of their present health and stressors.
Lead researcher, Professor David Almeida says, “For example, if you have a lot of work to do today and you are grumpy because of it, then you are more likely to suffer negative health consequences 10 years from now than someone who also has a lot of work to do today, but doesn’t let it bother her.”
The most common causes of stress are: bereavement, family problems, financial matters, illness, and job issues. The following are also causes of stress: abortion, becoming a mother or father, conflicts in the workplace, driving in bad traffic, fear of crime, losing your job, miscarriage, noisy neighbors, etc.
As you can see, there are numerous types of stress and we all think no one else is facing these problems. The fact is that we all face some type of stress in our daily lives and we all deal with stress in different ways.
Never feel like you’re the only one dealing with this situation, because there are avenues to take to get help. The NALC has partnered with EAP and has numerous tools for us to use. Never feel like you’re alone; never feel embarrassed or ashamed to ask for help. It could very well be your coworker that needs your help. If you need it, use it. It’s free.
Until next quarter, be safe and help those who need it the most. It could be you next time.
How Many Carriers Must Be Injured Before Anything Is Done About Mini-Vans?
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all carriers in Area 4 for allowing me to serve this great union of the National Association of Letter Carriers, The North Carolina State Association. I also want to thank Richard Koritz for the great job he did as the previous Area 4 Representative. No one will ever be able to replace Richard with his knowledge and unionism, nor would I ever try to fill his shoes.
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Reggie Gentle. I started as a LSM operator in 1978 in Winston-Salem. I transferred to the letter carrier craft in 1985. I started my venture in this great union in 1989 as a shop steward. I later served as our branches Vice-President from 1993 to 1996 and have served from 1997 to the present as Branch 461’s president. But enough about me, let’s get down to business.
I invite anyone in Area 4 to contact me about any contractual issues or questions that you have and I will do my best to help in any way I possible can.
I want to talk about safety. On October 31, 2013, a very dedicated letter carrier, Renee Cameron, was carrying her park and loop like she does every day. A 1994-95 green Nissan rear-ended her, knocking the driver’s side sliding door off the mini-van. The driver is still on the loose. Anyone with any information please contact the Winston-Salem police department. This hit-and-run driver must be brought to justice.
The car shattered Cameron’s right leg and left the scene of the accident. She went home from the hospital on November 5 and has a long road to recovery. Please keep her in your prayers.
Before you say it, I know the mini-vans are unsafe, but the fact is they’re here and we have to deal with the hand we’ve been dealt until we can get rid of them.
“Article 14 Safety and Health
14.1 Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of management to provide safe working conditions in all present and future installations and to develop a safe working force (emphasis added). The Union will cooperate with and assist management to live up to this responsibility. The Employer will meet with the Union on a semiannual basis and inform the Union of its automated systems development programs. The Employer also agrees to give appropriate consideration to human factors in the design and development of automated systems. Human factors and ergonomics of new automated systems are a proper subject for discussion at the National Joint Labor-Management Safety Committee…”
How many carriers must be injured before anything is done about the mini-vans?
We must take safety into our own hands, regardless of what Management does or doesn’t do. We as letter carriers must think safety every minute of the day. It’s like defensive driving: no one knows what the other guy is going to do.
We should never have mail or packages in the front seat. Mail and packages must be transported and delivered from the cargo area.
We should never remove mail or packages from the driver’s side or the rear-end of the mini-van. All contact with the packages and mail must happen from the side facing the house.
We must have as safe as possible park point and try to park in places that don’t have a high volume of traffic.
I know we don’t live in a perfect world, but if we don’t look after our own safety, no one else will.
There’s not a week that goes by that it doesn’t seem like someone has been in an accident with a min-van. Which leads one to question the reasoning behind even having mini-vans in the first place. Has anyone performed any statistics on the rate of accidents involving mini-vans versus LLVs and any other postal vehicle?
Something has to be done to remove these vehicles from the postal fleet.