Latest / United We Scan / Back to Basics, FLSA, Guarantee Period, RWDL

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Back to Basics, FLSA, Guarantee Period, RWDL · United We Scan

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Welcome to the United We Scan Podcast, the podcast by rural
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carriers for rural carriers. The views expressed in this
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podcast are of the presenters and the presenters only and do
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not represent the views, opinions, or strategies of the
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United States Postal Service or the National Rural Letter
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Carriers Association. We ask that you please consult
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your assigned union representative for guidance in
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Please leave a comment or question for us below.
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Thank you. Now here are the hosts of the
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United We Scan podcast. Welcome back, everybody.
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Where are we at? Oh, Episode 90.
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Hey, that means we're only 10 episodes away from the big 100.
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How that happened. And going by counting the weeks
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on my calendar, that would put us roughly at December 1st as
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being the 100th episode. Who's counting?
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Yeah, exactly who's counting? Who's counting?
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So tonight we're kind of kind of bring it back to the basics a
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little bit. We'll talk about the new
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guarantee period that starting October 5th, what that means,
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what that is and all that fun little stuff.
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And I think. That's day reliefless.
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Oh yes, the work, the work day. Relief.
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Free relief work list. I can say that.
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I promise. I can talk tonight, maybe.
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It's not the overtime list. It's not the overtime list.
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People do not let management tell you it's the overtime list
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that you're finding. It is the relief day work list.
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OK, yes, I'll get off my scope back.
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We do not have an overtime desired list.
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That is City side though. The way this MOU keeps going,
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I'm surprised they haven't started anyways.
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And so Yep, we're going to cover that.
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Of course, there's the Sunday volunteer list for Rcas and all
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that fun stuff. Oh, and the new evaluations are
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supposed to be coming out on Saturday the 28th.
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So there's a lot going on in these next couple of weeks.
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But how was your week, James? Well, pretty standard.
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Normal fare at a swing state for the elections.
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Political mail every single day. At least this time I didn't have
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just the presidential campaigns ones.
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I also had senators and representatives this this week.
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So I'm kind of actually happy that it was a little bit of a
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change of pace of the political Flyers, although I had them
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every single day. And of course, the Medicare
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books started coming out 'cause we're coming up on the open
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enrollment period, so of course you have nearly full coverage in
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a lot of areas. Considering how many of the
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elderly people live in our routes because younger people
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can't afford homes, I wonder why.
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But yes, it's kind of crazy to think about all of the little
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things that we put together to make things happen and how we
3:16
get them delivered on time, even though we have a lot of things
3:23
working against us. And especially that people who
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say we can't deliver things on time use us religiously to
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deliver their advertisements. That will not get into that
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debate. Other than that, this weekend I
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finally finished up cleaning up my storm damage, except for the
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tree branch stuck in the tree. So getting quotes to get that
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removed. But I did finally replace my
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flag, my American flag that had been ripped off the pole.
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So I got a new flag up there. I'll take the old one and drop
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it off to the VFW for proper disposition.
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And I'm ready to start another week here and get my evaluations
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at the end of this week. How about you, Bill?
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Oh. The in our area we got hit with
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WSSWSHWSHWSHWSH WSSWSHWSHWSHWSHWSSI mean I'm
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sitting there just, you know, I'm, I'm throwing three of these
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a day. And when I come back Friday,
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there was three more stacked up for Saturday.
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And I know the gentleman who put the hold down bid on my route
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was doing it for the first time. So I expect two of them to still
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be there tomorrow when I go in the the week itself wasn't bad.
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I mean, weather wise, it was nice and cool.
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Only had a little spritz of rain here, there.
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And we need some rain in Pennsylvania.
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The customers are, you know, they're all coming out, You
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know, they're tearful that I'm leaving.
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And basically I, I'm, you know, I, I, I caught myself the other
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day and, and I'm casing the mail and I'm like, you know, wow.
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You know, I put the mail in the slots.
5:08
I take the mail out of the slots.
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I put it in the tray. I'll go out and deliver it, you
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know, the next day. I put the mail in the case, you
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know, I pull it out of the case, I put it in the tray, I think.
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And that's the thing I'm thinking about it.
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But the unique concept of our job is that we get to go out and
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see our customers every day. And every day is different and,
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and, you know, and amusing, you know, that to a certain extent,
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frustrating to a certain extent. And yeah, I I just had to laugh
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because Friday I got slammed and going around and somebody has
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this spray stream house washing type me a flyer on almost every
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mailbox. And I came back with a tub and
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1/2 of the things and the supervisor on on duty said, what
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are these? I said all these are illegal
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Flyers that were attached to mailboxes.
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You know, you can just leave them there and snake hands
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against the law. Says who?
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I went and got the A-125 and gave him a copy.
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He said I never knew this. I said, yeah, that's why you're
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management. And I walked away.
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I mean, it's amazing the amount of information that these people
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don't pay attention to. And yeah, that's lost income for
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us. And I've been approached by
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contractors. Are you taking them off the
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mailbox? Yeah.
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Well, you know, that's against the law.
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No, putting them on against the law.
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I want them back over my dead body.
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You ain't getting them. Yeah.
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And, and the thing of it is you're protecting your income.
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And I've actually had, you know, conversations with contractors
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where turn them over to our business office and then they
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start using, you know, an EDDM instead of, you know, wasting
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their time stuff in or on mailboxes and having it removed
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by assholes like me. It, it, this is, this is a
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bittersweet week coming up for me.
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I'm very sad to be leaving. You know, my customers, I feel
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like I'm almost abandoning them. But after this last incident on
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Friday where we were told on Tuesday we couldn't bring
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hampers out to their trucks at the end of the day to collect
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our empty equipment. On Friday, we were allowed to,
7:16
but you couldn't share it with another carrier was parked right
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next to you and was bringing their empty equipment in.
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God forbid we'd be efficient. OK, it, it's the petty ass shit
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that they, they, they focus on this just drives you up the wall
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as my guy, can you, can you just step back and work together
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once? Can you be cooperative in in
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just a menial fashion that doesn't hurt anybody?
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But you know, I, I guess they think we're ripping them off by
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doing that. So that was a a big thing on
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Friday, you know, having a supervisor wander the parking
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lot and telling you can't combine your empty equipment
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with somebody else's. The weather's been good.
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Like I said, I had my family over all day today and sun
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Friday night into Saturday and and just, you know, it's been a
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really nice week and last week in my postal career I'm looking
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forward to. But like I said, I'm going to
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miss the hell out of my customers and worst, worst of
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all, they're going to miss me. Oh, you're weak, Kristen.
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Grandmom. It was OK.
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Monday was a Monday, and still trying to figure out why people
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leave notices for business closed on Saturdays anyways.
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Yeah, I spent Monday. I spent Monday cleaning up a
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little bit, but that's happens. Tuesday was a really nice day.
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I knew Monday going in how crappy it was.
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Tuesday was going to be absolutely nothing, and it
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pretty much was. I was done at 1:30 on Tuesday.
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It was great. Wednesday was normal newspapers.
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Thursday was the Medicare books. Yeah, let's not talk about that
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day. And then Friday was somewhat
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normal, a little heavy on the DPS and the flats due to all the
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political mail coming in. And then Saturday I did work my
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K day yesterday and walk in and get told, Oh yeah, Advos are
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here. Great.
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Oh well, they're done. Part of the job.
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But yeah, other than that my week wasn't too bad.
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Pretty normal otherwise. For my last day of the week, I'm
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going in wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
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The Bob Marley knit hat dreads on it.
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I can see you doing that. And I want to see the DM say
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something to me on my last day. You know how close that door is,
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asshole. Oh God.
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Go home, call EAP and say yeah, I'm emotionally upset.
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I think I'll take a sick day. I think.
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I think I have one left. Yeah, and I'll find, I'll find
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out on my check stub if the supervisor fixed my annual leave
10:17
X day fiasco from when I went to National where she used.
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All or it didn't happen, Jackie. All of my annual leave instead
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of the last two days being X days.
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Yeah, supposedly she she gave me a copy of the paperwork, so
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we'll see if it shows up like she says it's going.
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Oh yeah, yeah. So who's who's controlling the
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conversation tonight, James? Are you sitting back?
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It's Kristen's day to eat everything.
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I know, and I was looking for something too.
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Sorry about that. We had another first timer
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experience come in as well, a little later than the other
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ones. So there it is.
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That's what I was looking for there.
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You go. I'm right here.
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I'm right here. I just, I had to go back and
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look at it because I had to find it real quick, but I found it.
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I got it. So I'm going to actually start
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with that just yet and I will read this here real quick.
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Now I haven't read the whole thing through so I'm winging it
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and it says hello. I'm a roll carrier from a state.
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This was my first time coming to the National Convention and
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overall I had a good time. I'm not sure what your personal
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opinions are or if I'm even allowed to bring this up, but I
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am fed up with Louis de Joy and was really disappointed that he
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didn't accept questions from his audience.
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After his speech, I began warning people about the
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impending disaster that de Joy would create.
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But four years later, I have realized that it's even worse
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than I had than I predicted. I've been a carrier for six
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years, and I still consider myself a novice, but I have more
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experience working for USPS than the person who is in charge.
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But immediately upon assuming his role, he reassigned 23
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postal executives, people whose knowledge and experience would
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certainly have proven valuable. I guess that's not part of his
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Delivering for America plan, AKA the guide to Sync the Postal
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Service. Right away he removed several
12:18
mail sorting machines and eliminated turn around trucks
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which cause slower delivery times in mail to start piling up
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in offices. Customers complained about bills
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not being paid on time, missing birthday cards, not receiving
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medications on time, etcetera. And of course, this was just
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before election season during the height of COVID, which meant
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the Postal Service would be ill equipped to handle the extremely
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high volume of mail in ballots. Carolyn Lewis, who was the 2009
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chair of the USPS Board of Governors, told the Texas
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Tribune that she had been disturbed by reports of sweeping
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cost cutting measures that led to a slowdown in the mail and
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raised concerns that the Postal Service would not be able to
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handle an influx of mail in ballots.
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Mr. Dejoy is failing to fulfill the mission of the USPS to
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provide prompt and reliable mail delivery at a time when that
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mission is important as it has ever been.
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The Texas Tribune, August 18th, 2020.
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But the impact on the election was just icing on the cake of
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his real agenda, which involves a rivalry between Donald Trump,
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who Dejoy is loyal to, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
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In my opinion, Trump appointed Dejoy to push our organization
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towards privatization by undermining public confidence in
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USPS. He outlined a plan to increase
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the price of postage significantly in a relatively
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short period and had one plan to shift some postal services to
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Staples, a private sector business.
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He eliminated a lot of overtime hours and decided to downsize
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the postal police force, which has led to an increase in the
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number of violent attacks against our letter carriers due
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to the lack of protection. Deploying postal police officers
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would deter crimes against carriers and is completely at
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his discretion. And we all know about his
14:07
current focus on building these SMDC centers in order to
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consolidate mail processing for several areas into one location.
14:15
Initially, he claimed there would be no career layoffs or
14:19
slowed services resulting from this relocation.
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But it turns out that at each mail processing facility that
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has been consolidated, an average of 25 jobs were lost,
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while hundreds of others are now forced to either relocate or
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commute several hours every day. And rural communities will
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continue to face even slow mail, slower mail delivery service.
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He has plans to reduce the number of daily trucks to
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smaller rural committees that are not nearby in SNDC.
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Dejoy stated the Delivering for America initiatives will result
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in more efficient operations and improved service, but the Postal
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Service has not been able to provide any analysis, data or
15:00
modeling that supports this, and initial results from the few
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centers at Avari Open have not shown improved efficiency or
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service. He required by law to request an
15:11
advisory opinion on changes that will impact service, but Dejoy
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denies anything is wrong and says no one needs to stop him.
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The Postal Regulatory Commission requested information about
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large scale network changes and have suggested changes to his
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plan, but so far they have been dismissed.
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So I ask you, who is so arrogant to take over a government
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affiliated organization with no experience and then fire the top
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level of management who probably does know a few things about
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running the organization, then tells the oversight committee to
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leave him alone because he knows what he's doing?
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Louis de Joy simply doesn't have the temperament for this job,
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which requires public accountability and cooperation.
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I guess he didn't get that experience as a rich white
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private sector executive. Which reminds me that I haven't
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even touched on his background. De Joy was formerly the head of
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XPO Logistics, which we all know is a competitor of USPS.
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When he left XPO for USPS, he retained 10s of millions of
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dollars worth of stocks and options and XPO.
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Coincidentally, a few months later, XPO Logistics was awarded
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a $20 million contract with USPS.
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How fortuitous. Excuse me, big word.
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Furthermore, he managed 2 trusts, which have substantial
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investments in companies like CVS and Lockheed Martin.
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I guess that's why now, after 50 years of flying with FedEx, he
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said in his speech that we're finally going to buy our own
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planes and save money. These trusts also hold business
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interests in Honeywell International, the company that
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manufactured 300,000 scanners used by postal employees.
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One month after being appointed Postmaster General, he brought
16:51
50,000 and 100,000. He bought 50,000 and $100,000 in
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Amazon buy back stock options. This means an investor buys the
17:02
right, but not the obligation to purchase a stock at predefined
17:06
price. Then he bought 305,000 worth of
17:09
bonds from Brookfield Asset Management, of which David Bloom
17:14
is vice chairman. David Bloom is also the chairman
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of the Postal Service Board of Governors and has stated that
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Dejoy will always have his support.
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Why are we still allowing this man to run USPS when he is the
17:26
most he has the most to gain if it fails?
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In 2020, there was a widely held belief that Trump appointed
17:33
Dejoy in order to manipulate the election with the mail in
17:36
ballots. But really it's because of
17:38
Trump's disdain for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns the
17:42
Washington Post, which was an early critic of the Trump
17:45
administration. Trump claimed that Jeff Bezos
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had taken advantage of USPS while negotiating contracts.
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His mission to privatize the Postal Service is really due to
17:55
a personal vendetta against another millionaire.
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The mail in ballot fiasco was just icing on the cake.
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But yeah, that is all I have. That was interesting.
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Any comments on that guys? Gee, you know who's scratching?
18:10
Who's back here? Right.
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I mean, I, I could totally go into exactly why this plan will
18:16
fail and stuff like that, but that would take a whole episode
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in and of itself. The biggest thing that we need
18:24
to realize and focus on here is that our current National board
18:30
needs to be focused on taking care of us and fixing the
18:33
problems that this plan is causing.
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Now. I put a resolution forward and
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it got passed at National this year as a non binding resolution
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that we disavow the Delivering for America plan as being too
18:47
costly to rural carriers and too costly to the post office in
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general. Now, whether they do that or
18:54
not, it's a take under advisement in a non binding, but
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they should because it is a cost prohibitive plan.
19:03
They're paying, as Bill has pointed out, they're paying
19:07
carriers a day of wages per week to drive from the SNDC to their
19:15
routes. That is 8 hours a week that they
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are not getting any revenue out of these carriers.
19:24
And that's a single carrier each.
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So if you have 12, just 12 routes going out of there,
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that's 12 days, that's a full week, a full pay period of hours
19:37
you're paying out. So don't.
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Don't. Forget with that extra mileage
19:43
is the cost of gas, the cost of maintenance, the wear and tear
19:46
in those vehicles, The, the longer you're on the on the road
19:50
and the more likely you're going to have an accident.
19:52
Everything that you know they're doing is just, it's against
19:56
common sense. It's against fiscal
19:58
responsibility. Yeah.
19:59
But instead we are focused on wrecks towards the rural
20:05
carriers and cutting as much of them as possible, you know,
20:10
trying to get them down. To the minimum guarantee pay,
20:14
which I believe you said it before, Kristen, that somebody
20:18
told you that we should go back to the basics and talk about how
20:22
carriers should learn how to survive on the minimum
20:26
guaranteed pay. I mean, do what do they want us
20:28
to teach them how to get food stamps and WIC?
20:31
Is that what they want us to do? No, but I will touch on the
20:34
guaranteed pay in a little bit. I mean, pretty much a lot of
20:38
until we get a new contract that raises our pay, we're, we're
20:43
going to be just like the airline stewardesses of the
20:47
beater airlines that were paid very little and had to get food
20:53
stamps, WIC and other government assistance because they could
20:57
barely afford to their own bills, let alone take care of
21:01
themselves. So they had to get supplemental
21:03
incomes with government assistance.
21:05
Is that what we're headed, what they want us to be doing to
21:08
something for people to think about?
21:10
But let's get into the topics you wanted to discuss, Kristen.
21:14
Well, Relief day work list should have been posted in the
21:16
offices on the 14th through the 27th, which will be this coming
21:22
up Friday. That is the sign up period for
21:24
the relief day work list that will go in effect with the new
21:27
guarantee period, October 5th. October 5th starts technically
21:32
the guaranteed new guarantee period, guaranteed year I should
21:36
say, which is also in line with the standard fiscal year.
21:41
So October 1st through the end of September.
21:43
That is why the guarantee period starts the 1st Saturday, 1st pay
21:49
period starting and October. So with that being said, a lot
21:54
of that is explained in the contract under Article 9,
21:58
Section 2, which is your compensation allowance and fees.
22:03
And that all describes the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is
22:07
what our compensation falls under.
22:10
The FSLA Section 7B2 to be precise.
22:15
I am not going to read this whole thing, but I will touch on
22:19
the 2240 and the 2080, which I know there are many, many
22:23
carriers who are above both. Basically, I will read a little
22:27
bit of a section, The first section of a section A, part A,
22:32
Section 1. It does say it is desired by the
22:34
parties at the certain rule letter.
22:36
Carrier shall be employed on an annual basis at a guaranteed
22:40
annual wage, which is your guaranteed annual wage is what
22:46
you see on your 4241 A on the bottom right hand corner where
22:51
it says guaranteed salary. That is your guaranteed annual
22:55
wage and that such rule carriers should not be required to
22:58
actually work more than 20 to 40 hours during the guarantee
23:03
period of 52 consecutive weeks is specified below pursuant to
23:08
Section 7B to of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
23:13
And then under that regular royal carriers receiving
23:17
evaluated compensation assigned to the routes having the number
23:20
of evaluated hours of required service per week shall be
23:24
guaranteed an annual wage equal to the corresponding amount of
23:28
their attained step for 2080 hours of actual work during the
23:33
guarantee period of the 52 consecutive weeks as set forth
23:37
in paragraph H below. If you skip on down to paragraph
23:41
H that says for all regular world carriers compensated
23:46
pursuant the FLSA Section 7B2, the 52 consecutive week
23:51
guarantee periods shall be consecutive, beginning and
23:55
ending with pay periods, which is where we're at, where the 1
23:58
ends and on October 4th and the new guarantee pay starts on
24:06
October 5th all. Right, I want to read article
24:10
8.5 about relief day work for the Relief Day work list so
24:15
people understand why we're doing it.
24:17
Now if I could. So it's Article 8.5 in our
24:22
currently assigned contract. That section A the relief day
24:27
work list at each delivery unit, delivery unit, so that's each
24:32
office, not that's the unit whole shall be established twice
24:39
during each guarantee period. The Relief Day Work list will be
24:42
posted for a two week period. Each time the new Relief Day
24:46
Work list is established, it shall supersede the previous
24:49
list. All regular carriers, regardless
24:52
of route classification, desiring to work their release
24:56
dates to place their names on the Release Day Work list.
24:59
The first opportunity to sign the Relief Day Work List will be
25:03
3 weeks prior to the beginning of the new Guarantee period and
25:07
will be effective at the beginning of the new Guarantee
25:09
period. The second opportunity to sign
25:12
the release day work list will be 3 weeks prior to the
25:14
beginning of the first full pay period in May and will be
25:18
effective the first full pay period of May.
25:21
When a regular carrier is needed to work a relief day due the
25:24
unavailability of a lever replacement, the employer will
25:28
select carriers on the list in order of seniority on a rotating
25:32
basis to work the release day. 2 If the need still exists, the
25:36
employer will accept volunteers from regular carriers not on the
25:40
list before requiring carriers not on the list to work the
25:45
release day. Such requirement will be by
25:48
juniority. 3A Regular Rd. carrier will not be required to
25:52
work if the carrier has at least one day of annual leave,
25:56
including an approved X day or stick leave adjacent to the
26:00
relief day. B.
26:02
On the day the regular carrier works the relief day, the
26:04
assigned leave replacement may be required to work any route in
26:08
the delivery unit consistent with the provisions of this
26:11
agreement. Administrative errors in the
26:13
assignment of work to regular carriers on relief days will not
26:16
result in monetary remedies. C The employer is not required
26:20
to work any regular carrier on a relief day if the assigned
26:24
primary leave replacement is in the 1st 2 pay periods of
26:28
assignment in the office or it would cause the carrier to
26:32
exceed the hours of the annual guarantee or 56 actual hours
26:37
within one week. Right there we go back to the
26:40
FLSA on that last part. Let me.
26:43
Pull it back, all right, and then we're going to jump back up
26:47
into 9.2 point B. Consistent with the pay with
26:52
past pay practices evaluated, carriers assigned to the route
26:57
having evaluated hours in excess of 40 hours per week shall
27:02
receive compensation for such hours in addition to their
27:05
guaranteed annual wage. However, the employer may at any
27:10
time reduce or increase such carriers total compensation by
27:14
adjusting such carriers total compensation by excuse me, I'm
27:19
rereading stuff here. However, the employer may at any
27:22
time reduce or increase such carriers total compensation by
27:25
adjusting the number of evaluated hours of their routes
27:29
downward or upward, but not to a salary salary level below the
27:35
guarantee set forth at the beginning of the guarantee
27:39
period. Therefore, compensation paid to
27:42
evaluated carriers in excess of the amount of compensation
27:46
annually guaranteed for 2080 hours of actual work shall not
27:50
be considered guaranteed annual wages.
27:53
Basically, you're guaranteed pay that you is your your what your
27:58
current step is at the 40 hour right?
28:02
An employer at any time may at any time increase the total
28:07
compensation paid evaluated carriers assigned to routes
28:11
having the evaluated hours of 40 hours per week or less by
28:15
adjusting the number of evaluated hours of their routes
28:18
upward. However, compensation paid to
28:21
such evaluated carriers in excess of the amount of
28:25
compensation annually guaranteed for 2080 hours of actual work
28:30
shall not be considered guaranteed annual wages.
28:33
That's a lot of reading in here folks.
28:36
I didn't think I was going to read it all, but we might as
28:38
well because it's important regular role.
28:41
What was that? They don't.
28:43
Have to work yet? Otherwise they don't have to
28:45
work yet and you're not guaranteed the overtime.
28:49
Exactly. Regular role carriers receiving
28:52
non evaluated compensation assigned to routes having a
28:55
number of paid miles shall be guaranteed an annual wage not
28:58
less than a corresponding amount for the retained step for 2080
29:02
hours of actual work during the 52 consecutive week period is
29:05
set forth in paragraph H below. I do believe that would be a
29:09
mileage route and I do believe we only have one of those left
29:12
as I last the country. Consistent with pay practices,
29:16
non evaluated carriers assigned a route having 43 or more paid
29:21
miles shall receive compensation for such paid miles in a
29:25
distance in addition to their guaranteed annual wage.
29:29
However, the employer may at any time reduce or increase such
29:33
carriers total compensation by adjusting the number of paid
29:37
miles of their routes downward or upward, but not to a salary
29:40
level below the guarantee set forth at the beginning of the
29:43
guarantee period. Therefore, compensation paid to
29:46
non evaluated carriers in excess of the amount of compensation
29:50
annually guaranteed for 2080 hours of actual work should not
29:53
be considered guaranteed annual wages.
29:55
The employer may at any time increase the total compensation
29:59
paid non evaluated carriers assigned to routes having 42 or
30:03
less paid miles per week by adjusting the number of paid
30:06
miles of the routes upward. However, compensation paid to
30:09
such non evaluated carriers in excess of the amount granted for
30:14
2080 hours of actual work shall not be considered guaranteed
30:17
annual wages. All right.
30:20
And then we're going to get into.
30:23
Yeah. And and while you're going
30:24
through all the doublespeak of, you know, the guarantees above,
30:28
adjusting the down, adjusting debt upwards, you know, this all
30:31
works in the benefit of management.
30:34
There's nothing there for our benefit whatsoever.
30:37
It's management's decision to do this.
30:40
And you know, just like, you know, I have an overburdened
30:42
game route. I'm at 67 plus hours and yet my
30:46
pay is capped at 9.6 hours a day.
30:49
Well, there's plenty of us out there saying, well, how do we
30:53
get compensated for this excess work that we do every day?
30:57
And the answer is, we don't. Nope, we don't.
31:00
There's one lopsided ass contract and the the FSLA really
31:06
needs to be either thrown out or renegotiated in regards to how
31:11
it applies towards rule carriers.
31:13
I agree in many instances it definitely needs to be updated,
31:17
that's for sure. Well, if you want to get the
31:20
Fair Labor Standards Act updated, we need to contact our
31:23
congressmen and women because they're responsible for the
31:26
FLSA. All right.
31:27
FSLA Section 7A. This falls under those that are
31:34
35 hours or less. So if your route is considered
31:39
substandard, the following employees shall be compensated
31:43
in accordance with FLSA Section 7A.
31:48
Evaluated carriers assigned to routes having less than 35 hours
31:52
of required service per week. Regular rural carriers receiving
31:56
non evaluated compensation to routes having less than 31 paid
32:00
miles. Part time flexible substitutes.
32:03
Rural carrier associates, RCRS, ASSIST and ARCS employees
32:09
appointed as a regular rule carriers during the guarantee
32:12
period not covered by section 72B7B2 of the fair label
32:17
standard. Those are the ones that decide
32:21
they want to go hourly for the rest of the guarantee period
32:23
when they first go regular, which I don't know.
32:28
I knew my route so it wasn't a big deal for.
32:30
Me. But for those who bid onto an
32:31
overburdened route that's not going to get cut, taking the
32:35
hourly way is a way to make sure you get paid for all the hours
32:37
that you work on that overburdened route.
32:40
But they can also hold you to 40 hours as well to the 2080 that
32:44
is 1. Of the with that one.
32:45
Yeah, I was gonna say that that is a downfall to doing that when
32:51
you first go full time is management can keep you at the
32:54
2080 at the 40 hours a week. So that's I mean given the
32:59
circumstances with hiring and retention that's obviously not
33:02
always going to be the case anyways.
33:04
So those that are in 2080 and 2240 issues, this is a little
33:11
bit covers it a little bit under there.
33:14
It's under the 9.2 point A. One point I is where I'm going
33:22
to start. Any regular real carrier
33:24
compensated pursuant to the FSLA Section 7B2 shall receive
33:29
overtime compensation as set forth in paragraph K below for
33:34
hours actually worked in excess of 12 hours in any one day or in
33:39
excess of 56 hours in any work week.
33:42
All hours paid in accordance with Article 9.2, Point C .5,
33:46
Point F3 shall not be included in the hours worked over 56
33:51
hours in any work week. In the event any regular rural
33:54
carrier compensated pursuant to FL FLSA Section 7B2 is required
34:01
to actually is required to actually work more than 2080
34:05
hours within the 52 consecutive week guarantee period, such
34:09
carrier shall receive overtime compensation as set forth in
34:14
paragraph K below for all hours actually worked in excess of
34:19
2080 up to 2240 within the Guarantee period.
34:25
All hours paid in accordance with the Overtime Article shall
34:30
not be included in hours worked in excess of 2080 up to 2240 in
34:35
the Guarantee Period. Now here's paragraph K Overtime
34:39
compensation for regular rural carriers compensated pursuant to
34:42
the FLSA Section 7B2 shall be paid at the rate of 150% of the
34:48
carrier's regular rate. The regular rate for such
34:51
carrier shall be the total amount of compensation earned
34:55
for hours actually work since commencement of the Guarantee
34:59
period, excluding previous overtime pay, divided by the
35:03
total number of hours the carrier has actually worked
35:06
since commencement of the guarantee period, excluding
35:09
previous overtime hours. For regular rural carrier
35:11
compensated under FLSA Section 7B2, Christmas overtime
35:16
compensation, if appropriate, shall be paid in regular check
35:21
following the pay period worked. Any Christmas overtime hours at
35:25
the FLSA overtime rate shall not be included in hours worked in
35:29
excess of 2080 up to 2240 in the guarantee period.
35:33
No regular rule carrier compensated pursuant to FLSA
35:37
section 7B2 may actually work in excess of 2240 hours within the
35:44
52 consecutive week guarantee period.
35:47
In the event any such carrier actually works more then 2240
35:52
hours within the guarantee period, the agreement under FLSA
35:56
Section 7B2 will be considered void and such carrier shall be
36:02
compensated for all hours actually work during the
36:05
guarantee period in accordance with the FLSA Section 7A.
36:10
SO yeah, as I know I've got, I've heard many of them that are
36:14
over the 2240, so they're not getting paid for that right now.
36:17
It's just crazy guys. And I get it.
36:19
I only got a couple more weeks left of this for this year
36:22
anyways. Then we started all over again.
36:25
Yes we do. Yes we do.
36:28
There was. I hate to say that I'm going to
36:31
miss it. No, you're going to miss your
36:37
customers and you're going to miss hanging out with your Co
36:40
workers and. My dogs and my kids.
36:43
Yeah, I know. Well, the dogs are your
36:46
customers, too. Well, I got 147 dogs and I don't
36:49
have one vet bill that that's the best pet owner you could
36:52
ever have. Amen to that.
36:57
Yeah. And, and yeah, it's funny
36:59
because of the fact that, you know, customers, you know, that
37:02
have the dogs that are, you know, like, well, they're going
37:04
to miss you. I'm like, well, you know, I'll
37:05
come by and visit, you know, really no do have some
37:09
customers. I actually will visit because I,
37:11
I look in on them. There's a couple elderly
37:15
customers I pay, you know, strict attention to.
37:17
And there's a there's a couple that are, you know, friends of
37:21
mine over the years. So I've known some of them for
37:23
over 20 years. And like I said, you know, we,
37:28
we've established almost family like connections that that I'll
37:32
miss. Who's the smart ass that said I
37:34
have till Thursday changed my mind.
37:42
Yes, Bill, you have for Thursday to change your mind.
37:46
Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah, I think Bill's
37:49
mind's pretty well made-up. Yeah, I, I, I'll tell you what,
37:53
if we were still in Westchester, I'd consider, you know, another
37:57
year. But, you know, at this SD and C,
38:00
No, I, I, you know, I don't see the the worth of risking my life
38:06
on a major highway during a snowstorm.
38:09
I mean, LLV would change at 30 miles an hour.
38:12
No, no, my life's worth more than that.
38:15
Like I tell everybody, yeah, you're the most important
38:17
delivery of the day. I'm not going to put my ass at
38:20
risk for that just because, you know, they, you know, a
38:23
supervisor didn't bother checking out a a smoky smell and
38:27
we got transported up to the SDNC and now we're working for,
38:31
you know, a Hitler like individual who doesn't care.
38:34
He's so uncompassionate. We had several people dress him
38:39
in regards to having a cake for me on Friday.
38:41
And you know what he said? I'm not fond of stuff like that,
38:45
so no. Crazy.
38:47
I had a postmaster that would pay for the retirement party if
38:50
he couldn't make it and always made sure that there was a cake
38:54
and and goodies and a potluck and everything else anytime
38:58
somebody retired. But that was, you know, nine
39:02
years. Ago.
39:03
Yeah, that was far. Away, exactly.
39:06
And they have since retired. Yeah, but with the guarantee
39:09
period starting October 5th, those of us who have accumulated
39:14
X days prior to that that have not used those X days, those X
39:19
days that you require that you acquire prior to the beginning
39:26
of the new guarantee period will be frozen until after Christmas
39:32
overtime. Any X days that you earn during
39:37
that time between October 5th and if I looked correctly,
39:41
December 27th this year, those will have to be taken within the
39:46
same pay period or they will be paid out as a deck of five at
39:50
the overtime rate. Yes, the relief day work list is
39:56
per delivery unit and the R camp says the delivery unit is
39:59
defined as being under the control of one postmaster or
40:02
station manager. That's for the relief day work.
40:06
Which which in the case of my SD and C we're we are under one
40:11
postmaster right now. Yes, 250 carriers.
40:15
Yep. So yeah, so any X days that.
40:19
You. He's all over.
40:21
It any X days that you earn prior to October 4th that are or
40:25
October 5th that are not used by October 4th will be frozen until
40:30
after till December 28th. Basically I earned 1.
40:34
Yesterday movie. And then any X days that you
40:40
earn between October 5th and December 27th will have to use
40:45
within the same pay period or they will be paid out for that
40:48
pay period under the DACA 550%, which actually will fall right
40:53
into me because I am actually working October 5th.
40:56
So we'll see what happens if I end up getting an extra day, a
41:00
different day off or if I will just take the overtime.
41:04
We'll see what happens, what's going on in the office at that
41:06
time. Table 2.
41:09
Take the money, honey. Yep, that's what I'm thinking.
41:12
And no, I am not signing the relief day work list.
41:15
Again, not doing it. Neither am I.
41:19
Don't blame ya, you don't have to.
41:22
Yeah, I I love people going hey, Bill, you gonna come back into
41:25
the hark? Like, yeah, right.
41:29
Sure. So.
41:30
So where? Do I sign up?
41:32
So touching on what James was saying before and what we kind
41:34
of basically touched on with the guaranteed salary, it was
41:38
brought up as a good topic to talk about with living within
41:42
your means, I should say, because we're not always going
41:44
to be guarantee. And I where they're coming from
41:47
on this is, you know, we may be 41 through a 48K, but that's not
41:53
always going to be guaranteed. You know, whether it's route
41:56
cuts, many mail surveys, interim adjustments, you know that 40
42:01
hour guaranteed salary at your step.
42:05
What they were saying is basically, you know, living
42:07
within those means, which I understand especially for Table
42:11
2 carriers, it is difficult. And I completely understand that
42:15
because that could be a good chunk of change because
42:18
technically the way it is 40 hours, the 2080, that's your
42:22
guaranteed salary. You're one through 8 there.
42:28
If you're a 41 through a 48, that is the overtime pay
42:33
incorporated into your route salary, your evaluation.
42:38
So I mean, I totally get and understand where they're coming
42:41
from on that. And it is actually in some cases
42:44
a good point of advice, especially for those that might
42:47
be right on that cusp of maybe falling under 40 hours.
42:50
And so if that happens after the guarantee starts, you'll still
42:55
be guaranteed that guaranteed salary.
42:58
That's what that means. There is if your route falls
43:00
below the 40 hours, you're going to be paid that guaranteed
43:04
salary till the end of that current guarantee period only
43:09
and then starting the next one. Your salary could be different
43:12
if your route is still less than 40 hours.
43:15
Now the question comes the begs to be asked is that we have a
43:19
mini mail survey and the route goes down even more.
43:22
Do we still get that guaranteed salary until the next pay
43:25
period? Mean to the next guarantee?
43:28
Yep, it's only between guarantee to guarantee.
43:30
Yep, Yep. And then your guarantee salary
43:33
will change with that next guarantee period.
43:35
If you're still substandard, unfortunately, it goes between
43:40
beginning of the guarantee period till the end.
43:42
I'm going to turn this over to you guys real quick.
43:44
I need to step away from the mic for a moment.
43:48
So have fun gentlemen. Well, I I.
43:50
Think you had to call this gentleman?
43:52
Wow, how dare she? Yeah, and I think that having to
43:58
figure out how to live off of wages that are adjusted every
44:04
six months is the toughest way for anybody to deal with life,
44:12
you know, And having a guarantee minimum pay for carriers sucks
44:20
for them. I mean, I understand it's the
44:22
minimum they have to pay you, but being at the minimum is the
44:26
worst place to be. I mean, it's already bad enough
44:29
when you're on Table 2 versus Table one, but then if you're a
44:33
table tour and you go down to the guarantee salary, it's even
44:37
worse. And I alluded to this earlier in
44:41
the episode when I said you'll have to apply for food stamps
44:44
and stuff like that. And it's actually possible to be
44:49
low enough to be able to get food stamps while working at the
44:54
Postal Service, especially if you're a single parent with
44:56
kids, you know, WIC women, if in children is another one.
45:01
But having to get supplemental funds just to be able to support
45:07
the bare minimum for yourself. I'm upset that we even have to
45:11
think of that stuff in a in an industry that was a coveted job
45:16
not too long ago, in an industry where people wanted to work here
45:21
because of the benefits, the wages.
45:24
And now we're getting beat out even by Walmart in places we're
45:30
getting beat out by the big three automakers.
45:34
We're getting beat out by most other union and now not only are
45:42
we waiting on something to happen where other crafts are
45:46
waiting for something to happen, city carriers over 500 days are
45:50
almost to two years without a contract.
45:53
How long is it going to take us to get one?
45:56
You know, we people got told that National Convention that
45:59
it's 99% done. Well, what's the 1% hold up.
46:04
Oh wait, no transparency. That's right, I forgot about
46:07
that. But then again, if you ask Brian
46:10
Renfro from the NALC, he'll say that the NRLCA and APWU are
46:16
doing fake negotiations, so your guess is as good as mine.
46:21
Yeah, it's like the lady I brought up who's a 41 J who
46:25
qualified for a low income housing grant.
46:28
How sad is that? You're a federal employee and
46:32
you qualify for a low income housing grant.
46:36
I mean, you might as well be on welfare really.
46:39
And Table 2 is it is such a slap in the face.
46:44
And I feel deeply sorry for the people who are trying to make it
46:48
while raising a family. Because if I had to do it, you
46:53
know, trust me. I mean, we be eating a lot of
46:56
pork and beans. I, I, I just don't, I don't
47:02
understand it. Not with the cost of car
47:04
insurance, home insurance, mortgage payment, you know, food
47:08
bills. I mean, me and my wife today,
47:11
OK, we, we bought a couple extra things, you know, for her family
47:14
coming over today, but we spent $179 on groceries and, and we
47:20
didn't buy one piece of red meat.
47:23
It, it's just, you know, it's ludicrous.
47:26
And, and you know, my, my heart goes out to these people because
47:29
of the fact that they got to be struggling.
47:31
I know they are. I've, I've seen enough stories
47:34
about it. And then and just, it just
47:36
breaks my heart. And, you know, to think that our
47:39
leadership is oh, yeah, we listen to you.
47:42
Where? Yeah, we, we understand.
47:44
No, you don't. You don't.
47:45
You're living in $900,000 houses making $180,000 plus.
47:50
You know you're bidding on routes to pad your high three
47:53
from the post office. No, you don't understand and you
47:56
don't understand working more than 9.6 hours and that's the
48:00
maximum that you can be paid for.
48:02
I had to explain that to a supervisor why everybody on the
48:06
on the ever burden K routes, I'll get 9.6 hours, but their
48:10
actual hours are 60 plus hours above and we're not getting
48:14
being compensated for anything above 5736.
48:18
That's unfair. Of course it's unfair.
48:21
But until we get changes to the FSLA because the, you know, the
48:26
way the law is written, guess what?
48:28
We're screwed. Yeah.
48:30
Well, I. This is one of the issues where,
48:33
you know, some people actually are talking about going
48:36
narrowly. God help it, you know, God help
48:40
the people who want to go hourly because then you can become a
48:43
city carrier, be doing pivots done under your so-called
48:47
evaluation that they're going to force you to take more out.
48:50
You know, our leave, our leave goes from days to hours.
48:57
And yeah, like you said, you know, and on top of that,
49:01
they're going to turn around and say, Oh well, our computer says
49:04
that you could, your route's going to be 6 hours today.
49:07
So here's two hours on top of that to make your 8 or you have
49:10
to take two hours of leave at the end of the day, you know.
49:13
But I did find this in the the F21 time and attendance and it
49:18
is Section 568 salary protection and it reads as follows. 568.1
49:26
entitlement. If a carrier's route is reduced
49:29
and the carrier is entitled to the guaranteed salary
49:32
established at the beginning of the guarantee year based upon
49:35
the national agreement, the carrier may also be entitled to
49:38
salary protection for the remainder of the two calendar
49:42
years. The guaranteed salary is set at
49:45
the employee step at the beginning of the guarantee year
49:48
and is entitled to all contractual increases if the
49:52
route was reduced for the benefit of the Postal Service
49:54
and if the carrier qualifies for salary protection.
49:57
Referred to Elm 421.51 and 421.511, Decimal 2.
50:03
How it works As an example, the route is a 44-H route and the
50:09
annual salary is 38889. The route is reduced to A38H
50:14
route in pay period 14 because the Postal Service added the
50:18
territory to another route. The carrier is entitled to the
50:22
guaranteed salary and COLA of a 40 hour route until the end of
50:26
the guaranteed period. If at the end of the guarantee
50:29
period, the carrier is entitled to salary protection for the
50:32
remainder of the two years, the salary protection would expire
50:36
in pay period 13 two years later.
50:40
The protected salary would be the basic salary of a 40 hour
50:43
route and the COLA of a 38 hour route.
50:47
The carrier is entitled to all salary increases related to the
50:50
40 hour route. If the route exceeds 40 hours
50:54
during the two year protection period, the protected salary
50:57
would terminate automatically. There therein lies just another
51:01
problem with our contract because of the fact that there
51:05
are so many oh God, integrals in in computing your pay and your
51:11
protection, your minimum guaranteed.
51:15
Most people don't even bother. You know they they don't even
51:17
understand that, but let alone would be bothered to look that
51:19
up, James. Yeah.
51:22
And that's one of the benefits of the podcast is that, you
51:25
know, we're here to help you because of the fact that this is
51:29
so convoluted, you need to be a lawyer to understand it.
51:33
And if you, if you caught that, the little piece in there that
51:37
takes just a little bit away from the carrier, even with the
51:40
guarantee salary where it said you get the basic salary of a 40
51:46
hour route and the cost of living adjustment of a 38 hour
51:51
route if you're a 38 eight. So if you're a 35H, you get the
51:55
cost of living adjustment of a 35H route instead of the basic
52:00
40 hour route that you would normally get.
52:03
So if your route is substandard, you're getting less of an
52:07
increase. And on top of that, if you're
52:09
table two, you're already getting less of a COLA increase
52:13
already compared to where you are.
52:15
Unless you're at the top step of table two, you're getting a
52:18
percentage on that. But this is even worse because
52:22
not only are you on that percentage, but you're even
52:25
lower with the under under owered route.
52:29
So you're getting screwed over there too.
52:31
Just. Just another example of nickel
52:33
and diming. That's the death, except for in
52:36
this case, it it it's several $100 at a time.
52:40
Yeah. Same with every evaluation
52:42
chain. You know, all these overburdened
52:44
routes, you know, if they're 48 K and they go down to 43, that's
52:48
a almost $5000 difference in pay right there, minimum.
52:57
I mean I'm I'm talking about Table 2, step 10.
53:03
OK. Well, so Table 2, well it's
53:07
actually let me calculate this out here so I'm I'm not
53:12
considered as mistaken here, but I'm talking about.
53:19
So it's a difference between 48K and four and 43 K is before
53:29
taxes 11,124. So after taxes it would be right
53:35
around 5 grand if you have a decent plans on your insurance
53:42
and of course the 5% matching. Table One.
53:46
The gross salary would drop $14,000.
53:52
Excuse me, that was table one. It's 11,124 on table one step.
53:59
Hey, step 12, that's where I'm at.
54:03
OK. And Table 2, step one difference
54:08
is $9441.00. So top step is a difference of
54:17
13,659. So I will say that there are
54:23
carriers out there that are so overburdened on their routes
54:26
right now that they're willing to take that pay cut to get
54:32
their routes cut down so they can have more time with their
54:37
family at home. That's worth more than that
54:40
money that they would get from the Postal Service to them.
54:43
And I totally understand that because as you say, Bill,
54:46
they're the most important delivery, getting home to their
54:48
loved ones and they want to have that time with their loved ones
54:51
instead of being out there 12/13/14 hours delivering stuff
54:55
because their route is super overburdened.
54:58
Like somebody said earlier in the chat, one of the routes is
55:01
125 standard hours right now. Well, remember, no amount of
55:06
money has ever bought a second of time.
55:09
That is correct. And yes, that's from the Marvel
55:11
series. And I love the Marvel.
55:16
That that Tony Stark said to his father and he was quoting his
55:20
father while talking to his father, which is kind of, you
55:23
know, parallel universe there. All right.
55:26
The one thing we didn't touch on so much was the alongside the
55:29
relief day work list is the Sunday volunteer list for RCA's
55:36
and PTFS. I do believe they're on there.
55:40
Somebody correct me if I am wrong however that.
55:43
One. Yeah, they're on there.
55:45
However, that is a little different because all the names
55:48
are then listed on the form and you check off Yes or no or the
55:54
Sunday worklist. I have a copy of it right here.
55:58
It's been over arcs. First arcs, first RC as PTFS and
56:04
then the RC as with hold downs. Yes.
56:08
I've got, I've got, I've got the document right here.
56:12
It's the MOU for Sunday holiday parcel delivery worklist and it
56:20
says to start with the parties recognize the importance blah
56:26
blah, blah. In order to have sufficient row
56:29
carrier leave replacements available to complete Sunday
56:32
holiday parcel delivery, a Sunday holiday parcel delivery
56:35
work list will be established for part time.
56:37
Flexible row carriers substitute row carriers, row carrier
56:41
associates, and rural carrier relief employees.
56:44
Assistant rural carriers will not be included on the Sunday
56:48
holiday parcel delivery work list as these employees are
56:51
hired specifically to work on Sundays and holidays.
56:54
This list will be established within 30 days of the effective
56:57
date of this memorandum of understanding.
57:00
Future lists will be established during the same time period as
57:03
the release day work list. Article 8.5 A and each new list
57:08
shall supersede the previous list.
57:10
There will be no Sunday holiday parcel delivery work list
57:13
utilized upon collapse of the Hub concept during peak season.
57:17
Management will utilize Arcs first, then utilize leave
57:20
replacements within their own offices, and then they borrow
57:23
leave replacements as needed to complete Sunday holiday parcel
57:26
delivery during the Hub collapse to establish the initial list.
57:33
Let's see here if there's anything else.
57:36
Newly hired RC AS will be afforded the opportunity to
57:39
place their name on the Sunday Holiday Parcel Delivery work
57:42
list as volunteers within 60 days of hire.
57:45
If these rural carriers choose not to sign the volunteer list
57:48
at this time, they will be placed on the non volunteer
57:51
list. When it is necessary to schedule
57:53
rural carrier leave replacements for Sunday Holiday, parcel
57:56
delivery, management will first utilize any Arcs assigned to the
57:59
Hub location or associated spoke offices.
58:02
If there are no Arcs assigned to these locations or an
58:05
insufficient number of Arcs, management at the Hub location
58:08
will then select Lead replacements from the volunteer
58:10
list on a rotating basis. If there is an insufficient
58:14
number of leave replacements on the volunteer list, management
58:17
will schedule leave replacements from the non volunteer list also
58:20
on a rotating basis. Rural carrier associates serving
58:23
vacant regular routes or serving regular routes during the
58:26
extended absence of the regular carriers, including the 1st 90
58:29
days before becoming a designation 74, will not be
58:34
scheduled for Sunday holiday parcel delivery unless all leave
58:38
replacements from both the volunteer and non volunteer
58:40
lists are scheduled. Leave replacements on both the
58:43
volunteer and non volunteer Sunday holiday parcel delivery
58:46
work list will be bypassed in the rotation if the leave
58:49
replacement has approved leave or an approved non scheduled day
58:53
adjacent to Sunday or the holiday.
58:56
However, the leave replacement on the Sunday holiday parcel
58:58
work delivery work list may notify management in writing
59:03
that he or she does not wish to be bypassed in this
59:05
circumstance, provided notices given at the time the leave is
59:08
requested. In addition, management may
59:11
bypass leave replacements for Sunday holiday parcel Delivery
59:14
of such assigned work hours would result in the leave
59:16
replacement exceeding 40 hours at the end of the work week.
59:19
And that's the bridge version of the MOU and.
59:22
How many replacement carriers don't work 40 hours a week?
59:26
Not. Many anymore.
59:27
Yeah, well. My office.
59:30
As I say, you still have those Unicorn offices that are, yeah,
59:33
for the most part, fully staffed, but those are
59:37
definitely. Oh, I'm not fully staffed.
59:41
I'm not fully staffed. It's just that a lot of my, a
59:46
lot of our Rcas, the top top few Rcas come in and actually work
59:53
the route that they need to, work when they need to and the
59:57
others just work the schedule relief days and.
1:00:00
Then you have offices that have absolutely none.
1:00:02
Yep, and. Then you have offices that only
1:00:05
have a few. We're down to 1-2 in the OPS
1:00:10
carrier right now. Suppose we got a new one in the
1:00:13
pipeline. So we'll see how that works out.
1:00:15
I think we're one short of having enough to cover Saturday
1:00:19
Monday relief days in my office if I'm not mistaken.
1:00:24
Our Subs want Sunday off. Yeah, Subs want Sunday off.
1:00:29
I don't blame them. I mean, when when I got up in my
1:00:34
first office after Amazon came in and I was high enough up on
1:00:40
the food chain that I, I think I was only like second in line at
1:00:43
that time. I took when the sign up came
1:00:47
around for the second time, I took myself off of it.
1:00:50
I'm like, Nope, I've had enough. I'm good.
1:00:52
Yeah. And I can't blame them for
1:00:54
wanting to have the time off with their families and
1:00:56
everything. But yeah, wouldn't.
1:00:58
When I joined up, you know, I knew what I was signing up for
1:01:02
in regards to working every Saturday because the regulars
1:01:05
were getting Saturdays off and the Subs weren't.
1:01:07
I mean, you know, it's plain and simple as that.
1:01:10
It was explained to me in detail that you're going to work every
1:01:12
Saturday, OK. I mean, you know, when Amazon
1:01:15
came along, OK. You know, I was a regular for
1:01:18
years and I signed up to help in case, you know, you had Subs who
1:01:22
wanted off. And, you know, there was times
1:01:25
that I worked it. So I mean, I can understand, you
1:01:28
know, wanting to spend time with your family and I can understand
1:01:31
it that, you know, when you need money.
1:01:33
But the thing of it is that, you know, that's your your primary
1:01:37
duty. And then, you know, I'm sorry to
1:01:38
say that the contract doesn't work in your favor on that.
1:01:42
And that's the biggest issue with the hiring system now is
1:01:46
they don't get that one-on-one with management to actually get
1:01:50
an explanation of what they're potentially be working and the
1:01:55
days that they'll be working their assigned day.
1:01:58
They, they're not getting that anymore.
1:02:00
Like they, like they did when I got hired in nearly a decade
1:02:04
ago. You know, it's, they come in and
1:02:08
then they, oh, I've got to work every Saturday or you know, it,
1:02:13
it's, I don't know, I, I just, I don't agree the, the hiring
1:02:17
process hasn't gotten any better with what they so-called fast
1:02:21
track hiring. I don't know what's fast about
1:02:24
it. And I really think a lot of it
1:02:25
needs to be brought back down to the office level.
1:02:28
Amen. I really do.
1:02:29
I really think it needs to be brought back down to the office
1:02:32
level in one way or another to before somebody accepts the
1:02:39
position just for the sheer fact that they don't know right off
1:02:44
hand what they're getting themselves into.
1:02:46
You know, we still can't fill our POV position for the sheer
1:02:50
fact that we all know how difficult it is to find a
1:02:53
vehicle. And and anybody that's coming in
1:02:56
as an RCA regardless, more than likely cannot afford to buy
1:03:00
something, let alone try and afford a right hand drive,
1:03:03
whether it's new or used, let alone another vehicle that will
1:03:07
allow them to be able to deliver the mail or, you know,
1:03:12
conversion kits. We may not be able to afford
1:03:15
that. I mean, that's where I'm looking
1:03:16
at right now. Ruby's still looking at applying
1:03:19
next month after she turns 18 and she wants the POV route.
1:03:23
So now I am in the process of trying to find a vehicle that I
1:03:26
know that will either can easily put pedals in it or something
1:03:30
that she'll be able to straddle to deliver out of it is
1:03:33
difficult. All right, guys, we're going to
1:03:35
wind this down for tonight. Well.
1:03:38
I do have a couple go. Ahead.
1:03:41
I have a couple of announcements to make.
1:03:46
So one of the big things coming out now is we need to get a hold
1:03:50
of our congressmen and women because there is the USUSPS
1:03:57
Shipping Equity Act, which would help increase shipping revenues
1:04:02
for the Postal Service and put us in line with the private
1:04:06
sector in terms of delivering alcoholic beverages.
1:04:11
So I would take the time to contact your senators and
1:04:15
representatives. And if you want a form letter
1:04:19
that the NRLCA has, it is available in the new section on
1:04:23
the website, but it says that it could generate $190 million
1:04:29
annually in new revenue for the Postal Service.
1:04:32
It would be the same as like delivery medication, you know,
1:04:35
21 years of age, need to verify when you deliver.
1:04:39
But it would just allow us to be able to bring in more revenue
1:04:44
into the Postal Service plus increase our auto evaluation if
1:04:47
we're delivering alcoholic beverages to people.
1:04:51
So I would contact your senator or representative on that.
1:04:54
Which and honesty procedure wise wouldn't be much different than
1:04:59
having deliver medication that requires 21 and over to sign.
1:05:03
Yeah. And then the other piece that I
1:05:07
wanted to talk about was being safe in hazardous weather
1:05:13
conditions because I just saw a picture of a mattress with a
1:05:19
tree on top of it. Pay attention to your
1:05:22
surroundings when you're outside.
1:05:23
Not just for people attempting to cause problems, nature
1:05:28
causing problems. Do you hear a tree creaking in a
1:05:31
way that you haven't heard before when you're standing at
1:05:34
ACBU or driving past it? I mean granted with the LOV and
1:05:40
FFE you probably won't really hear it too well with the truck
1:05:42
rattle, but just pay attention not only to what's that ground
1:05:47
level, but what's above you because trees can be what they
1:05:52
call widow makers in the arborist societies.
1:05:57
You know, with your have big branches coming down, especially
1:06:03
ones that have broken off and are sharp on the tip, it can
1:06:06
kill you. So be careful out there.
1:06:08
I know that hurricane season is starting to ramp up again and
1:06:12
there's a possibility of more of those coming up, including one
1:06:16
possibly performing in the Gulf here soon.
1:06:19
So we're going to have to keep an eye on our surroundings in
1:06:22
the weather and stuff like that. Plus we're coming into fall
1:06:25
season, so we're going to start getting areas that are going to
1:06:28
start getting ice and snow. So be mindful out there, be
1:06:33
careful. You guys have anything else?
1:06:37
I'm good. I'm good.
1:06:40
I think I'll remember it afterwards.
1:06:44
Usually that's how it works. Oh, yeah.
1:06:48
Remind me we got to talk about this next week.
1:06:52
I'm good guys. You know, I just think it was a
1:06:56
good point to touch on the FLSA, especially with the winding down
1:06:59
of this guarantee period and the starting of the new one.
1:07:03
Yeah, Yeah, it's a lot. I mean like definitely go check
1:07:07
out Article 9 of the contract when you get a moment and want
1:07:10
to scramble your brain and legally use, you know, you got
1:07:14
to kind of somewhat talks about it.
1:07:18
And I did not read every paragraph in there, so no.
1:07:21
It'll make you go brain dead. It really will.
1:07:23
It will, it will. Unfortunately, it does, but it
1:07:28
was definitely needed to be touched on.
1:07:30
All right, James, your final thoughts for this evening?
1:07:34
We know that our contract, our MO, US, our manuals and all
1:07:39
those things are almost impossible for a standard,
1:07:44
normal person to understand well.
1:07:47
There are a lot of people out there that should know exactly
1:07:50
every single word that are in those that don't understand them
1:07:53
and by working together as a cohesive group we can learn
1:07:59
everything we need to know about them and how we can use those to
1:08:03
protect ourselves when management who also doesn't
1:08:07
understand them brings us falsehoods about them.
1:08:12
Remember, management would rather climb a tree to lie then
1:08:16
stand on the ground to tell the truth, especially when it
1:08:19
benefits the Postal Service. Everything management does is to
1:08:23
benefit the Postal Service. It's not the benefit you, so be
1:08:26
mindful, try to learn as much as you can and just understand.
1:08:31
We don't expect everybody to know everything, but with a well
1:08:34
informed group of individuals working cohesively and together,
1:08:40
uniting as one, we can stand up and show management.
1:08:44
We're all in this together, Bill.
1:08:47
Well, as I approached the last week of my postal career, I'm
1:08:51
kind of, you know, I mean this about the fact that I always
1:08:55
thought this was the easiest job that I ever had in my life when
1:08:58
I first started. And it's grown to the point of
1:09:03
being one of the most frustrating jobs they've ever
1:09:06
had because of the fact that all of us have to deal with
1:09:11
management that is uninformed, unintelligent, ignorant of the
1:09:17
contract. And they are more fearful for
1:09:20
their positions, people above them than we are of, of anybody
1:09:25
in management. And it's a shame that the the
1:09:28
consider the fact that live in that type of atmosphere when you
1:09:32
go to work, you know, why can't it be a a nice cohesive O of
1:09:37
mail parcels, you know, information systems, you know,
1:09:42
cooperation. It just befuddles me that it,
1:09:46
it's so antagonistic every day and you know, with me being
1:09:52
moved up to an SDNC, it's like really, if you, if you've never
1:09:57
haven't been exposed to an SDNC, really can't comprehend where
1:10:01
they're actually saving money at any point.
1:10:04
It's part of the Joyce plan. Maybe the, the, you know,
1:10:09
privatize the post office. I don't know.
1:10:13
I don't, I don't trust anybody that's in the position of
1:10:16
authority making decisions that basically pads their own
1:10:19
pockets. And the fact of the matter is
1:10:21
that, you know, everybody from our national board, everybody
1:10:25
from the post office, I find that to be in bed with each
1:10:29
other. And it's a shame that I feel
1:10:32
that type of angst that our, our leadership does not represent
1:10:37
our best interests. And I feel for the people who,
1:10:40
you know, games and Tristan and and everybody else that's
1:10:44
listening to podcasts to continue with down this career
1:10:47
path. You know, I, I, I would not want
1:10:51
anybody, my family to ever work for the post office.
1:10:55
I wouldn't have said that 1015 years ago.
1:10:57
Nowadays, yeah. You know, I, I think that there
1:11:02
are better paths out there. And if you can, you know, use
1:11:05
them. If you're kind of, you know,
1:11:07
hell bent into the situation where you have to stay, then God
1:11:11
bless you. You know, make the best of it.
1:11:13
Yeah. Do your jobs as best as you can
1:11:16
best and lead efficiently, safely and, you know, help
1:11:21
others around you, help the, you know, carriers who don't know
1:11:24
enough, don't know anything. You know, protest management
1:11:27
every chance you get and they're wrong.
1:11:30
Stand up for yourself. Stand up for others united in
1:11:33
the front that you present against management when they try
1:11:35
to abuse the contract views a carrier because like James says,
1:11:40
we're all in this together. And if you don't stand up for
1:11:44
each other, they're going to pick you off.
1:11:46
They've always said if they do it to one, they'll do it to the
1:11:49
rest of us. So help protect the craft and
1:11:52
help protect each other, even if if it's just your own office,
1:11:56
you know, let alone your local chapter or anything, stand up
1:12:00
for each other, you know, put your petty differences aside
1:12:03
and, you know, present that united front.
1:12:06
That's the only way we're going to beat them.
1:12:08
And as I always say, you know, be safe out there, make sure you
1:12:13
get home to your loved ones because you're the most
1:12:15
important delivery of the day, and I mean that.
1:12:18
Thank you guys. We definitely appreciate it.
1:12:21
I guess we're trying to get back to the basics here a little bit
1:12:24
started tonight. Not quite sure what subjects
1:12:27
we'll touch on next week. Maybe a 4241 M we'll go over
1:12:31
again just because of the new evaluations coming out with the
1:12:34
4241 A's and 4241 M's on Saturday, maybe we'll touch on
1:12:39
that. We'll see what's going on.
1:12:41
Anything else is happens this week that we feel that we need
1:12:45
to bring up. We definitely will.
1:12:47
But yeah, guys, just stay safe out there, you know, stay pay
1:12:51
attention to your your surroundings.
1:12:54
Thankfully that carrier was not severely injured in that tree
1:12:59
falling on that mattress. They were able to get out of the
1:13:01
vehicle through the left hand door.
1:13:05
But yeah, please, guys, stay safe out there, stay vigilant
1:13:10
and get home to your loved ones. And you know, and watch out for
1:13:14
everybody in your office. You know, somebody always needs
1:13:17
to even even if it's the slightest little thing of
1:13:21
letting them know that you care. That may just make somebody's
1:13:24
day. They may just be having an off
1:13:26
day and just letting them know, hey, are you OK?
1:13:28
You're doing all right. Or you know, hey, if you don't
1:13:31
quite understand this, let me let me explain it to you and
1:13:35
terms that you may understand it better.
1:13:37
Something like that. We got to watch out for each
1:13:39
other. But on that note, guys, take
1:13:41
care. Have a safe week and we'll be
1:13:43
back next week. Please scan flax, then letters.
1:13:57
Please scan flax then letters.