Latest / United We Scan / It's time to stand up

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It's time to stand up · 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
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Thank you. Now here are the host of the
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United We Scan podcast. And welcome back, everybody.
1:04
Episode 34 in the works right now.
1:09
How are you doing tonight James? It was a wonderful day today.
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Off and on rain showers. Spent the day over at the
1:18
airport for an air show. Even went up flying in a little
1:22
prop job plane for a little bit. My first ever experience in one
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of those itty bitty little planes did whack my head against
1:31
the window though when we hit a pocket of turbulence, but other
1:34
than that it was quite interesting.
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I was right up there on the flight line and watch the planes
1:40
do their stunts and then watch the A10 warthog and then 2F
1:45
sixteens fly by at the same at right after each other.
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So that was pretty cool. I mean, I believe they have
1:52
their training going on up in Gaylord right now.
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So it's cool to see them actually come down and join our
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air show. Last year we didn't have any of
2:00
those planes there, but the week was really good.
2:04
Volume was surprisingly down on quite a few things except box
2:08
holders had a bunch of them in my DPS for sure, a lot of letter
2:14
box holders in my DPS. And then of course the box
2:19
actual box holders with no addresses on them as well.
2:23
And so that All in all it was a pretty non eventful week at the
2:30
office for me. That's good.
2:33
Josh is going to be joining us later.
2:35
He's on a mission with the kid right now.
2:38
Bill, how was your week? Oh, you know, in Westchester,
2:44
you just can't make this shit up.
2:46
OK? You know it when somebody says
2:50
you know they have a supervisor that's dummered in a rock.
2:54
I've got one Dumber than that rock.
2:56
OK, but yeah, hey, it's entertaining.
3:00
I enjoy it. And and and you know, due to
3:04
circumstances I can't protest unless somebody, you know, says
3:08
to me what about this? And I can tell them what to do.
3:11
But that's all from books. I want to preface my commentary
3:18
tonight by saying due to the fact that we received three
3:22
articles of fan mail. And the upcoming National
3:27
Convention of which I'm in the running for president.
3:31
I'm going to be moderate in my responses and comments tonight
3:36
and next Sunday so as not to incite a riot.
3:42
We thank you. We are not about that.
3:44
We are not about inciting anything except for
3:48
determination to follow the contract and the rules and
3:52
postal manuals of the Postal Service.
3:55
And as I said, I'm not going to incite it right.
3:58
Well, right. You can incite people to have
4:00
pride in their job. Everybody should.
4:04
Yes. Regardless of how they're
4:06
treated, they should still do the job to the best of their
4:09
ability. Absolutely.
4:13
And that will lead us to Kristen, how was your week?
4:18
Well, I had about by the end of Friday evening, probably about
4:27
14 hours of overtime this week, so it was a busy one.
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I got my butt kicked on that 47 K for a few days and then had to
4:38
split off another route Thursday after running the 47 K Yeah,
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it's been. It's been a week.
4:46
Today I kind of relaxed and went kayaking down the Asabel River
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for a little bit before it started raining, got rained on a
4:55
little bit and then came home and chilled out.
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And now I'm here with you guys. Aren't you blessed?
5:04
Right and thinking, man, I got to start packing this week for
5:08
next week for National. Yeah, that's my next two.
5:13
We all do. We all do.
5:16
We do. All three of us do.
5:18
Yes. Yeah, actually I'm done packing
5:24
all. All I gotta do is get the liquid
5:26
refreshments packed up. That's all.
5:29
Nice, nice. I will be having some more
5:31
liquid refreshment being made for me before we go, so anybody
5:38
wants some anywhere High moonshine?
5:43
Any word on your position as a delegate?
5:46
Have you moved up at all? Last I knew I was still about
5:51
7:00 or 8 back in the pack. So no, no no.
5:56
They did do some upgrades, but I haven't heard anything about.
5:59
I could easily send an e-mail and find out, but I just haven't
6:03
yet. You'll find out when you get
6:06
there. Yes, I will.
6:09
Yeah, Kristen, you're you're still an RCA and you covered the
6:13
47 that. Does your management come to you
6:16
and ask you to help on the other routes or is that something that
6:20
you do on your own? When I got the notification that
6:25
they carrier Thursday had called in, I am the only RCA in the
6:30
office that knows every route in the office.
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So I said, well, I will and the other RCA that was there that
6:38
day. Does not know the route that was
6:41
down. So what we ended up doing was, I
6:46
pretty much said we'll give him the easy part of the route and
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I'll take the POA section because that's the reason that
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whole route was nicknamed Turnaround.
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And I said I would take that part because it was actually on
7:01
my way back to the office from the route I was running anyways.
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I do a lot of the volunteering on my own.
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Just to make sure things are covered.
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And basically the the route allocation based on people's
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knowledge and abilities. Yes, yes.
7:17
So you you don't have a supervisor that comes by and
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says we have an open route today?
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Any regulars wanna help bitching?
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I'm sure the Rcas would appreciate it and then walk
7:30
away. No.
7:31
Oh, OK. No.
7:33
Because I'm trying to find that in the in the.
7:36
Elm or the M38? Because you know, I I didn't
7:40
know that that's how it worked. Well, for time wise, given the
7:43
one RCA didn't know that route at all.
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He's never touched it. Like I said, I gave him the easy
7:47
part of it. She did go and ask a regular
7:53
carrier if they would take my OX route just for time constraints,
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not knowing how long it may take him out there since he's you
8:01
know was running it completely blind.
8:02
But. I just.
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I just love the sheer fact that I, the postmaster, actually was
8:09
the one that stayed in the office and didn't bump the city
8:13
2O4B to the desk when he got back from his route.
8:16
So I could have seen her doing that and taken off early, but
8:20
she didn't, so I made her but wait there till I got back at
8:24
7:00. So what's our agenda Night,
8:27
James? Well, that was actually a great
8:30
segue talking about routes. Yes, the very first, the very
8:34
first topic we wanted to talk about was everybody needs to do
8:41
their DPM and LTM mapping. The National office came out and
8:50
announced that there is not enough routes doing the proper
8:57
procedures for mapping their DPM and LTM.
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Now some of those numbers are actually falsified on that
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report and the reason they are falsified is management is going
9:13
in and doing the DPM and LCM updates without the carrier of
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record on that route. This is your money.
9:25
We talk about this all the time. When it comes to anything
9:28
related to the REC system, this is your money.
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So we need to talk about what do you need to do to get you to sit
9:37
down and do your DPM and LTM mapping.
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Start with Kristen there because you're the facilitator in your
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office. So would you like to take the
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floor on this? Well, my biggest thing is, you
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know, especially if management, you're a facilitator and well,
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it doesn't matter who the facilitator here is, the carrier
9:55
should be sitting down. With whoever's facilitating to
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make sure that your Tcp's are correct on your LTM, your
10:03
traffic control points, and you're well.
10:08
Just to make sure your mileage is correct.
10:10
Making sure that you know where you turn around is at the
10:13
correct spot, pinpointing. I know I've had.
10:17
I had a couple of them when we were updating this last time
10:22
where it was kept throwing off an error saying that the.
10:27
There was no bread crumbs for that address.
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Well, we had to go back in and didn't think anything of it at
10:32
first, but then we go back and then look and we noticed that
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the pinpoints were in the wrong spot.
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They were way further north of where they should have been.
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So it was throwing off the LTM. So we replace those in the
10:45
correct spots and that actually cleared that up quite easily.
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That is I mean that is the importance.
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I mean management doesn't know and even though the facilitator
10:55
if they don't run your route because well they're regular and
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they may not run that route at all or haven't ran it since they
11:02
were in RCA eons ago. That's why it's very important
11:08
that the carrier sit down with the very with the facilitators
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and if shift duties and if they insist on doing outside of in
11:16
the shift duties that should be 8127 time.
11:20
You can't put a time limit on it because, number one, these
11:22
computers are slow. Sometime it's slow.
11:29
Sometimes you can get them. If you get it at the right time,
11:32
it can go fairly quickly and you can be done in 10/15/20 minutes.
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Other times it's going to take you a lot longer.
11:39
But you're the only one that knows where you park.
11:42
You're the only one that knows where you leave a package.
11:46
You're the only one that knows where your turnaround spot is.
11:50
You're the, you know, making sure all that is correct.
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You're the only one out there that knows where your stop
11:57
lights and stop signs and railroad tracks and gated
12:01
communities, if you have them, to go through our AT.
12:05
And that is the whole purpose of the carrier sitting down with
12:08
the facilitators to do the mapping every month.
12:12
Make sure it is all updated and I've seen a lot of those people
12:15
say, well, we updated the DPM but we didn't do the LTM.
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If you and if you were in a heavily seasonal area like I am,
12:23
you still have to go in and update that LTM.
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Even if those addresses were plotted prior when you first
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initially did the yet, but they were inactive and now they're
12:31
reactivated, you still have to go in there because that LTM
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then is going to add those stops when you go on her and do it as
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an update. You don't have to sit there and
12:41
ride the whole route each and every time the full route you
12:45
can do just do the updated sections as well.
12:48
So which definitely cuts back on the time.
12:51
James, Billy, you want to add something?
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Yeah, on that point in in our office and it's funny cuz we're
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we're kind of a large office outside of the Philadelphia
13:01
district and let me tell you, like you said about waiting for
13:06
the computer. There are times we we have no
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phone service, no Internet service, and it takes up to 15
13:13
minutes at a time for the DPM to load up just so you can start.
13:18
But in our office we've had changes where a PTF became a
13:22
regular, one regular turned around and changed routes and
13:26
then another carrier, you know, went from his route to to the
13:30
route that recently was vacated. And I told them all, I said sit
13:35
down. And go over your DPM and the LTM
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immediately, as soon as you're aware of everything, all the
13:42
stops and everything that you have in your route, Once you're
13:44
familiar with your route in its entirety, make sure you sit down
13:48
and do that. Because if you don't and I'm not
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going to say which carrier, but one of them is a bit of a
13:55
slacker. So you know the the carrier that
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stepped into his route, he's going to go up.
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Because of the fact that this individual didn't do the job
14:05
100%. And this is where I tell people
14:09
that even if you're nonunion, Okay, we need to help you
14:14
because you don't know when you're going to bid on to
14:16
another route. And if you don't have the
14:18
information because you're nonunion A, that's your own
14:21
fault. But B, nobody else in the office
14:24
is stepping up to help you. And that's what we need to do.
14:27
We need to step up and help everybody in the office, dues
14:31
paying or not. Because the next person that
14:34
moves on to a route might get screwed over because the other
14:37
person didn't pay attention, didn't belong to union, didn't
14:40
care, whatever. But once you get on their new
14:43
route and you get familiar with it, make sure you get that DPM
14:46
and LTM done. Too sweet?
14:49
Yeah, you know, with that too, especially being a new carrier
14:52
on a route, you may leave things in different spots.
14:55
You may have worked out something different with
14:56
customers. You may notice stuff that the
14:59
previous carrier missed. Is some as simple as a stop sign
15:03
or a traffic light that you know and their everyday dealings just
15:06
doesn't think about it. And then you're thinking, oh,
15:08
wait a minute, there's a there's a stop sign right there or
15:11
there's a yield sign right there.
15:12
Or that box should be a dismount and not a curb line.
15:17
Or you know, if that's a hardship or a business or
15:20
something like that. There's always going to be
15:23
changes of 1 sort or another, specially when you take over a
15:26
new route because I know when I go full time here in the next
15:30
few months. Fingers crossed that you know,
15:34
even though I as a facilitator, I'm very familiar with that
15:37
route in the mapping and I have run that route many, many times,
15:42
there still may be changes when I take it over.
15:44
Well, as a facilitate, let me ask you a question.
15:47
You know this is a personal point of view, but you answered
15:50
for me and and and I'll go from there.
15:53
State you have a closed. Community.
15:57
Not a closed gate community, but a community that's townhomes and
16:02
they have some stop signs in there, but not at every
16:06
intersection. Do you consider the the
16:09
intersections without stop signs to be traffic control points?
16:13
Because you have to be safe, you know, you have to stop and make
16:15
sure you're safe to proceed into that lane of travel.
16:18
Technically, no. It's specifically the language
16:22
says if there's not an actual stop sign, you do not place one
16:26
there. But no, I yeah.
16:30
We're in agreement, but you know, for safety sake, you know.
16:33
Oh yeah, for safety sake. I totally see what you're saying
16:35
because I know there are some of my routes that, you know, we
16:39
almost basically have to stop there because you don't know
16:42
what's coming down, barreling down that gravel Rd.
16:46
Even though there's no stop sign there.
16:48
Yeah, I totally get what you're saying.
16:50
But yeah, because there's no official legal Rd.
16:53
Commission stop sign out there, unfortunately aren't supposed to
16:57
market. And folks, please, whatever you
16:59
do, don't falsify that because they they can get with the local
17:04
townships, boroughs state, wherever and find out where
17:07
those traffic control spots are or Tcps tow traffic control
17:11
points. So don't falsify that that
17:15
that's a subject to been addressed in our office already
17:17
and it's not worth it cuz you're only getting a half a second
17:20
anyway. Question on hardships.
17:23
Let's say you have an older couple, one in a wheelchair.
17:26
The other one has to have a Walker.
17:28
Do they write the hardship They have to actually apply and
17:32
submit a doctor's recommendation in order to?
17:37
Approved to be a hardship. There is a process for that to
17:40
happen. If they're not interested in
17:43
doing that, then no. But otherwise, you know, you let
17:47
them know. You can always get the paperwork
17:49
from your postmaster and deliver it to them.
17:52
And then when you get the hardship back and and
17:54
everybody's agreed to that you're going to change it in
17:58
your edit book to OTH other. And that'll also change it and
18:04
the DPM to other. And then you will be able to
18:07
actually move the mailbox to wherever they put the mailbox on
18:10
the property. I actually have a hardship on my
18:13
route. Her mailbox is actually in her
18:16
garage wall. You put the mail in the garage
18:20
wall and then they get it from the other side.
18:22
They don't even have to step outside.
18:24
You know, in a state that gets a snow frequently, it's just not
18:28
safe for her to walk down an icy driveway to get her mail.
18:32
And she gets her mail every single day.
18:34
So make sure you're doing making sure that your hardships, your
18:38
authorized dismounts and so on are mapped correctly as well.
18:42
I do know of management that has moved points to clear out alerts
18:49
like the 150 foot and the 500 foot alerts which don't need to
18:54
be cleared out. And then on top of that, another
18:58
part of the LTM has been opened up to carriers recently and that
19:04
is after you have done the line of travel manager updates, you
19:10
then get to the next screen which has your map of your
19:13
route, the breakdown of your route and then following that is
19:19
your turn by turn 4003. That is where your 4003 now
19:25
resides and you should go through that and make sure that
19:30
the turn by turn is accurate to your route.
19:34
You want to make sure on mine. When I went through mine, the
19:38
first few lines of it were left turns and every single one of
19:44
those turns was actually a right turn.
19:47
There are errors in that. So check your your line of
19:50
travel and your your digital 4003.
19:54
We'll call it the digital one on the LTM and make sure you get
19:59
that corrected and there's ways to edit it at the end there.
20:02
Your facilitator should know how to do that, so make sure you're
20:07
doing that. If your management is not
20:09
allowing you to update your DPM or LTM, it is urgently important
20:17
to contact your local union representative.
20:21
Whoever your assigned union representative is.
20:23
You need to get a hold of them. Because that is your money
20:27
they're messing with. And it has been put out by
20:30
management and agreed upon with the union.
20:32
There is that timeline with the edit books, the 1st to the 10th,
20:37
and then they go down it. There's that whole timeline
20:40
that's supposed to be held to every month.
20:41
And I do believe it's the 23rd through the 30th is supposed to
20:45
be put aside just for mapping updates.
20:49
Yeah, we put, we put the timeline in last episode in
20:53
episode 33. So go back and listen to episode
20:56
33 to get the timeline if you're interested in that.
20:59
Follow up to that question on the hardship.
21:01
If the doctor says yes, but the postmaster says no because one
21:04
can walk if they're walking with a Walker, to me that's not
21:08
they're not physically able to, and if their mailbox is on the
21:12
opposite side of a busy St. and it is not safe.
21:16
I would definitely be contacting your ADR or Dr. and get them
21:20
involved in that. I do know if we're in a near
21:24
office where that has actually had to happen recently, where he
21:27
did have to get the ADR and Dr. involved to get that hardship
21:32
placement. In You know what's quicker than
21:35
that is to contact your local Congress person.
21:38
That too. We I've used that a couple times
21:42
and you know, not for my route, but.
21:45
For carriers in our office. And boy, I'll tell you what,
21:48
they don't like getting phone calls from the Congress people.
21:51
No, no they don't. And especially if you feel that
21:54
they need a hardship as well and their doctor has supplied all
21:58
the proper paperwork, there is no reason for the postmaster to
22:01
be denying it. And if it is a dismount, then
22:05
management does have to go out there with the wheel with little
22:08
wheel measure thing and measure the distance between where you
22:10
park to where you deliver the box and back.
22:14
And then that is also inputted in under your DPM on your
22:19
dismounts. And that segues us right into
22:22
our next topic, right into management and the harassment of
22:31
carriers. We all know and have heard the
22:35
stories of how management is turning around and micromanaging
22:40
carriers about the inputs they're putting into their
22:43
scanner, about the times they've been taking rest breaks to cool
22:48
off, especially in the hot temperatures we've had these
22:51
past months. And all the other issues that
22:54
carriers are doing aside that they're using the scanner data
23:00
to harass carriers with. They're not actually doing
23:04
anything to observe or find out what's actually going on.
23:09
They're just using the scanner data, and this is actually a lot
23:12
of it. I've seen the emails from
23:16
district management in my area actually telling postmasters to
23:21
get on carriers about these extra scans.
23:25
They aren't talking about the carriers that have 0 scans.
23:30
They want to talk about the carriers that have 121015 scans
23:36
now. Management is getting on
23:38
carriers. They're harassing carriers.
23:40
They're making carriers fear for their job.
23:44
They're making carriers scared to come into work because they
23:49
feel like when they walk in the door, management's going to have
23:53
another issue with what's going on with them.
23:56
And some management has even started to issue discipline on
23:59
this. What do we do, Bill?
24:03
We file file file. And then when we're done filing,
24:08
we file on the EEO. Yeah, I care to elaborate.
24:12
I have an office that I'm aware of that be having issues keeping
24:20
anybody, whether it's Rca's clerks, they're running bare
24:26
bones and there was a recent shadow who.
24:32
Quit right after the shadow day, saying Nope, this isn't for me,
24:35
this negative atmosphere, blah blah blah.
24:39
The postmaster then took it and tried to blame the two mail
24:43
carriers in the office that it's their fault.
24:47
They're the reasons for the negativity in the office and
24:51
whatnot, which is not actually true at all, because the one
24:55
carrier did talk to the person that shadowed.
24:59
And that person flat out said no dude, it wasn't you guys, it was
25:04
the postmaster. They are toxic.
25:07
So you yeah, when you have narcissistic postmasters out
25:11
there that don't want to see that they're the issue and put a
25:15
blame off, especially the blame off on the only two mail
25:18
carriers on the rural side, fulltime carriers and push the
25:22
blame off onto them. Yeah, there, that that's that's
25:25
a problem. And this is not a regional
25:29
thing. This, this is national.
25:30
I mean, I've seen it in my office where we have a team, an
25:36
attendance team coming into our office and instructing the
25:41
supervisors to to have PDI's on people with call outs as far
25:46
back as January of this year. And you know, they've come to me
25:50
and I said I'm timely. And then you know, inform them
25:54
of the rest of the situation. But it, you know, the the, the
25:57
micromanaging, you know, as far as the unscanned unscannable
26:03
parcels, Okay I I took one to my supervisor.
26:07
I said, you know, this, you know, fits in the measurements
26:10
in regards to what the engineers have described, but it's a
26:14
diploma now. Do you want me to bend it or
26:16
not, you know? And well, no, you can't bend it.
26:19
Well, I said then, you know, you're authorizing me to put
26:22
this in as a unscanable parcel. Well, of course I said OK, I
26:26
says because I'm going to do that and this mailbox requires
26:29
me to take it to the door. Well, you know, we, we, we don't
26:32
want to hear the customer call back and say they didn't get
26:34
their diploma in, you know, frameable condition.
26:38
And and these are the things that these local supervisors
26:42
have no knowledge whatsoever and they're being directed by their
26:46
district managers. To basically harass us on every
26:50
input on our scanners. They don't mind if we miss some
26:54
scans that we are entitled to. They're not going to tell you
26:57
about those, but you know, as long as you get your six in
27:00
there, they're they're happy as pie.
27:02
So basically the biggest thing here is management has felt
27:09
unrestricted to harass carriers left and right and micromanage
27:16
them left and right. And the biggest thing that
27:21
carriers can do, whether your dues paying or non dues paying
27:25
it doesn't matter, is to file a grievance against management for
27:32
harassment and for. A style work environment, a
27:38
hostile work environment and violation of the joint Statement
27:43
4-40, where everybody is supposed to be treated with
27:47
dignity, fairness and respect. And you file that grievance and
27:52
you talk with your designated union representative.
27:56
Talk with them, let them know you have this going on in your
27:59
office and if you can get multiple carriers just to sign a
28:04
statement about it happening, you can turn it into a class
28:08
action which automatically takes it up to the district
28:10
representative. The district representative then
28:12
has to be involved and if any of them, if any of them are not
28:18
willing to step up and do the job that they were assigned to
28:23
do, contact higher up in the system go as high as you need to
28:30
because this needs to stop. Our carriers need to stop being
28:36
harassed by management over accurate scanning.
28:43
Per the documents that we've been given by both management
28:47
and the union, we did an episode on activity scans.
28:51
Both the management and union copies have not changed since we
28:55
read from that activity scan quick reference guide back in
29:00
that episode called activity Scans.
29:03
They have not changed. What has changed is management
29:08
is seeing exactly how our routes are going to change and this
29:12
segues us right into our third topic of the day, what we think
29:18
is going to happen to our routes when we go through this next
29:21
mini mail survey. But before that, real quick,
29:24
James, what if your office has filed many grievances on the
29:29
4:40 and hostile work environment and management still
29:33
doing it, then what? Then they need to file an EEO.
29:39
Bypasses the Steward Forum and just go right to EEO.
29:44
If your stewards not stepping up and escalating this higher in
29:50
the union to get it resolved, you need to file an EEO.
29:54
Get the federal government involved.
29:57
And the thing of it is, folks, is that it's going to take time
30:00
for a steward, an area, Stewart and ADR to get things processed
30:04
and rolling along and if the situation continues.
30:08
Then you know, you talk to that union, you know representative
30:13
and if you don't get an answer from them that's satisfactory
30:15
you, then you call your Dr. and then after that you're executive
30:18
committee person and after that you call the national board.
30:22
You don't tolerate it. We have a little thing in in in
30:26
my office where when something goes down between a carrier and
30:30
a supervisor, almost every time the carrier next to them steps
30:35
out and starts listening to the conversation.
30:38
Or the carrier who's being berated says to the carrier next
30:42
to them, can you be a witness to this?
30:45
You know what? That shuts management down
30:48
really quick because of the fact that they don't want witnesses.
30:52
And that's what you need. You need people to back up.
30:55
You know what is happening in the office.
30:57
And I don't care if you don't like the person or not.
31:00
They're all entitled to equal respect.
31:04
If you fear for, if you fear for your life, you feel like
31:08
management is going to get violent with you, call EAP.
31:13
It's free. Contact EAP.
31:15
Contact EEO. Contact your union Rep and if
31:20
they start making threats to you and you have witness, like Bill
31:23
said, you get a witness involved.
31:25
Call the police. Call 911.
31:28
Tell them your manager is threatening your life because we
31:32
will not stand for people threatening us.
31:36
It is not right. It is not cool.
31:37
It is not a managerial tool. We deserve a safe work
31:42
environment where we are treated with dignity, fairness and
31:47
respect and where management follows the contract, postal
31:52
rules and regulations, our duties and responsibilities and
31:59
the law. We deserve that through every
32:02
level in the Postal Service and in our Union.
32:07
Every day We do, every single day.
32:10
And if you're not getting that, get with your designated union
32:14
representative to start. What do you think is going to
32:18
happen to our routes when we pass this mini mail survey this
32:23
time? Now that carriers have seen what
32:26
could be the worst evaluation on their route, What do you think
32:30
is going to happen? Kristen, we'll start with you.
32:33
I honestly don't know. I I see a lot of these routes
32:37
that weren't doing outside the other scans, outside of the six
32:42
scans until after the fact, maybe having some increase, but
32:47
honestly I I don't know. In my office I hope things stay
32:53
relatively the same. I'm hoping our one route may go
32:58
up another hour. The one that lost three.
33:02
It's hard to say. I we did.
33:04
We had lost her Amazon for a little bit then we got it back
33:07
with a vengeance and it hasn't gone away at all and just you
33:11
know going over the scans with the carrier again and you know
33:15
getting I I was getting the well, I wasn't trained on that
33:18
well. Then I go back to remember the
33:20
training. They were still in RCA when
33:22
initially did the training on the OX route and they were in
33:25
the office at the time the training was done.
33:28
Because yeah, all the important stuff happens before the OX
33:31
route carrier gets there. I can vouch on that one about
33:37
you, Bill. What do you think?
33:40
All right. Call me an optimist, but I'm
33:42
looking for about a 2025% rebound for the 66% who lost,
33:49
just on the basis of, OK, we've seen what happens when they
33:52
implemented the mini Mail survey.
33:55
So now we're going to pay attention.
33:58
I mean when you when you hit somebody in the pocketbook,
34:01
you're going to get their attention.
34:02
And I I, I think that people are starting to take this seriously.
34:08
There are some that still won't, but you know that's on them.
34:13
But I think enough people been affected that they, you know,
34:16
they're they're starting to learn about their jobs because
34:19
of the fact that it does affect that paycheck and and there's a
34:22
lot of horror stories out there and.
34:25
I'd like to see some better stories this time around.
34:29
I'm hopeful. I'm, I'm hopeful, yeah.
34:32
And I I'm looking at this from a completely statistical point of
34:36
view, being that I love math, if you haven't noticed.
34:41
And considering the fact that 66% of our carriers lost money
34:48
and 33% of our carriers gained money, some of them gained too
34:53
far to where they are losing money while they still gained
34:56
money. But I am seeing a situation
34:59
where out of the 100% of our routes, at least 45% of the 66%
35:08
is going to go up and 15% of the 33% is going to go up more.
35:19
On top of that, I also see some routes going down.
35:25
I know, I know, supposed to be optimistic, but I have to be a
35:30
realist here. Some routes are going to go down
35:33
if they've been doing the scans the whole time.
35:36
It's a possibility. We can't negate that situation.
35:40
But I do believe especially the routes that have dropped way
35:44
below evaluation route are going to go up almost guarantee that
35:50
they're going to go up if they've been doing the inputs
35:52
like they're supposed to be doing.
35:54
I think most of those routes that have gone down below the
35:58
guarantee amount are going to come back up and some of them
36:03
are going to come up at least to a J route from their loss from a
36:08
K route. We're looking at possibly 45%
36:13
valuation that they're going to change because you have to
36:18
remember our evaluations didn't come out for a couple months or
36:21
what was it a month and 1/2 after they did the minimail
36:24
survey. And that number you have to
36:28
figure out how much time was between those, that that period
36:32
and the minimail survey now to the evaluation.
36:37
So about 45% of what we actually are worth on that route.
36:42
So I honestly don't think a lot of carriers will be excised over
36:50
this situation because they're going to bump those routes back
36:53
up above a 42H at minimum. There may be a few excised
36:59
carriers, but I don't think it's going to be a nationwide problem
37:03
like some people have actually mentioned in in several places.
37:07
Well, hopefully that like you said that they'll bump back up
37:11
to J route value. The excising I, I think is just
37:15
a. Cautionary note in case they
37:19
don't go up, but I, I, I, I have to believe that you know what?
37:25
Once the mini mail survey results came back and these
37:27
people were slapped in the face with reality, that they jumped
37:31
on the bandwagon and and started paying attention to what they're
37:36
responsible for. Yeah, they figured out that
37:38
management wasn't going to actually follow the contract and
37:41
do the training. So they decided to actually seek
37:45
out the training for themselves this time.
37:47
Because like we saw in on the the few disputes that have come
37:53
back to some people that argued about not having training and
37:55
it's saying that it's been on the union website since 2022.
37:59
You know, a lot of people had to hurry up and go to their
38:03
designated union Rep or their next door neighbor and say, hey,
38:07
can you tell me about this stuff since I didn't learn it?
38:10
Were the ones that were the ones that went and said can you tell
38:14
me why management didn't train me as they're required to?
38:18
Yeah. My question is, is why haven't
38:20
we held management accountable on not training us?
38:23
Ohh, that's right. I went to the Mid States
38:26
conference and the manager right there stated that it wasn't
38:29
mandatory for management to learn the rec system.
38:32
I still remember that completely.
38:35
Hold on, did you pass out at that point or did you just start
38:39
to giggle? No, I dropped the mic on him,
38:43
but. Oh, he did he he he had a very
38:46
much of a mic drop moment there. That was that was awesome
38:52
because I literally asked him so why haven't we had management
38:56
attend trainings on the rec system and he turned around and
39:00
replied, well some management doesn't chooses not to attend
39:04
the trainings and some management turns the training on
39:07
and then ignores it doing stuff at the office.
39:10
And then I turned around and said, but why haven't you made
39:12
it mandatory and walked away from the mic?
39:15
He didn't know what it was going after that.
39:18
As long as you do the slick scans that you're OK.
39:21
Yeah, yeah, I said. Yeah, we found out.
39:25
Yeah, the so he. Managed through the guy.
39:28
But what if I don't want you for?
39:29
Scan. Hi, Josh.
39:32
Hi, Josh. Hi.
39:34
Welcome to the party. So you were saying Kristen
39:38
before Josh came in? I said when you did your mic
39:42
drop moment, the headquarters person didn't quite know how to
39:46
respond to you. It was great.
39:47
I don't think either him or or anybody else that was talking
39:51
about wrecks up there expected US world carriers to actually
39:54
know what we were talking about. And that's what scares them when
39:57
when you know your job better than them.
40:01
If they tend to, they tend to get intimidated.
40:03
Yes. And then they last night.
40:07
Then they last night. Yeah, Then they give, then they
40:11
give snide comments after a mic drop.
40:15
And Josh, welcome. You had something, Dan?
40:18
As I have been listening, I just wasn't able to join in earlier.
40:23
I know someone from district has been who's been in my office on
40:27
and off for the last couple years.
40:29
I know she told me that she went management now.
40:34
That they have to update all everyone's mapping.
40:39
And I know she showed the one supervisor how to do it and she
40:43
let me know that if she remembers correctly from the
40:47
e-mail that she saw. All mapping updates must be
40:53
completed before September 7th, the last day of count for it to
40:59
go into a or 8th, whatever that the last day of the count is.
41:03
For it to go into effect for the new evaluations, which would
41:07
make sense that the last round of updates at the end of August.
41:11
Make sure that you're getting those done is that it will be
41:16
what your updated evaluation will be based off of.
41:21
I know there was a couple of the things I wanted to comment on
41:23
that were being discussed, but I can't remember what they are
41:26
right now because I had the kid in my ear also.
41:28
So. So how is everyone else not bad?
41:33
Just looking through questions we got on our our question we
41:38
asked in our group. Somebody asked for our
41:40
refreshers on the recs as often as possible.
41:43
I'm still learning that I may have or may not have entered a
41:47
specific key function for certain activities correctly and
41:50
therefore may not be getting proper credit on the route.
41:53
We do have our activity scans episode and like I said earlier
41:58
the. CHEAT SHEET for It has not been
42:00
changed since the last Mini Mail survey.
42:04
Although we have been getting confusing reports about the WSH
42:11
handling. The union is now saying that it
42:15
needs to be counted in the Mini Mail survey.
42:18
When you get a WSH, you need to count it.
42:23
The previous when it first came out it was saying WSH and WSS
42:28
should be input in the scanner and on a training material item
42:35
that I saw it says that WSH is not to be counted with manual
42:41
letters. Now that paper was from before
42:45
the Mini, the last Mini mail survey just before the training
42:49
for that, but it has not been updated.
42:53
The slideshow that cannot be disseminated through social
42:58
media or other outlets per extra slides that have been added to
43:02
it does not mention WSH being counted in the random either.
43:08
I would recommend carrier discretion.
43:11
Your guys's thoughts will you I'm.
43:14
Going to backtrack to what you were saying with the activity
43:18
scans, you should be able to ask your supervisor.
43:22
And or your Rep to get you a copy a hard copy of that CHEAT
43:28
SHEET with what all the scans are with the brief description
43:32
of them they should you know that's something that should be
43:35
able you should be able to get provided to you if you don't
43:39
have one that way you can see it and as James said you can go
43:42
back and listen to our activity scan one where we went through
43:46
each one one at a time WSH. I want to say I've heard that
43:55
they could be counting them, but I'm not 100% on that.
44:01
That's for carrier discretion lies.
44:02
That's for carrier discretion. Lies anybody else?
44:06
Well, I like, I like the new update on the WSS because we've
44:10
gotten box. That have come to us labeled as
44:14
WSS and now we have information that WSS.
44:21
Box holders are not to be put in as WSS.
44:27
Well, how can they get WSS? So just remember on the inputs
44:35
on your scanner, if it has a mailing address on it, it is
44:41
WSS. If it does not have a mailing
44:45
address on it, it is box holder, it doesn't matter.
44:51
If it has the WSS on it, if there's no address, it is a box
44:56
holder. That is what we explained back
44:59
on activity scans. That's the way it's been since
45:02
before the last Mini Mail survey, and that's the way it is
45:05
today. WSS only for addresses.
45:10
And that's just means that the Mailer paid the postage for the
45:14
walk sequence. They paid extra for the walk
45:17
sequence where it's actually addressed they.
45:20
Told the post office we're putting it in delivery order or
45:25
reverse delivery order. WSS.
45:29
WSS is a payout to case the WSS, the letter sequence, the
45:39
sequenced version which has the address on it.
45:42
You do not get casing credit for a box holder.
45:46
Because you should be able to just grab one and throw it with
45:48
the mail as you throw it in the box like a city carrier.
45:51
Don't you just love when they come in?
45:52
Reversed addressed. That is a pain in the behind, I
45:57
agree. If it's a catalog or magazine,
46:02
you know one of those Presort bundles, that's fine.
46:07
But if it's a full coverage something, yeah, that's a pain
46:11
in the rum wss on flat case bundled scan or not.
46:17
My direct order was do not. WSS on a what?
46:21
It's in the Yeah chat box. Bundles, I would say that I'm
46:27
gonna say carrier discretion on that.
46:29
However, supposedly you're getting credit off the radar.
46:35
Report once the Mailer. Provides that information to the
46:40
post office and they upload it into the system.
46:43
And when's the last time you? Saw a radar report that was
46:45
accurate and timely. The end of last count, and I
46:49
can't say that it was accurate, more timely.
46:52
I rest my case, carry a discretion.
46:56
And if they're giving you a direct order, make sure they
46:59
give it to you in writing signed and round data.
47:02
Tell them they have to put their name behind it.
47:05
Absolutely. Anything and then management
47:09
says anything direct order. Anything direct order.
47:12
Writing with your name on it, because I want you to stand by
47:15
the word you're saying and. That that leads the district.
47:19
Who's telling them to do this crap?
47:22
Also getting called on the carpet for it?
47:25
Yeah, yeah. The time.
47:27
The time for just just taking management at face value, which
47:32
is not something you should ever do.
47:34
But the time for taking management of face value has
47:37
passed. Management is not going to work
47:40
with us on this. They're getting it from their
47:43
national office that numbers need to come down.
47:46
They're getting it from the district office that numbers
47:49
need to come down. The key here is carrier
47:53
discretion and get things in writing.
47:56
Because when push comes to shove, when they ask you, well,
47:59
you had this WSS and you didn't input it, so you're falsifying
48:03
your paperwork. Or they're saying you input this
48:06
WSS but we told you not to. Do you have it in writing where
48:10
you told me? Because it's your word against
48:12
mine and they're going to take your word over mine.
48:15
But if I if I have it in writing, you can say I gave it
48:18
to him in writing, so he should have followed that.
48:21
And you can say yes, I've got it in writing right here, and
48:24
that's your ammunition and your proof.
48:27
Yep. Look out.
48:31
Yeah, a couple other things here under our topics post union reps
48:36
not answering phone calls or returning phone calls, go keep
48:41
going up the chain. If they're not returning calls,
48:45
go up to the next one. If they're not getting back to
48:49
you, I mean I would give them up to 24 hours, but me if I'm
48:53
wrong, if you guys would go longer, I would say 24 hours
48:57
given the. I would give them 48, 4824 to
49:01
48, Yeah, definitely, depending on who you're contacting.
49:04
If they're not returning calls, keep going up the chain.
49:08
I mean all the way up to National board if you have to.
49:11
Go from your local to your assistant district
49:16
representative who's in charge of your local steward if you
49:19
have them. If not, it'll be your district
49:21
representative, and it's the same if you contact your ADR and
49:25
they don't get back to you within.
49:27
I'll say 72 hours for them because they handle a lot more
49:30
than a local would. Then go up to your district Rep
49:33
because you have a specific number of days to file paperwork
49:39
after notice of what's happened. After notice of violation or
49:43
notice of issue, you have a certain time window and if it's
49:47
not within that time window, it can be considered untimely like
49:51
Bill discussed earlier. Discipline can be untimely.
49:54
So can filing your paperwork with your designated union Rep,
49:59
So don't delay moving up the chain because, oh, we'll give
50:04
them just another day. Just another day, Just another
50:07
day is going to push you even closer to that finite timeline
50:10
that management can turn around and say this grievance is denied
50:13
due to untimeliness. Work yourself up the chain.
50:17
Here's one that popped up just a couple minutes ago.
50:20
Bill, you may have some insight on this.
50:23
They're curious about the appeals process, how the appeals
50:26
process works. In which regard?
50:29
Which appeals process? It just says the appeals
50:31
process. Normally the appeals process is
50:35
done by forming committee, usually assigned by the
50:38
President, and has at least a board member and executive
50:42
committee person on there, as well as individuals from around
50:45
the country who decide if there's any merit to the basis
50:50
of your appeal. Once the decision is handed
50:55
down, you can appeal their decision.
50:58
The problem of the of the whole appeal process is that it is
51:03
generally garnered towards the protection of the union.
51:07
That's that's their line of sight.
51:11
They want to protect the union. It doesn't mean that you know
51:14
you're not right or that you're you're you are right.
51:18
It just means that they're going to find for the interest of the
51:21
union. Now we know in the past of how
51:26
the appeals process has gone, and in particularly last year in
51:30
rich regards, that they took a personal dislike to an
51:34
individual filing multiple appeals and they almost turned
51:39
around. We're going to punish that
51:43
individual for exercising his rights, right or wrong.
51:47
You don't punish a member. For using the process that is
51:52
available to us to get justice no matter what.
51:58
And again, the appeals process too, is like the grievance.
52:01
It does have a timeline, So you know, certified letters is the
52:06
only way to go. Express mail is an expensive way
52:09
to go, but you know, gets there faster.
52:12
But everything has to be documented.
52:15
I's dotted t's, crossed periods, punctuation, everything.
52:20
And make sure you have all the supporting documents you you
52:23
require for an appeal. But it is handled by the
52:28
national board and all the people, all all the people on
52:32
there are appointed by the national board.
52:35
So can I say it's fair? No.
52:41
I I've gone through, I've gone through the process myself and
52:45
they covered their asses And then.
52:48
You know. We're negligent in their duty.
52:51
You know, the appeals process is really designed to just get more
52:56
eyes on the situation because when it comes to anything in the
53:01
union, you appeal it to the national board and then the
53:05
national board makes a decision and then you can appeal that
53:08
from the national board to the appeals committee at National
53:12
Convention. And then, like Bill said,
53:16
they're appointed by the national board.
53:19
To decide on this matter now this, to give an example, this
53:25
is like appealing to the Supreme Court and then appealing the
53:30
Supreme Court's decision. The Supreme Court could look at
53:34
it and say, Yep, we were wrong, we'll fix this right now and but
53:39
at the same same time they could turn around and say no, we stand
53:44
by our decision. This is final, but it is your
53:47
right to appeal. Decisions made by the union, if
53:52
you so choose. The other option, if you feel
53:56
like the union is not representing you correctly, is
54:01
to contact the National Labor Relations Board.
54:04
And again, that's another point where you want to make sure you
54:06
have your i's dotted and your keys crossed, your commas,
54:09
colons, semicolons, apostrophes, and everything in position
54:15
before you go to that process. But if they are doing a failure
54:19
to represent, they are choosing not to run your grievance or
54:26
anything of that nature. You can file a labor charge with
54:29
the National Labor Relations Board.
54:31
Granted, it's an underfunded, understaffed government agency,
54:36
just like pretty much every other department in the United
54:40
States that isn't related to lining pockets of specific
54:44
people. They're there to protect the
54:48
labor. They're there to protect the
54:51
union members, not just the union.
54:54
The union members and anybody can file a labor charge with the
55:01
National Labor Relations Board, and the National Labor Relations
55:04
Board will research every single labor charge that's put in front
55:10
of them, and they have competent attorneys.
55:15
As the investigators, these are people who have spent their
55:19
lives studying the law, understanding the law and
55:24
fighting for the law for years. And you can go in and file a
55:29
labor charge against the union with the NLRB.
55:32
And they will investigate it and they will make a determination.
55:37
They will take your statement, they will take the union
55:39
statement and they will put it in front of basically an
55:42
arbitrator. Who will then make a judgment on
55:45
the merits of both sides? So that's another option you
55:48
could do. Of course, you could skip the
55:50
appeals process and go to the NLRB too.
55:53
Well, I like the idea of going through the appeals process
55:56
because that makes them show their handle up front.
56:02
So you have, you have the opportunity, you know when you
56:04
go to the NRLB to sit there and say okay.
56:09
This is a B&C. They responded with DENF&ENF.
56:13
Or, you know, untimely. They're false, They're
56:16
unsupported. You know they're false, whatever
56:19
you want to. But you know, once you have that
56:21
response in their hand, they can't retract.
56:22
That that works. That's important too, If you
56:25
don't have, if you don't know the union side.
56:30
But if you know the union side, you can file a labor charge
56:33
without doing the appeals process.
56:36
Do you know if you and especially?
56:38
If the union has handed you the paperwork for it, and I'm not
56:44
talking about they handed you the paperwork to fill out the
56:46
labor charge, but they gave you the documentation you needed
56:50
from them to file a labor charge, those are the best ones
56:55
when you can go in there and drop their own paperwork down on
56:57
the on the desk in. In one of those instances,
57:00
perfection. Like dropping a mic at a
57:02
conference. Correct.
57:07
Other questions? I'm looking for other questions
57:11
here. Formula offices have been a big
57:14
one. That's yeah, I just was looking
57:17
at that one. Let's start with this, this one
57:20
first. This is an act, the current
57:22
formula office. When can you adjust it and how?
57:28
I know there's a formula, but it's hard to figure out when a
57:30
regular carrier. Pick up Can a regular When can a
57:34
regular carrier pick up another day off?
57:36
When Rca's and Ptf's are added, or when someone retires or
57:40
quits? How to make management
57:42
accountable for adjusting it when it needs to be adjusted?
57:46
Anytime there is a change in relief carrier, they're supposed
57:53
to recalculate the formula. You hire more Rca's, Rca's.
58:01
Quit, leave, or convert to PGF regular.
58:06
They're supposed to recalculate. In a larger office like mine
58:11
where you have larger turnover, they don't do it, but they
58:16
should probably be doing it like once a month or every other
58:20
month. Once the formula is set up,
58:24
usually the only changes would be.
58:27
Adding more Saturdays or removing some and they should be
58:32
going through and asking Steer regulars that have midweeks if
58:40
they want Saturdays and adjusting down from there.
58:47
The other thing you have to keep in mind is the formula states
58:51
that you have. You are not allowed to have.
58:54
On any non Saturday relief day more than you have on Saturday.
59:02
So if it gets to the point where you're so low where let's say
59:06
you have 10 people on you know for Saturday, you can only have
59:12
10 people on Monday, Tuesday once and Thursday.
59:16
If you lose more and it will go down to 9 or 8 Saturdays, it
59:20
can't take a move to the other. To somewhere else on during the
59:24
week because that would give you more non Saturday release than
59:31
Saturday release. Anyone else want to jump in on
59:33
this or Bill? That's pretty good you.
59:38
Bill, you're cutting in and out. I'm here.
59:41
Here you go. Cut out.
59:45
There we go. No, he basically covered the.
59:50
Merit of getting the formulation added there, Yeah, because a lot
59:55
of people want it. A lot of people don't want it.
59:59
A lot of people have no idea what they want.
1:00:01
So you know it all. It all is based on, you know,
1:00:05
your coverage for Rca's, your Subs.
1:00:08
Once you hit that point where you know you you don't need to
1:00:12
be formulated, You can have it removed.
1:00:15
It is a process to be removed, but yeah.
1:00:18
Yeah. And another point of contention
1:00:21
here is it is only based on K routes.
1:00:28
J routes do not count for anything in the formula
1:00:32
evaluation. So if a manager or H routes
1:00:37
either, so it has to be all K routes.
1:00:39
So if you have 5K routes and five J routes, and the five J
1:00:45
routes have The Saturdays off, they cannot put the other.
1:00:48
K routes on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in a
1:00:52
formula without having at least one K route on Saturday because
1:00:59
you could split 4K routes on the weekdays and then have the one
1:01:03
Saturday. That's the only way they could
1:01:06
formula that, but leads into the next question, how to stop a
1:01:13
formula office grieve it. Grieve it, Bill.
1:01:18
What do you say? File, file, file, yeah it's
1:01:23
we're we're a formula office. The reason we're a formula
1:01:26
office we can't get Subs. So you know, basically was out
1:01:31
of necessity. If you don't want it and you
1:01:34
have you know sufficient coverage, read it.
1:01:38
It only benefits management period.
1:01:41
And the statement drop the mic, grieving, Yeah I there is a
1:01:47
criteria that management has to follow before formula can be
1:01:51
implicated and grieving it is about the only way to make sure
1:01:57
that they have followed that those procedures ahead of time.
1:02:02
And most management doesn't know the formula either, no.
1:02:05
So yeah, they're usually trying to invoke something with the
1:02:10
knowledge that most people won't contend it.
1:02:13
But you know, in our cases and our listeners, you know we will
1:02:16
contend it. Yeah.
1:02:17
And the keys to it especially is they have to continuously
1:02:23
attempt to hire. And if they don't have a hiring
1:02:28
list from applicants, even if they've had one applicant and
1:02:33
they don't have a hiring list, they can't go formula.
1:02:37
If they hire somebody in those six months, they can't go
1:02:42
formula. It has to be six months with no
1:02:45
applicants whatsoever after a continuous attempt to hire and
1:02:51
other factors as well. Like we said earlier, it has to
1:02:55
be so many K routes have to be available in order to go
1:02:58
formula. So if you have an office where
1:03:01
you have 10 full routes and only two of them are K routes, they
1:03:07
could go formula. But it's a lot more difficult to
1:03:11
go formula that way because a PTF only needs 2K routes to be
1:03:17
formula. But there's a lot of lot of
1:03:21
niche chain things that have to happen in order for them to go
1:03:24
formula, and I would recommend if they're having discussions
1:03:29
about formula, contact your local designated union
1:03:34
representative. Get the answers from them as to
1:03:37
all the procedures that management has to follow to go
1:03:41
formula. They should have that
1:03:43
information readily accessible to themselves and be able to let
1:03:47
you know what they are. And they have to show a record
1:03:51
of, you know, their hiring attempts, not just say that they
1:03:54
did. They have to actually show you
1:03:56
the records. Of you know whether you know
1:03:59
having. Hiring, you know, seminars, you
1:04:02
know, affairs at the local post office, placing ads in
1:04:06
newspaper, Facebook, indeed, wherever they have to prove
1:04:10
that, they put forth the effort they get just can't say.
1:04:13
Oh yeah, we've. Been trying for the last four
1:04:15
months that that's no good. Show me, show me how you did it.
1:04:20
Show me when you did it and for how long.
1:04:23
Actually had actually had a P M1 time.
1:04:26
Try to tell me. Well, it's been posted on Light
1:04:29
Blue for, you know, 3-3 weeks now.
1:04:32
Sorry folks, that's not how it floats.
1:04:35
Well it used. It used to be they had to show
1:04:38
three different methods of trying to hire with the with the
1:04:43
our current contract they have to was it post is it 4 out of
1:04:49
six months with main hiring list with names on them.
1:04:54
So if they pull a hiring list and there's no names, that
1:04:56
doesn't count. Well, you mean it like the
1:04:58
hiring list where they had a Angel Ramirez as my sub of
1:05:02
record and I turned around and, you know, I asked them where
1:05:07
where the sub was and they said, oh, somebody came in and put an
1:05:10
application in. OK.
1:05:13
Does that qualify as a hiring list, right?
1:05:19
Right, of course that person never actually appeared.
1:05:23
Never went to training, never did a shadow day.
1:05:25
But, you know, they were all my 4240.
1:05:30
Yeah, I didn't know we were hiring ghosts now.
1:05:33
Yeah, well, they're cheap. No benefits.
1:05:37
Yeah. All right.
1:05:43
We're going to wind it down, guys.
1:05:46
We're just past 9:00, Okay. Yeah.
1:05:49
Yeah. We'll get her wind down so we
1:05:52
can wrap things up for tonight. I know.
1:05:57
You have time for one, one small question.
1:06:00
Yeah, go ahead. So this this one's actually a
1:06:03
good one for after the mini mail survey because you aren't going
1:06:06
to be able to become before that.
1:06:08
But do you have to be a supervisor or PM to run the
1:06:13
mapping program? No.
1:06:15
I'm I'm assuming meet facilitator.
1:06:18
No. Any any carrier can be a
1:06:21
facilitator. Actually, a clerk can be a
1:06:24
facilitator. It's just a 2 hour training
1:06:27
video on the blue page as they pull up and have you watch and
1:06:30
that's your training. Literally, Yeah.
1:06:35
The caveat to that is unless you are issued as a facilitator
1:06:42
logging credentials, you would need a supervisor or manager to
1:06:49
log you to get you logged into the program.
1:06:52
Yep. And then they have to come in
1:06:53
and put their password in when you want to go submit it for the
1:06:57
DPM to the LTM. And yeah, I mean it's a process
1:07:01
because I don't have my own login as a facilitator.
1:07:04
We use the postmasters. She usually is pretty good about
1:07:08
just writing down her password for me and then she changes it
1:07:12
after we're done. But yeah, I mean, it's possible
1:07:16
to do it without having your own ACE ID as well.
1:07:19
It's just a bigger pain in the tuckus, but you know, we make it
1:07:23
work. Just saying.
1:07:24
That's the only caveat, you don't have to be in management
1:07:29
to be a facilitator. However, to get logged in, you
1:07:34
might need one to initially log you in.
1:07:37
And as you said, once it's completed, they need to submit,
1:07:43
you know, actually do the submitting.
1:07:47
Yep, I mean right here on this, on this podcast you have an RCA
1:07:52
and a regular carrier that are doing the mapping.
1:07:57
And on top of that, it is actually one of the few
1:08:01
authorized, quote UN quote, higher level assignments that
1:08:07
don't prevent you from being a delegate or being elected to an
1:08:12
office position or being a steward or any of that stuff.
1:08:18
There are quite a few that you can do that won't affect that,
1:08:23
but there are quite a lot that you do that will affect that.
1:08:27
So if you are a steward or you want to be elected to office or
1:08:34
run, run for a position. Contact the national board and
1:08:39
because that's what it says in the in the manuals, contact the
1:08:42
national board to ensure that you are not violating.
1:08:46
That provision of the contract. And that's the contact them
1:08:49
before you do it not. Error.
1:08:53
But yeah, I know when they usually started the process and
1:08:58
we're going to, and if you want to be a facilitator and you're
1:09:05
getting pushed back from management, contact your
1:09:08
designated union Rep because they'll usually make a phone
1:09:13
call or get in touch with management saying, hey, you
1:09:16
know, there's nothing wrong with having them being a facilitator
1:09:19
if it's gonna help out and get things done in a timely manner.
1:09:23
Especially since it affects your pay absolutely.
1:09:27
That's the number one reason you should have a facilitator in
1:09:31
each office. That's not management.
1:09:34
Definitely not management. And this is a simple argument
1:09:37
you can have about with management about it is.
1:09:40
Well, I figured I could take some of the strain off of.
1:09:42
You are trying to get this done so you can work on other
1:09:45
managerial tasks that you have to do that you're directed to do
1:09:48
from District. Because District's got so many
1:09:51
orders that they're sending down to management these days,
1:09:54
especially if you're in a split office with Rural and city
1:09:59
because City is getting beat the crap too.
1:10:03
Yeah, so especially those postmasters are really dealing
1:10:08
with a lot of. Garbage coming down from above
1:10:12
as well, so it'd be a way that you could actually take some
1:10:15
work off of them and benefit your craft as a whole.
1:10:22
What I was starting to say was Ruby interrupted by a vehicle
1:10:26
with no muffler that before the pandemic when they were starting
1:10:33
to gear up for mapping and everything it was supposed to
1:10:37
be. Facilitators were teamed.
1:10:42
A management representative and a union representative didn't
1:10:49
necessarily have to be a Stewart, but someone that the
1:10:53
union designated for each region or area.
1:10:58
All right, guys, we're going to start winding or down now unless
1:11:01
anybody else has anything else. Yeah, somebody commented in our
1:11:05
chat. One of our facilitators was a
1:11:06
city carrier out on injury. Yeah, and I'll trust the city.
1:11:10
I'll trust the city carrier over a manager.
1:11:13
Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
1:11:14
They're our brothers and sisters, yeah.
1:11:18
I'm adopted. Well, you're our brother in
1:11:27
this. In this podcast, you're our
1:11:28
brother and your your brother. To the brothers and sisters of
1:11:31
the world craft, we'll adopt you.
1:11:35
We'll adopt you as our brother. Thank you.
1:11:38
Can I change my name? No, no.
1:11:43
All right. So we're going to wind her down.
1:11:44
Josh, any last comments, thoughts, anything you want to
1:11:49
express this? Evening.
1:11:51
Nope, just try and have a good week hydrate.
1:11:55
I know earlier today I got a weather alert saying that in my
1:12:01
area. We're under a extreme heat
1:12:04
advisory from 11:00 AM today until 7:00 PM tomorrow.
1:12:08
You're garbling on the mic. I said you know, hydrate because
1:12:15
I know in my area I got a an alert, a weather alert saying
1:12:21
we're under an extremes heat advisory from 11:00 AM this
1:12:25
morning till 7:00 PM tomorrow. They're calling for, I think,
1:12:28
the heat index of 107 for tomorrow.
1:12:32
So hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, Be safe, don't get overwhelmed.
1:12:37
If you do, take a step back, take a deep breath and step back
1:12:42
in and hopefully everyone will have a good week, James.
1:12:47
Yeah, let's talk about the problems that we're having and
1:12:52
the stuff that's going on is very, very important to us, but
1:12:58
the most important thing to every one of us on this podcast.
1:13:02
And everybody that's involved in this podcast is to take care of
1:13:09
the rural craft and the rural carrier that is out there every
1:13:13
day busting their backside to get these mail and packages
1:13:18
delivered. And to you guys, we salute you
1:13:25
because you are the backbone of the rural craft.
1:13:30
You are the most important person.
1:13:32
In the rural craft, each and every single one of you.
1:13:36
Without you, the rural craft does not work, the mail does not
1:13:41
get delivered, the packages do not get delivered, and we will
1:13:46
sit here every single week and give you the help you want, the
1:13:52
help you need to understand your craft, to do what needs to be
1:13:57
done to better this craft and no matter what.
1:14:02
Take care of yourself and take care of your carrier.
1:14:05
That's next to you. If we all look out for each
1:14:07
other, we can make this craft the best it's ever been.
1:14:11
Absolutely. Bill, your last thoughts
1:14:15
tonight. You know the the take a branch
1:14:22
off of James There you ever noticed that the post office
1:14:27
could do without management, but they couldn't do without the the
1:14:31
carriers? So who who's more important to
1:14:35
the post office? It's just a conundrum.
1:14:38
You know that the, the, the weakest and the dumbest animals
1:14:42
are leading the rest of the herd.
1:14:44
But you know, everybody, you know, do the job to the best of
1:14:51
their ability. Watch out for each other.
1:14:53
Step up for the ones who can't step up for themselves or, you
1:14:57
know, or or or fearful for their jobs, I mean.
1:15:01
I've got enough people who've been in probationary periods.
1:15:04
Say what I don't want to get in trouble.
1:15:06
I'm in probation. You know long as I was standing
1:15:09
there they didn't have anything to fear because boy I'd go to
1:15:12
bat for them in a heartbeat. But that you know that's that's
1:15:17
not the norm you know across the country and if there's so much
1:15:21
intimidation that the hostile work environment the fear factor
1:15:25
it it's it's becoming overwhelming and and it's got to
1:15:29
stop and. We need union leadership that's
1:15:33
going to make that stop and and it starts with the the carrier
1:15:37
in the office, OK, they've got to report it.
1:15:40
They've got to pass it up the chain and the national board has
1:15:44
to act on it. It's it's not new folks.
1:15:48
This has been going on for years and and it just, it breaks my
1:15:52
heart when I read some of these things about people being there
1:15:54
20 years and they're getting ready to bail and it's why?
1:15:59
Because of management. Do people?
1:16:01
Yeah, they do a shadow day and they they don't take the job
1:16:04
because they, you know, they experienced the postmaster that,
1:16:08
you know, basically had a toxic environment in an office.
1:16:12
This is why we can't keep people.
1:16:15
And you know. It it's very frustrating and all
1:16:18
that, but it it starts with you stepping up, speaking out, okay.
1:16:23
If you don't, then it can't get resolved.
1:16:27
Everybody, you know, Josh mentioned 107, You know, heat
1:16:30
index folks, there's people out there that's, that's their
1:16:33
daytime temperature at 11:00 AM. So everybody be safe out there.
1:16:38
Hydrate, drink, electrolytes. Gatorade.
1:16:41
Pedialyte, yeah. And you laugh about Pedialyte.
1:16:44
I drink it, you know, because I don't have to ingest the sugar
1:16:47
from Gatorade. But Pedialyte works well and
1:16:51
start before you get out on the route.
1:16:53
You know, once you get out there, you can't catch up with
1:16:55
your hydration. Be safe, do the job the best of
1:16:59
your ability. Look out for each other and get
1:17:03
home. You're the most important
1:17:04
delivery of the day. Thank you guys.
1:17:08
We will be back next week on our preconvention episode.
1:17:14
Most of us will be on site, so we'll get that recorded before
1:17:19
convention officially kicks off and out to you.
1:17:22
And yeah, that's I'm actually looking forward to convention.
1:17:26
So it just will. As of right now, I'm still an
1:17:30
alternate delegate, but that's not going to stop me from going
1:17:33
one bit. I am going to be there and I am
1:17:37
still going to stand up and I'm still going to speak on behalf
1:17:40
of the people that can't be there.
1:17:43
Even if it's not at a microphone, even if it's off the
1:17:46
convention floor talking to other carriers, you know we're
1:17:50
there for you guys. And on that note, everybody have
1:17:54
a safe week, stay hydrated, take cooling brakes as needed and we
1:18:00
will be back next week play Akshay song.