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It's getting Hot in here... · 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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expressed in this podcast do not reflect the views or opinions.
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Of the United States Postal Service or the National Rural
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Thank you now. Here are the hosts of the United
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We Scan Podcast and welcome back, everybody.
1:06
Episode 31. Kristen's not going to be with
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us tonight because she's too busy getting art placed in
1:13
locations that we'll not discuss, but maybe she will when
1:16
she comes back Anyway. How you doing today, Josh?
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Oh. I'm doing great.
1:23
Another day in paradise. Realized looking at the count
1:27
when the time she went up yesterday morning, that I got
1:32
the end of this pay period. I have a long weekend to go to a
1:35
convention. I'll be at a convention that
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weekend, so that'll be nice. Yeah.
1:42
As you were saying about Kristen, she obviously has to
1:46
reassess her priorities. Or maybe unfortunately, she did.
1:56
Yeah, she she planned this out for a while, so I'm glad she's
2:00
actually getting time away from work and time away from this
2:03
podcast to do some things that she actually enjoys.
2:07
Although I'm sure afterwards she's probably going to want a
2:09
longer vacation because we all know that a vacation is never
2:12
long enough. 1 1/2 times is what you actually need.
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Yeah, take a day, you need a day and a half, take a week, you
2:22
need a week and 1/2. No matter what you actually
2:26
take, you need 50% more. I know, I know.
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And and unfortunately, even if you had that 1 1/2 half percent
2:34
or times, you'd still want more than that.
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So eventually you'd end up taking a whole year off.
2:40
Well then you would need a year and a half.
2:43
Yeah, and then you'd need three years.
2:46
Yep. All right.
2:49
Well, for me it was actually pretty good week I did.
2:54
My normal routine at work. Unfortunately it was almost two
2:58
straight weeks of box holders. Thursday ended up being the last
3:03
day of box holders, Friday we didn't have any but it was heavy
3:06
packages because unfortunately on Wednesday our Amazon got
3:10
delivered to the wrong office and they didn't deliver it until
3:13
Friday to our office. So quick from the box holders to
3:18
heavy packages on Friday and. But other than that, you know,
3:25
just trying to check up on things and look at other stuff.
3:29
How about you, Bill? Oh I I had a relatively quiet
3:34
week. It was surprisingly light during
3:38
the Amazon the the post Amazon Prime Days.
3:42
Then yesterday was you know my drop day and and you know today
3:47
is of course Amazon Sunday and. All hell broke loose they they
3:55
had two tractor trailer loads show up yesterday and today
3:59
we're just running parcels. They had one tractor trailer
4:02
load and they were short three rule carriers that could have
4:05
assisted because the the Ford showed up we're averaging 225
4:10
parcels each and on a on a W route that you know that takes
4:16
you all over God's creation trying to get those things
4:19
delivered. And with the showers that we had
4:22
today, it couldn't have been any fun whatsoever.
4:25
So I was blessed because Amazon Prime missed me, but everybody
4:30
else paid for it. I hear that.
4:33
I hear that. Now parcels were heavier, but it
4:37
wasn't like, Oh my God, what's going on?
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But I had a lot of big ones, like there was more Friday and
4:46
Saturday. I wasn't sure if I was going to
4:47
get my day. The truck, the back door, the
4:50
truck closed and that's with the one parcel was barely far enough
4:58
in and it was up to the front at my knees is how long it was.
5:07
I just deviated and went to that neighborhood 1st to get rid of
5:10
those two huge ones Saturday and then.
5:15
Went back and did the rest of the, you know, did the rest of
5:17
the route. So I had actually room in the
5:19
truck, so I wasn't feeling so claustrophobic.
5:24
Well, it's on social media, some of these carriers posting
5:27
pictures and God God love you for being able to do that.
5:31
I mean, 3 hampers and a knocker and that didn't even include the
5:36
mail. One office was reporting almost
5:38
40,000 parcels there. I mean it's a it's a large rule
5:42
carrier office, but. Even still folks, I mean this is
5:46
a logistical nightmare for everybody.
5:49
And I just like we have Amazon delivery in our area, plus we
5:53
have some of the people that come around and their personal
5:56
vehicles delivering smaller parcels mall and we we got hit
6:01
hard Saturday and Sunday, but some of these other offices with
6:04
no Amazon delivery, they got annihilated and God bless you
6:09
for, you know, working in this heat and getting that job done.
6:13
Yeah, we got to applaud you guys for getting that stuff done.
6:17
You know, our hearts go out to you for it as much work as
6:19
you're doing. But we all hope, hope and pray
6:24
that supposedly this is going to increase your route evaluation
6:30
come August, the end of August when they do the new count.
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So we're hoping that all this extra work that you're doing
6:38
will pay off. I mean, you could tell just
6:40
because management's getting upset at people doing the extra
6:43
scans. But Even so with the package
6:45
volumes that we've been getting, especially with Amazon and TIMU
6:48
and all those other companies that are now shipping all their
6:51
stuff through us. And a lot of them getting scared
6:53
of UPS going on strike since they voted to strike and almost
7:00
unanimously voted to strike, but that's on them.
7:05
We're going to focus on rural carriers here.
7:09
Now I have to preface this, there is a lot of talk out there
7:13
online of things going on with the union, things going on with
7:17
the Postal Service and things like that.
7:21
And we put this show on just for rural carriers to have a place
7:25
to talk about rural carrier things, talk about work
7:27
conditions, talk about benefits, talk about our wages, things
7:31
like that. And bring them to the forefront
7:34
of the community. And one of those biggest issues
7:37
that we have right now facing our carriers is the overwhelming
7:42
volume that we're getting in the hottest times in almost recorded
7:49
history. And that is a big, big thing
7:53
we're dealing with. We have carriers that are dying
7:57
from the heat out there, from aid to arbitration, talked about
8:01
this. A couple of weeks ago, he talked
8:05
about the carrier who died in Texas, who was his brother and
8:08
city carrier. And he is our he is our brother
8:14
too. He is our brother in arms
8:17
because he's doing the same job we're doing, just under a
8:20
different craft. But we need to watch out for
8:24
each other. We need to make sure we're
8:27
taking care of ourselves. We talked about this last week,
8:31
Hydrating, taking care of yourself, starting the night
8:33
before drinking fluids. But there's a bigger issue at
8:40
play here. I I would also suggest bringing
8:44
in your cooler bag at the waters that you pack put it.
8:48
Put a couple of rags or what, or you know, claws.
8:52
That way you can have one around your neck and the other one
8:54
still sitting in the in the ice pack staying cool.
8:58
That way when you the one around your necks is no longer cold,
9:02
you can swap them out. It'll help keep your temperature
9:06
down. Wear a hat because the heat, the
9:10
heat escapes from your head. Yeah, instead of wearing,
9:15
instead of wearing a hat, wear a visor if you.
9:18
If you need the sunblock from the brim of a hat, wear a visor
9:22
instead of a full coverage hat. Because that'll allow the heat
9:26
to escape out the top. Now if if you shave your head
9:29
bald, you might want to put some suntan lotion up on there and
9:32
some, you know, sunblock protect yourself.
9:38
Every morning. Sunburns are bad.
9:39
Sunburns are bad. And they're bad for your health,
9:41
too. Can cause skin cancer.
9:44
Yep, almost every day, just before I get in a truck, I I've
9:47
got 100 SPF. I spray myself down.
9:51
Yeah, I have. I have a.
9:53
Can of spray spray suntan sun block that I have in my car.
9:59
I take it out with me when I go to the route.
10:00
I put it back in my car when I go go to go home because it's
10:05
with me everywhere because if I'm out walking the dog got to
10:09
have some sunblock on you know so and.
10:15
And whatever, folks. Yeah, if management gives you
10:20
any. Brief whatsoever about stopping
10:23
getting out of the truck. Don't sit in the truck.
10:25
If you have to rehydrate or cool down, get out of that damn
10:29
truck. Okay and management gives you
10:31
any grief about it. You file safety on them.
10:34
Okay, if you are entitled to do your job in safe conditions, and
10:39
if you're feeling overheated or suppressed, get out of the
10:42
vehicle. Make sure you Curb Your wheels,
10:44
turn it off, put the brake on, and everything else.
10:47
Take the key out of the ignition.
10:49
But. Get out of that vehicle, cool
10:52
yourself down and go back when you feel you you've rehydrated
10:56
yourself or feel stable enough to continue your duties.
11:01
Yeah, preferably, preferably in a shady area.
11:05
And I'm going to say this, I posted a video into our Facebook
11:10
group from the NALC. It's not from.
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Our union is not from management.
11:19
It's from the NALC and it's a, it would be a good video for
11:22
rural carriers to watch because there are managers that are
11:27
using scanner data to harass carriers.
11:33
And I'm going to use the word harassed because they aren't
11:36
actually verifying that that's what's going on.
11:40
They're getting people for stationary events when they're
11:43
at a CBU, working a CBU. They're getting people for
11:46
stationary events when they're inside of a building delivering
11:50
stuff to like a school or a business, things like that.
11:54
Or they're getting stationary events when they're actually
11:57
moving, when they're actually driving down the road and the
12:00
scanner's not picking up new GPS locations.
12:06
And if management is harassing you on this, what do we do,
12:09
Bill? File file file.
12:14
And he'll get some more paper and file again.
12:17
Well, First off, I would talk with your designated union Rep.
12:20
No, no, no, I filed right off the bat.
12:23
The hell with that. Let's skip over this well.
12:28
Well. First you talk to your
12:31
supervisor about it. Then you talk to your designated
12:34
local Rep. I know you, Bill, would file at
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at every turn. I know you're one.
12:40
You're one of those. You are.
12:42
You're one of those dogs that that has a big bite, you know,
12:46
and there are a lot of carriers that are afraid to step up and
12:49
do this kind of thing. But if you talk with your
12:54
designated union Rep, talk with your local steward, talk with
12:57
your area Rep, talk with your district Rep that this is going
13:01
on, they're going, they're supposed to help you with this.
13:07
They're supposed to step up and say, yeah, that's not right,
13:10
we'll help you with this. We'll tell you.
13:13
We'll even help you with how to fill out a grievance form and
13:17
stuff like that. We'll even sit in and talk with
13:19
you while you have your discussion with management.
13:22
That's what they're supposed to be doing.
13:25
So talk with your designated union Rep if that's happening,
13:30
because they should not be harassing you for trying to keep
13:35
yourself alive. Most of all because like Josh,
13:43
what? Josh, what do you tell him every
13:44
time we end the show? Go home to your families?
13:52
No, I say that, Josh says. Step.
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Back Take breath. Yeah, I say that.
13:59
I I don't care if you don't have a job at the end of the day, go
14:02
home your family, OK? Exactly.
14:07
Here's the guy that didn't update information and you know,
14:11
they they couldn't find out where he was or anything.
14:13
Ended up dying on his own. I mean, go hold me, your family
14:17
that don't don't let this job kill you.
14:22
Yeah. And then there's the other side
14:24
of it that they talked about on from aid to Arbitration.
14:28
Great podcast by the way, even though we're rural carriers, it
14:32
is a great. Source of information on what's
14:34
going on at the post office to city carriers.
14:38
And you know if it's happening to city carriers, it's going to
14:40
happen to rural carriers. So I would highly recommend
14:44
listening to From A to Arbitration about this.
14:48
But from aid arbitration was talking about the carrier that
14:52
passed away. Supposedly did all this heat
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training on his Hero, which is a training site on the Postal
15:02
Service. If you go into your light blue
15:04
account, go to your hero profile, go to your assignments
15:11
and check completed. See what ones are completed for
15:15
you. See if management is inputting
15:19
trainings that you may not have known or may not remember and
15:25
talk with your manager about them.
15:29
It's important it may not have been there.
15:32
Or you may not have been there for them.
15:35
You may have been off that day and they input that you had
15:37
training that day. Check into it.
15:40
Make sure it's correct. If it's not, let somebody know,
15:44
like your designated union Rep. It's a job.
15:47
That's all it is, folks. It may be a career for some at
15:51
this point. It may be, you know, something
15:54
that puts, you know, food on the table.
15:58
But it's just the job. It's not worth your life.
16:01
Not any of you. I don't know you.
16:04
You don't know me. But it's not worth a single
16:07
life. And at the end of the day, right
16:11
now a lot of people can actually go and get jobs at less
16:15
stressful locations for almost the same pay.
16:21
We can go work at UPS. Yeah, once they're done with
16:25
their strike. Yeah, they're going to have a
16:29
lot of applications that that new pay rate.
16:33
Yeah, yeah, So. But that's the biggest thing
16:37
here, folks, is we want you to be safe.
16:40
We want you to understand that at the end of the day, the
16:43
biggest thing we put here on this podcast is to help every
16:47
rural carrier out there. It doesn't matter who's the
16:51
leadership at the top. We don't care who's running the
16:55
union. What we care about is what the
16:58
union is doing as a whole, which is every single carrier, dues
17:04
paying and non dues paying. They could have anybody in that
17:08
office and the only ones up in the office I'd be proud of are
17:11
the ones that are thinking about every single person that's out
17:14
here delivering every single letter every day.
17:18
I don't care if their name is Joe, Joe Blow, John Green or
17:22
whatever, as long as their passion.
17:25
Is to take care of the people who put them in that position,
17:31
and that is every single rural carrier working.
17:40
And that's what they're paid to do.
17:43
Exactly. And this podcast is designed to
17:49
help benefit every single rural carrier.
17:55
We want you to know that there are things out there that aren't
18:00
really talked about ad nauseam, but we're going to sit here and
18:06
do it with a lot of oral diarrhea.
18:10
I say. That was an awfully big word you
18:12
used there. Well, yeah, I do the oral
18:17
diarrhea really well apparently, at least according to the
18:20
question that was asked in mid states.
18:22
I I meant the nauseam word. Ad nauseam, that too.
18:27
Yeah, that's. Yeah.
18:29
But that I usually I usually cause nausea when I talk too
18:32
much, but that comes with the oral diarrhea.
18:36
I mean, you are. You're true.
18:40
But at the end of the day, the biggest thing we want to talk
18:43
about is what's occurring to rural carriers out there right
18:46
now, right? Right.
18:54
And the the biggest, the biggest problem we have right now still
18:58
is management. The abuse, the the threats, you
19:04
know, the the uneducated supervisors, the even less than
19:09
educated postmasters and the this rock solid dumb district,
19:17
people who come up with rules and regulations that aren't in
19:20
the contract. And if I can say anything,
19:24
ladies and gentlemen, get the contract, know the contract, use
19:29
it against them. It's the worst thing they hate
19:32
is an educated carrier. That's the biggest threat.
19:38
I found in the last couple years they are not a fan of when you
19:42
use their rules against. Them.
19:45
Yes. Nope.
19:46
They they don't like that so much.
19:48
I don't know why. And you know what the second
19:52
biggest threat to management is? A carrier who's learned all this
19:57
stuff and decides to step up and be a local steward.
20:04
I thought the answer was me. That's that's in your office.
20:10
You're the biggest threat to management.
20:14
Oh, I'm. Honest The biggest threat to
20:17
management. The biggest threat to
20:18
management. The biggest threat to management
20:23
is every single carrier in the office knowing the ins and outs
20:27
of their job. The second biggest threat is
20:32
that office having a union representative in office that
20:38
supports the carriers who know all the rules and regulations
20:42
responsibilities that they have to do.
20:46
But it starts with carriers that know.
20:49
What their job is, what the rules are, what the policies and
20:53
procedures are, Your PO6O3, your rural contract, all that stuff.
20:59
Do you know every single thing about your job?
21:03
Number one, it's going to make your job a heck of a lot easier.
21:07
And #2, it's going to keep management guessing because
21:13
they're going to try and tell you to do things and you're
21:15
going to be like, well, that's against this and then this.
21:17
Well, I gave you a direct order. Good.
21:18
Give me that in writing, signed and round dated and I'll do it.
21:22
But then you'll have a grievance because every time a management
21:26
gives you a direct order, you want it in writing.
21:29
Otherwise it's not a direct order.
21:31
You want it signed and round dated because you want them to
21:33
put their name behind it. If you're not willing to put
21:37
your name behind it, it's not a direct order.
21:40
And then grieve it after you do it because our contract states.
21:47
You must follow a direct order, then you can grieve it.
21:52
Yep. And like James was saying, you
21:56
know, James and Bill were saying, educate yourself.
21:59
I'll admit I don't know everything, but I do know where
22:04
to look, for whom to ask that can point me in the right
22:08
direction. One of the little tricks I use
22:15
in my office, especially when if I'm not in there on that
22:18
particular day and somebody management basically is
22:23
haranguing a carrier, I tell everybody to step back, grab the
22:29
carrier next to them, left or right, and have them witness the
22:33
conversation. Do you know how fast management
22:37
shuts up Once they have a witness standing there?
22:41
It ends real quick. They don't want anybody
22:47
verifying what they've said in regards to following the
22:50
contract and it works like a charm.
22:57
And even that there was a the episode from on from ADA
23:01
arbitration about a rollaway runaway where they had a SSV
23:07
that rolled away and. The one of the shop stewards
23:15
went out there and verified that the truck was the cause of the
23:20
rollaway runaway. Like literally the person had
23:23
the parking break up the shifter in park and the only thing they
23:28
didn't do was cock the wheels. But management turned around
23:34
with VMF, according to From 8 arbitration.
23:39
And basically said the truck was in perfect working order,
23:45
returned the truck to the office and Corey from 8 arbitration
23:52
went out and tested the truck and it failed the exact same way
23:58
with him behind the wheel. And then they turned around and
24:03
said oh it's OK, it's OK And then he had the guy from BMF
24:07
come out and showed him the thing.
24:10
And BMF agreed to what he showed him and then turned around and
24:14
wrote a report saying that it was functioning fine, but they
24:17
broke it when they were testing it.
24:21
Management will lie, and they will do it just to undermine a
24:26
carrier. Like Maurice says, management
24:29
would rather climb a tree to tell a lie than stand on the
24:32
ground and tell the truth. That's a new one.
24:40
That's. What he said on the podcast.
24:42
That's why we listened to him. That's why we listened to him.
24:45
He has a lot of good information from the City side that can
24:48
benefit the rural side. The other side of this is it's
24:53
just more proof that our mutual enemy between the city craft and
25:00
the rural craft is management. Management is the problem.
25:06
And we have the solutions to take care of that.
25:11
Now let's get on to these disputes that we've been seeing
25:15
popping up on Facebook. Have you seen that one that got
25:20
posted, the disputes that came back and they they disputed that
25:26
they had lack of training is why their evaluation went down and
25:29
they got the dispute back. Yeah, it was.
25:36
It was. It was.
25:40
Yeah, it was. It was written as dismissed
25:45
because of the fact that the union had the training up on
25:49
their site since April of 2022. Now that is not saying our upper
25:59
level union leadership said to do that because these went to
26:04
district reps. They didn't go all the way up to
26:09
national, they went to district and.
26:14
If district was not able to sustain them, depending on what
26:18
it was, they would then get pushed to area.
26:25
Yeah, but the thing about it is I don't even trust that that
26:31
came back from the union. Well, I can, I can tell you are
26:40
my district Rep you know, said if you have documentation
26:50
showing what your dispute is, labor was going to agree to it
26:54
and given credit if it was something just just that I
26:59
wasn't trained properly. With no sub substance to it,
27:09
there's really not much. Even even though the Union
27:15
agrees that nobody got trained on it.
27:18
Well that's they need to get pursue that in a different
27:25
matter, but as a dispute. And this this is a problem here
27:34
because of the fact that, you know, management dismisses it
27:37
pointing to the union website as the training mechanism, whereas
27:44
the agreement was management postal management.
27:48
Is responsible for all training. Yes, so, so therefore this
27:54
should have been pushed up the area this should have been
27:55
pushed up to you know national because of the fact that.
27:59
They're violating their own language.
28:01
Again, Use their language against them.
28:05
Right. And hopefully a grievance will
28:11
come of it. Hopefully that person who got
28:14
that dispute back immediately filed A grievance with their
28:17
local union representative. Who is the person sitting with
28:23
Labor discussing that dispute? I didn't see a signature on
28:30
there from a union Rep. Yeah.
28:34
Well, I I know it's the local Rep for designate and labor
28:39
district labor for designate. So, but this just also again
28:47
proves all the all the time that management's going to find a way
28:52
to lie about things, you know? You can sit there and try and
29:00
say that management hey, management's awesome.
29:04
I've got a great manager, I've got a great postmaster in my
29:07
office. But I can tell you right now
29:10
that if it was her job or mine, she definitely would protect her
29:15
job. She's Anybody in those positions
29:23
is going to protect their ass over protecting yours.
29:27
Even if you're in the right, like like from 8 Arbitration
29:31
said, they'd rather climb a tree to lie, then stand on the ground
29:35
and tell the truth. And if anybody hasn't noticed
29:40
and in my office particularly, we had all but two routes go up
29:46
and and I'm talking about going up 4 hours plus.
29:50
So now management in our district is nitpicking on
29:54
everything. They are questioning everything.
29:57
Yeah, your your your dismounts. And you know how many trips you
30:00
make authorized dismounts there, Your unscanned parcels, your
30:05
WSS, they they they want you to bring, you bring them a copy.
30:09
And like I explained to him, I said we're not paid to walk
30:11
across the floor to find you. You know, you either take our
30:15
word or you verify it before it gets to our case.
30:18
But either way, I'm having the carriers put it in there 42
30:21
forties, you know, if they get in WSS.
30:24
Write down 1 WSS. If you want to put the the title
30:27
of the the publication, do so. You're not required to and
30:32
you're not required to to put the WSS on your 4240, but as a
30:36
measure of protecting you when they question you, you know it.
30:40
It would be beneficial for you to do so.
30:43
But folks, let me tell you, I'm not going to have people digging
30:46
through tubs that that prove the management what they had and
30:49
didn't have. That's on management, not us.
30:54
Yep, like Bill said, I turn around and on my 40 to 40 I just
30:59
put fbh or fwss or lbh lwss for flask box holder flask wss,
31:08
letter box holder letter wss and I saw a sheet on several of the
31:16
rural carrier pages from a manager.
31:20
That's delivered it to the carriers.
31:22
That actually said WSH is part of the WSS and there are still
31:28
some stations that are saying that WSH is not part of WSS.
31:32
So that is definitely a carrier discretion scan.
31:37
Follow what you're told to do because if you don't, it's
31:42
disregarding a direct order and they can discipline you for
31:44
that, get it in writing. Have them print out the the
31:48
management sheet that says that it's not WSS.
31:52
Get proof. Prove it to me.
31:56
It's that simple. And another point for carrier
32:00
discretion is when you getting a a token amount of WSS in in your
32:07
tubs from the clerk mail and you make that entry again carry
32:13
discretion. But if it's WSS that's a full
32:15
saturation folks. And don't if it's in your DPS,
32:23
supposedly it's already counted and it should be credited to
32:26
your route. And I'm going to say this, my
32:30
route had 92% coverage factor because I was inputting my WSS
32:35
all the time and my box holders, but there were a couple of weeks
32:42
where I had three or four days of just.
32:45
Letters WSS in my DPS and I'm assuming it counted towards that
32:50
because of how high my volume factor was my coverage
32:53
percentage, but we don't know for sure.
32:59
But you're getting the they. Say that.
33:01
If it's in the DPS, supposedly you're getting a piece count.
33:07
Correct. Yes, you're getting a piece
33:09
count and coverage factor for each.
33:14
WSS You have one for every address, which means filling up
33:20
on important delivery and or you're stopping at every month.
33:24
Yes, now I have a question for my cohost because this came up
33:30
this week and I've never seen it.
33:32
It was a oversized postcard. It was to every address, almost,
33:40
almost, and it said. WS.
34:07
Yep. That was I would still input it
34:11
I personally as a carrier discretion on my part.
34:13
I would have personally input it as a W as a box holder with no
34:17
address personally. That.
34:20
That it wasn't that. That's what I recommended, but I
34:24
also added carrier discretion. Yes, and since you said it was
34:29
an oversized postcard, I'm going to assume it wasn't letter size
34:32
and therefore it was a flat box holder.
34:38
Well, yeah, now I'm, I'm still waiting for the ruling on that
34:41
in regards to your address orientation on it, which is now
34:48
now disallowed. Maybe it's not disallowed.
34:51
The 603 hasn't changed. It's going to be changed.
34:55
You know, there there's so many things up in the air right now.
34:57
I mean, you know, no matter where you shoot, you can hit
35:00
something. Well, when I asked the director
35:03
of Labor relations, she said they were working with
35:06
management on figuring it out. I asked what at the Michigan
35:11
State convention? What are they doing for the last
35:14
celebration? They're just figuring out what's
35:19
what's an unscanned parcel and what's not when it comes to the
35:23
flat versus letterbox holder, she said.
35:26
It's carrier discretion. She actually said carrier
35:29
discretion. Our own line.
35:36
Now, did you get a residual fee for that?
35:39
I I thought about it, but I did haven't discussed that with you
35:43
guys of whether we should have trademarked that or not.
35:48
I mean if we that would be a great money maker for that one.
35:52
If we say TM now the count. Actually, because of how I want
35:59
this podcast to be and I want carriers actually standing out
36:02
there and and helping other carriers and telling them, hey,
36:05
it's carrier discretion, I kind of don't want to do that so that
36:08
regular people don't get fined for it.
36:13
Well, we we can start with the merchandise line of United.
36:16
We scan and on the back have carrier discretion with a small
36:20
description, oral diarrhea with a small description.
36:25
The definition. And supposedly.
36:30
Yes. I mean, you know, what the hell?
36:34
You want to make some money? Since we're since we're doing
36:38
this for entertainment purposes only.
36:41
Exactly. Yeah, but the biggest, the
36:45
biggest take away that you guys need to do here is take care of
36:49
yourself. Learn your craft.
36:52
Make sure everything. Make sure your ducks are in a
36:55
row. Make sure your trainings that
37:00
you've actually done are recorded and the ones you
37:02
haven't done aren't recorded, especially if you weren't there
37:06
that day because it's the City side is dealing with that right
37:12
now and you can listen to that on from aid arbitration and if
37:16
it's happening to the City side, it's probably happening to the
37:19
rural side and I know we've been pushing from aid arbitration on
37:24
here, but. When you have somebody who's as
37:27
passionate about the City side as we are about the rural side,
37:33
you can understand where, yeah, where it's worth a listen.
37:38
And if you're not into listening about issues at work, we'll just
37:43
plug the attempted delivery podcast.
37:47
Well, Rd. carriers trying to break it out as as comedians,
37:50
really good podcast there as well.
37:53
Love that stuff. Next.
37:55
Next we get both Sean and Damian made it to round two.
38:02
The 27th I think is when round two is, so we wish them both
38:09
luck on that to getting to round three.
38:14
I'm not sure how many make it to round three of the ones that are
38:19
got to two. I think it was supposed to be 15
38:22
participants each night. Of the four nights they did
38:25
round one, six of which moved to round two.
38:29
So that's. What?
38:32
6/12/24 going to round two, so they're probably split them
38:36
12:00 and 12:00 and then from there we'll see how that you
38:45
know how they do come, you know their episode after that.
38:50
And and and ladies and gentlemen in in in regards to you know
38:54
listening to Ada Arbor chasing listening to our podcast, do me
38:58
a favor learn to step up and speak out.
39:02
You see something wrong in the office.
39:05
Step up, speak out question challenge, even if you're wrong
39:10
about it. Doesn't mean that your question
39:12
or your challenge is invalid. It's just you want
39:15
clarification. You want some clarity and
39:18
understanding of what they're ordering you to do or telling
39:21
you to do. It doesn't mean they're right,
39:24
doesn't mean they're wrong. But you are entitled to be
39:28
explained to what they're doing, how they're doing, why they're
39:31
doing. Don't take it for granted just
39:34
because they're in management. They know what they're talking
39:36
about, because I'll guarantee you a good. 90% of them have no
39:41
idea and they're just repeating stuff they've heard from above
39:45
and. Then an e-mail.
39:49
Or a telecom, you know. Yeah.
39:53
I I mean, if I could outlaw anything it would be the
39:55
telecoms because they all have to get off the floor at a
39:58
certain time and and you know, usually it's when things are
40:02
going to hell in the handbasket real quick.
40:08
But now they have. The time carriers are going out
40:11
Zoom and they. Have to have the camera on.
40:14
Yeah, they have to actually look like they're paying attention to
40:16
the screen, even though they're playing a game of solitaire or
40:19
something. I'm sorry, do you can see what
40:24
I'm doing now? You know, and the worst part,
40:31
the worst part is a lot of the times those telecoms are going
40:34
on when carriers are loading up to leave for their routes.
40:38
And these telecoms just interrupt everything.
40:42
And I think half the time it's just the district managers want
40:45
to hear themselves talk. But that's just me, at least
40:49
considering the telecoms I've heard.
40:53
I I think you'd be right on about 98% of the telecoms,
40:56
because I I know several. Supervisors and people who are
41:02
in management sit there, just shake their head, walk around
41:06
with a dazed look on their face. So what are you doing in there?
41:09
Oh, we're on a telecom license. It's just because it's the same
41:14
thing every day. Complaining about this craft or
41:18
the other craft. It's about these numbers or
41:21
those numbers that need to get down things like that.
41:24
What? What they're doing wrong?
41:27
And that's the big thing is. There are.
41:30
There's some reports out there. I have yet to figure out where
41:33
to find it online on the systems at the office, but there are
41:37
some postmasters that are able to tell what your evaluation is
41:41
getting up to already. It doesn't mean they're going to
41:45
apply it now, but supposedly there's a way to find out if
41:50
your routes going up or not. Have you guys heard anything
41:53
about that? The being able to see your route
41:56
evaluations? From Management I.
42:01
I have not, other than people saying they've overheard it on
42:08
the telecoms, but I would presume that it would be the
42:15
same as the projection tool they used for 2080.
42:21
But it's just taking on an average what you've done.
42:25
Presuming you're maintaining that same average on a daily,
42:29
weekly basis, this is what you'll end up, if that makes
42:34
sense. Yeah, I've heard of that.
42:38
But how do we find that? Do you know?
42:42
I don't know that might be something like the port of OH,
42:45
Threes, for example, are open now, but only to district level.
42:50
So that might be district love going up that only has access to
42:53
see that your local management might not have access that I
42:58
don't know. I can try and inquire about it,
43:02
but I'm not going to promise anything.
43:04
OK, because I've I've not heard of how to see it, but if anybody
43:11
does know, please post it in the group on Facebook or let us know
43:15
when messages here if you actually have seen it if you're
43:17
listening to us right now. But I've heard a lot of, a lot
43:21
of people have been saying that you can see that stuff now.
43:27
And we had a question about. Trust code.
43:34
Trust code and I'm looking at all the stuff going on and
43:40
they're the only thing I can say is there have been rulings,
43:46
prearbitration rulings. That postal management at the
43:51
local level will be responsible for determining the appropriate
43:54
standard of appearance. However, local postal management
43:59
will be reasonable and rational in determining that appropriate
44:02
standard of appearance. Now, the question posed in the
44:07
chat was about a dress code and tank tops having straps that
44:15
have to be 3 inches wide. And they can send them home for
44:20
that. So the biggest take away I can
44:25
give is a neat appearance is one of the biggest.
44:31
The only thing that's set in stone is shoes are supposed to
44:37
be weather or weather like with a non slip spread.
44:43
Yeah, and I'm going to just say this.
44:49
You are should wear what's neat and comfortable for the weather
44:55
conditions that are occurring. Even though we don't have a
45:00
uniform, we should be dressed in A at least decent manner.
45:07
And this goes for both women and men.
45:14
I have absolutely no problem with what people wear.
45:18
As long as it's professional and neat, so if you want to wear a
45:26
tank top, that's fine. But I don't think it's
45:36
appropriate to wear something that shows excessive skin, and
45:42
that goes for guys too. I'm not just saying one side or
45:47
the other because we are delivering.
45:53
Not only are we delivering letters and flats, we're
45:56
delivering personal items, we're delivering family members on
46:01
their last ride, things like that.
46:05
So think about how even in the heat, how you'd want somebody to
46:11
approach your house carrying your loved one.
46:15
On their last ride. That being said, there is no
46:21
fully set dress code for rural that literally says this is what
46:26
you can and cannot wear. But be reasonable.
46:35
Well, you want to have a funny we have a female carrier that
46:41
wears a strap top in the summertime.
46:46
Of course, it's less than one inch thick and and the
46:50
supervisor said something about it and I said, well okay, if
46:54
you're going to send her home, then go over to Elliot's route
46:59
and measure his straps because I don't think those are three
47:02
inches wide. They said, well we can't send
47:07
two carriers home. I said you either send two
47:10
carriers home or you send none home.
47:13
Plain and simple, the rules have to be fair and equitable.
47:18
I don't think you're going to find many tank tops that have 3
47:23
inch straps on them unless they're a tshirt sleeveless
47:27
tshirt. You're right.
47:29
But think about how big three inches is now.
47:32
Guys. I know, I know.
47:34
Guys, I know. Don't go down the rabbit hole.
47:40
But three inches is 3 inches, no matter what type of ruler you
47:44
use. It's funny because I actually
47:48
have it. I have one of my safety vests
47:51
here that I wear for directing traffic, and the top straps that
47:57
go over the shoulder are two and three quarter inches.
48:02
It's a safety vest that I'm supposed to wear to protect me
48:05
in traffic, and it's two and three quarter inches wide.
48:08
And that covers more than almost every tank top I own, so.
48:17
Or you know what? To wear it to work anymore.
48:20
I guess I can't wear my safety vest anymore.
48:24
Not to work. Yeah, but we have.
48:30
We have. Oh my God, did you see that?
48:33
Oh my. God, I just saw that.
48:35
Yeah, I'm. One of our one of our friends is
48:39
still delivering Amazon. Coming up on 12 hours.
48:43
Ouch, Ouch. And that's the other thing, If
48:52
you're delivering Amazon Sunday, you should not work more than 12
48:57
hours. Our contract states that 12
49:01
hours is the maximum for hourly employees.
49:09
But management will do what management will do.
49:17
And then then come September, the end of August and September,
49:21
they're going to be screaming bloody murder about 2080 hours
49:24
22. 40 Yeah. Oh yeah.
49:27
Especially with all these carriers, that routes got
49:29
completely gutted, even though they're routes still technically
49:33
AK route and they're down to an H route.
49:37
Oh yeah. Yeah, they'll be screaming 40 to
49:40
4040 or 20208020802080. I'll be like adjust my 40 to 40
49:46
to make it right. Give me back to my Saturdays or
49:53
Sunday, The Saturdays or Mondays off me back to my one day a
49:57
week, one day during the week off if you're in a formula
50:00
office. Hire more Subs.
50:03
Hire more Subs, yeah. Take it out yourself.
50:07
Get to work. Get to work.
50:09
Start slinging mail. You decided to be a manager.
50:11
Guess what? Sometimes the manager has to
50:13
work the front counter. Sometimes the manager has to
50:17
flip burgers. But seriously, folks, the
50:27
biggest take away you can have, and we're going to.
50:31
We'll grab this up here soon. Oh, that's a really good
50:38
question. When did the Rex software get
50:42
put into place? Technically it was supposed to
50:48
be skewed into the system 2015, but there were some problems and
50:57
even though we were like we were a test office in in Westchester.
51:01
We didn't get any type of information until 2017 into
51:06
2018. That's when we would.
51:11
That's when we're able to see any type of data coming out of
51:14
there was 2018. And even then, it was screwed
51:19
up. Oh God, And to this day, it's
51:22
still screwed up. It's getting better slowly, but
51:27
surely it's going to get better. And I know a lot of people are
51:31
like Rex stocks this, Rex that. But I do unfortunately have to
51:37
say that overall over everything, the concept and the
51:48
program could be successful if management would get their
51:55
grubby hands off of it. If management stopped messing
52:03
around and just gave us the program the way it was supposed
52:08
to be, the way the engineers designed it, the way that
52:11
management and the union agreed on in the 1st place, it wouldn't
52:16
be this craft show that we're having right now.
52:21
And if the Union stood by the letter of the law in regards to
52:26
total transparency, we wouldn't have this problem.
52:32
Yes, if the union would have stood up and said no.
52:37
We need this to be accurate and fair to the carriers and the
52:43
carriers need to be trained by management per our contract,
52:49
have a classroom training. I don't care if you turned
52:53
around and each day took one carrier into a room and trained
52:56
them individually. Until every route in your office
53:00
was trained and had a sub that just floated from route to route
53:04
every day covering those routes until you had every carrier
53:08
trained, you could have had this done.
53:12
It doesn't matter if you're in A1 route office or a 300 route
53:18
office. You could have gotten it done.
53:25
Management could have stepped up and done.
53:28
The right thing. But does management do the right
53:33
thing, Bill? Hell no.
53:41
And Josh, your thought does management do the right thing?
53:45
Supposedly. Supposedly does the right thing.
53:53
Supposedly. Allegedly.
53:55
Oh boy, we're going to have to make you A204B now.
53:59
They they'll tell you so themselves.
54:04
That's because their management told you to tell you that.
54:11
They'll tell you it's in the, it's in the contract that you're
54:14
not allowed to take any breaks. That or you have to take a
54:17
minimum of 10 minute breaks every day and they.
54:22
Don't forget you have to take a lunch to.
54:26
The contract. Yeah, you have to.
54:29
You have to take a lunch. Wrong.
54:36
You're entitled to 30 minutes off the clock break time.
54:40
No, but you you have to put down your your toilet breaks and
54:45
Nope. Now I will say this, you do have
54:51
to put down your smoke breaks. You're working?
55:00
Are you smoking while casing? No.
55:04
We. Used to.
55:07
You used to. I know, I know.
55:09
My neighbor across the street from me, My neighbor across the
55:12
street from me, used to be a rural carrier.
55:14
And I actually went to the post office with her one day to see
55:18
what it was about when I was younger, when I was a kid.
55:21
And those were different times, long.
55:23
Before the royal location. There was an ashtray built into
55:28
the case. Yep, she didn't smoke, but there
55:30
was one in her case. But no.
55:36
If you're going out to the dock to smoke a cigarette, take a
55:39
break from casing. You know, taking a step back and
55:42
taking a breath. Well, a few breaths with your
55:44
cigarette. You should punch out for that.
55:47
You should go out to lunch and return to lunch.
55:51
Take 310 minute breaks at your 30 minute of breaks.
55:54
Plus that gives you 6 extra scans.
55:58
Six extra inputs. Of course, manager is going to
56:02
complain that you're putting in all these inputs.
56:04
Like I was on break, I was taking a smoke break, or I was
56:08
sitting down and drinking water while I was cooling off.
56:14
That's another reason you could do it.
56:17
But those are six extra inputs that go on your evaluation.
56:26
Or you you do a break like I do and bring in a cooler full of
56:29
Gatorades and ice because we had no water in our office.
56:36
Do you have a water phone? Yeah, you don't want to drink
56:40
the water. Didn't that safety issue?
56:46
Then there, our water in our office is a little, little worse
56:50
than Flint, MI. Just a little worse.
56:55
Bad. Just a little, yeah.
56:58
But then again, as bad as Flint, just the baddest Flint is I.
57:01
If you say it's just a little worse, that's very, very bad
57:03
water. Yeah, I know.
57:07
But yeah, we have one water fountain for over 100 plus
57:10
employees. I'm sure we're all going to
57:11
stand in line and clock clock off to throw our water bottles.
57:17
I did. I did like the girl that
57:19
complained that the ice machine that their office was broken and
57:21
I'm sitting there going ice machine.
57:23
You have an ice machine. An ICE machine in a post office.
57:28
I I got offices. Don't even have a swing room.
57:34
Tech. I know, I know of an office that
57:36
their break room is right next to one of the cases.
57:40
It's literally just a table tucked up against the case.
57:42
That's their break. Room.
57:47
You have a break Room, Yeah. It it almost turned into a UFC
57:57
corner one day. That's a story for her off the
58:00
channel, though. And yes, I was involved.
58:09
Surprise, surprise. So we're going to wind this down
58:15
now because we're going past an hour already and we don't want
58:18
to go to two hours like most of our previous ones have gone.
58:23
You know, they were nice and short and sweet, so that new guy
58:26
joined us. Yeah, that new guy really makes
58:29
him long, doesn't he? Oh, wait, that's me.
58:39
But Bill, what's your final thoughts?
58:42
What's your final thoughts? So I I would have to say that my
58:46
final thoughts is that, you know folks.
58:50
We do this on our own time, of our own free will.
58:52
We're trying to help everybody out.
58:56
Whether you're a union, non union.
58:58
We don't want to see anybody trampled by management.
59:01
We don't want any anybody be harassed or feeling stressed.
59:05
We sure to help, don't want people getting to the point
59:08
where they make poor decisions because of this job.
59:11
Josh will tell you, you know, when you get overwhelmed, step
59:14
back, take a breath, step in. If it gets to that point, folks,
59:17
step back, take a breath, and walk away.
59:21
It's not worth your life. It's not worth your health.
59:24
It's not worth your family. It's just a job, OK?
59:28
It It may pay better than other jobs.
59:31
It may fit your schedule better than other jobs.
59:34
But folks, you have so much more important things in life than
59:38
than a job. OK, we got another hot week
59:42
coming up. High heat, high humidity.
59:45
Amazon is still overflowing and I just want you all to take care
59:50
of yourselves. And at the end of the day, like
59:54
I always tell you, get yourself home.
59:56
You're the most important delivery of the day.
59:59
Get home to the loved ones. That's the only thing that
1:00:01
matters. Like.
1:00:09
They were saying, you know. Don't let yourself get that
1:00:13
worked up. Don't get overheated.
1:00:17
You know. Do what you can to prevent
1:00:19
yourself from getting overheated.
1:00:20
Stay hydrated. I know they used to say a gallon
1:00:25
a day, but I've also more recently someone said it's
1:00:29
supposed to be you're supposed to consume one ounce per your
1:00:33
weight of water. Like I said in the beginning,
1:00:37
get claws. Rags towels.
1:00:42
Keep one in your rice pack, in your cooler, bag one around your
1:00:47
neck and sort them out every so often.
1:00:50
Don't get overwhelmed. If you do, step back, take a
1:00:52
deep breath, step back in, try and have a good week.
1:00:57
We'll catch you on the next one. Yeah, like both Bill and Josh
1:01:01
said, biggest take away from everything here is care about
1:01:07
yourself. Take care of yourself first and
1:01:11
foremost. There's only one of you.
1:01:15
There's millions and millions of people in the world.
1:01:20
In the United States alone, there's billions of people in
1:01:22
the world and you're one single person.
1:01:28
But you're an important person. You're an important person in
1:01:32
the world. Craft dues paying or non dues
1:01:34
paying. You are brothers and sisters.
1:01:38
We don't want to see anything happen to you.
1:01:41
We want to see you work all the way through retirement and enjoy
1:01:45
retirement. We want to see you being able to
1:01:48
be involved in the union, helping to make this union
1:01:52
better, stepping up, being a local steward, putting in to be
1:01:58
an area steward, going on and working in your local county or
1:02:03
state or even on the national board.
1:02:07
We need everybody involved, and we can't do that if you aren't
1:02:15
taking care of yourself, feeling warm, starting to overheat, seek
1:02:24
shade, take your breaks, take a comfort, stop.
1:02:28
It doesn't matter how much management monitors the
1:02:31
scanners, they're going to tell you that you were stationary
1:02:35
here, here, here, here and here. And your proof is just the
1:02:40
scanner. Well, you have no actual proof
1:02:44
then. I would say if it's that bad,
1:02:48
send them a message through the scanner.
1:02:51
Yeah, if you. I'm feeling overheated.
1:02:53
I need to stop. Yes, and if you stop sweating.
1:02:58
If you stop sweating, call 9111. Yep, because that means your
1:03:06
body. Has overheated to the point it
1:03:10
can no longer produce sweat. It's giving up and you need to
1:03:15
get to a hospital. Call 911 first before you
1:03:22
contact management. After you're done with 911, Then
1:03:27
you contact management or have the police contact 911 when they
1:03:32
show, or contact your manager when they show up on scene.
1:03:37
The police will stay there and secure the mail until your your
1:03:40
management arrives. But your health is more
1:03:42
important, so take care of yourselves.
1:03:47
Get home to your loved ones and we'll see you on the next
1:03:51
podcast. Thanks for listening.