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Pregnancy In the Work Place · United We Scan

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Thank you. Now here are the hosts of the
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United We Scan podcast. All right, welcome back
0:54
everybody. Episode one O 3.
0:56
I'm going to discuss a little bit of the 113.
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Excuse me 113 one O. 3. It's got a one and a three.
1:04
It's been a long day. I just got home like an hour ago
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so bear with me. You got more excuses than APTF.
1:15
But you're the big boss. I'll let you slide.
1:21
It's me and Bill and Melcove tonight.
1:24
James had a last minute thing come up and will not be joining
1:27
us. So I'm going to cover a couple
1:30
documents on pregnancy in the workplace.
1:33
I know that's been a request. I have that stuff readily
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available now, so I'll go over it briefly, but other than that,
1:44
Milko, fill us in on your week. How are you?
1:46
How was it for you? Pretty good my numbers been not
1:56
I suppose had some really early days the last couple even with
2:03
marriage male on the side my CBU's I was done by 3:00 on
2:07
Friday Bill. Damn.
2:12
I wish we'd been doing nothing. Oh, come on now.
2:15
I I'm very busy and not doing anything, OK?
2:18
So don't discredit not doing anything it it's tedious, OK?
2:23
You have the honey do list. Now no, no, I have the not To Do
2:27
List things I'm not doing that's.
2:30
What I said. That's honey has nothing to do
2:32
with that. But now the mini mail survey is
2:36
coming in a little bit light. And in my former office, there's
2:42
a lot of questions because of the fact that the two O 4 be
2:45
overseeing the rural carriers. Some reason can't print out
2:49
radar reports, buying them, can't do them, can't whatever.
2:53
You know, just the multitude of excuses why they can't do them.
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And since they're absorbed into this SD and C, their route
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numbers are now changed. So are we seeing the 52 weeks of
3:07
data and, you know, switched over to the new route or are
3:12
they going in blind with the information?
3:15
And the problem of it is that they've already had the radar
3:19
report showing no DPS, which translated in the six to 8%
3:23
coverage factor on their deliveries.
3:26
So 8 folks, you know, something stinks in Norway and nobody,
3:32
nobody can find out. And since it was a retirement
3:36
night, I didn't bring up anything with the local steward
3:38
at the party. But yeah, the, the fact of the
3:40
matter is that you have to step up and, and, you know, make
3:43
these people, those, these reports as required per our
3:47
agreement period. It got cold again this week in
3:52
Pennsylvania. It warmed up, got cold again.
3:55
You know, next week it'll moderate in the 40s, which is
3:58
where we normally are. Not a lot of precipitation in
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the immediate forecast and it's time to go get the new fishing
4:06
license for 2025 so I can start my third rear.
4:11
How about you, Kristen? How was your week?
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Oh, I Saturday and Monday we're fairly heavy on the on the DPS
4:23
errors and inverted in my office and then they lightened right up
4:27
for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday for me.
4:30
Monday I went in the office. I was fighting the worst
4:33
migraine I think I've ever had. I don't get hardly ever get
4:36
headaches, let alone migraines. It's probably been at least a
4:39
few years since I've had one. It was so bad.
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I mean, I walked in every every route in my office had nearly
4:48
probably about 3/4 of a tray of nonlinear raw DPSI instantly
4:55
walked up the supervisor's desk. I said I want a piece count on
4:58
this. She goes well that was it's got
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A tag on it. It was ran.
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I said then show me the numbers. Yeah, she got lippy with me and
5:08
I said it's going to be like that you can find somebody else
5:11
to run my route and I'm going to go home sick.
5:15
Well, news say she did pull up the end of run report and did
5:19
show me where the 465 paste mail pieces were at.
5:24
So I got through the day Monday. It was a really bad migraine.
5:30
We didn't have anybody to cover for me anyway.
5:32
So 11 hours later, 11.15 hours later, I clocked out and went
5:37
home. But I got through the rest of
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the week. Had a three day weekend for a
5:42
change, which was nice. I went down to my annual Motor
5:48
City Tattoo Expo. Got to see my tattoo buddy down
5:52
there. Big Jazz season 12 Inkmaster
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Bing Buddy pays attention, so it was a good time.
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Ruby got a tattoo, Eric got a tattoo.
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I got a big one on my back. Other than that, little man was
6:04
like the life of the party down there, man.
6:07
He was flirting with all the girls and just having a good old
6:11
time. Oh, and for those of you that
6:15
don't know, Ruby goes to orientation on March 10th.
6:22
So yeah, yeah, we are now shopping for a POVI.
6:26
Actually did find a right hand drive Jeep about an hour away
6:31
for an affordable price. A little bit older, a little
6:33
higher on the mileage, but like I told her, it's something to
6:36
get you started. So I'm going to get a hold of
6:40
that gentleman and see. Hopefully we can work something
6:44
out to get that for. Other than that, it hasn't been
6:49
too bad of a week. I got another short week coming
6:51
up because we have our spring booster this next weekend.
6:54
So four day week for me. Going back in the morning.
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It's been see what my numbers were for the couple days I
7:00
missed, but I'm not too overly worried about it.
7:04
My sub actually has had a handle on the mini mail surveys right
7:09
off the get go so I don't have to.
7:11
I don't worry about it too much with him.
7:13
Thank goodness I don't have to worry about that with him.
7:15
But that hasn't been too bad of a week.
7:19
Weather up and down, some snow finally started melting.
7:22
I've had snow holds been able to go back, people starting to put
7:26
mailboxes back up, some mails going back.
7:29
So it'll be interesting to see if he was able to take care of
7:33
any more of that stuff the couple days I was gone.
7:35
But yeah, it's been a been a week.
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You know, like I said, I got home about an hour before we
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hopped up on here and yeah, good to be home, though.
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I mean, it was nice to get away for a couple days, but it's
7:51
always good to finally get back home still.
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Yeah, somebody asked if we're going to get a recap on Ruby's
8:00
experience regarding orientation, whatnot.
8:03
Possibly. We'll see what's going on, we're
8:06
in the process of figuring out babysitter situations and all
8:11
that good stuff right now. And depending on where she goes
8:14
for Academy. And I am more than likely going
8:17
to have to take a day off that week to take little man to his
8:20
doctor's appointment because she'll be in the middle of
8:21
Academy. So.
8:24
But we finally got her on board. And oh, some other big news.
8:29
I know I'm rambling. My personal life, I don't care.
8:32
My son got married last week and so Yep, Yep, shotgun wedding.
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They they both decided that, you know, they can do a ceremony or
8:45
something later, but this is to get her immigration stuff going.
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He actually gets out, they ship his stuff back to my parents on
8:55
the 9th on the 17th of March, his car gets shipped back.
9:01
His car gets shipped over the 17th, and then he gets sent back
9:05
to the states on the 23rd for about a week and a half.
9:08
Two weeks of processing to get out of the Marine Corps, and
9:13
yeah, and then we'll wait. And see how are her parents
9:16
taking that. What was that?
9:21
How are her parents taking this in?
9:27
Her parents don't. Know yet?
9:31
Oh well, I guess we're going to go to war with Taiwan now.
9:39
Japan. Okinawa, Okinawa.
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Okinawa. Ruby was moving high.
9:45
Yeah, that's been a big thing on him, is that she hasn't told
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them. He has met her biological
9:52
father, but has yet to meet her mother and stepfather or what
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they say over their adopted father.
9:59
So that's, you know, he he called us while we were
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traveling downstate and talked to him for a little bit and just
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kind of told him, you know, I understand your concerns in
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there, but you kind of have to let her choose when the right
10:13
time is to tell her family. I know things are customs are
10:17
completely different over there. So yeah, you know, it is what it
10:21
is. But we'll have that grandbaby
10:24
this fall and hopefully immigration processing stuff
10:27
will go through sooner than later.
10:30
But you, we all know how that can be.
10:33
It is going to be an adventure, that's for sure.
10:36
Sue. It is.
10:39
Well, you know, you, you could use the redneck way of
10:43
announcing the marriage. Yeah.
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And if there's any, and if there's a kickback, you say,
10:48
look, the bitch is done. Knocked up marriage ain't the
10:52
problem now. But that's that's just my
10:56
personal opinion. Yeah, I know they're they're
11:01
happy together and that's what really matters.
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And I, you know, when he called and told me about their options,
11:07
I told him I said this is a decision that the two of you
11:10
need to make together as an adults and I'll support you on
11:12
whatever decision you decide to make.
11:14
So there's that. My son will be back by the end
11:20
of the month so. You're such a good Mama.
11:24
I'd have told him. Yeah.
11:25
You. You effed up.
11:27
Good luck. No, he's he, he has a game plan
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for life, I guess for now, for the, for the future, He, he's
11:40
working things out. So I, I, I'm proud of him, but
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on to that. All right, I am going to cover.
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I know this was, I did have a phone call a few weeks ago about
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covering pregnancy in the workplace.
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So we're going to touch on this a little bit here real quick.
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Let me pull it up again because I had it up on my phone.
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I have some of it on the computer.
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So let me pull that up. There is now this was one and
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all this information can be found on the NRLCA website under
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the Steward Reference Guides. Pregnancy in the workplace.
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And I do believe there's something over breastfeeding and
12:25
pumping as well. I do have that document in front
12:28
of me as well. So this one was actually from
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2003 and it was a city decision, but it is cited on ours as well.
12:45
And this is the issue in the case whether requiring city
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carriers to bend and lift when using 1046 P hamper violates
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Article 14 of the National agreements.
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That's the mutually subtle on the case and the understanding
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parties agree that placing inverted plastic trays on the
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bottom of A1046P hamper as an inserts one way among others to
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address any local bending and lifting concerns.
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So that there is on that for bending and lifting.
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The Big 1 is what came out in 2023 which is the Pregnant
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Workers Fairness Act. Now this is it's got some other
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links off of it but I am just going to cover the basics on
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what is the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
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It is a new law that recovers covered employers to provide
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reasonable accommodations to a worker's known limitations
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related to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions,
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unless the accommodation will cause the employer and undue
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hardship and quotations. The Pregnancy Workers Fairness
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Act applies only to accommodations.
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Existing laws that the EEOC enforces make it illegal to fire
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or otherwise discriminate against workers on the basis of
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pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
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The PWFA does not replace federal, state, or local laws
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that are more protective of workers affected by pregnancy,
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childbirth, or related medical conditions.
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More than 30 States and cities have laws that provide
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accommodations for pregnant workers.
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When does the PWFA go into effect and will the public have
14:44
input on any regulations? It went into effect June 27th of
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2023. The EEOC is required to issue
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regulations to carry out the law.
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The EEOC will in will issue a proposed version of the PWFA
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regulations so the public can give their input and offer
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comments before regulations become final.
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So again, this was two years ago.
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Is the EEOC accepting charges under the PWFA?
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The EEOC will start accepting charges under the PWFA on June
15:24
27th, 2023. For the PWFA to apply, the
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situation complained about in the charge must have happened on
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June 27th, 2023 or later. A pregnant worker who needs to
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accommodations before that date may, however, have a right to
15:43
receive an accommodation under another federal or state law.
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So since this is 2023, it's all good for now.
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So this is after the June 27th, 2023.
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The EEOC will analyze charges regarding accommodations for
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workers affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical
16:07
conditions under the PWFA if the violation occurred after June
16:12
27th of 2023 and where applicable under the ADA and or
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Title 7. Who does the PWFA protect?
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The PWFA protects employees and applicants of covered employers
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who have known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth
16:32
of related medical conditions. Covered employers include
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private and public sector employers with at least 15
16:40
employees, Congress, federal agencies, employment agencies,
16:45
and labor organizations. What are some examples of
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reasonable accommodation for pregnant workers?
16:53
Reasonable accommodations are changes to the work environment
16:56
or the way things are usually done at work.
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House Committee on Education and Labor Report on the PWFA
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provides several examples of possible reasonable
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accommodations, including the ability to sit or drink water,
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receive closer parking, have flexible hours, receive
17:17
appropriately sized uniforms and safety apparel, receive
17:21
additional break time to use the bathroom, eat and rest, take
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leave or time off to recover from childbirth and to be
17:28
excused from strenuous activities and or activities
17:32
that involve exposure to compounds not safe for present
17:35
pregnancy. Employers are required to
17:39
provide reasonable accommodations unless they would
17:42
cause an undue hardship on the employer's operations.
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An undue hardship is significant difficulty or expense for the
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employer. What else does it prohibit?
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Covered employers cannot require an employee to accept an
18:01
accommodation without a discussion from the
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accommodation about the accommodation between the worker
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and employer. They cannot deny a job or other
18:11
employment opportunities to a qualified employee or applicant
18:15
based on the person's need for reasonable accommodation.
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Cannot require an employee to take leave if another reasonable
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accommodation can be provided that would let the employee keep
18:26
working. Cannot retaliate against an
18:30
individual for reporting or oppose opposing unlawful
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discrimination under the PWFA or participating in a PWFA
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proceeding, such as an investigation, or cannot
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interfere with any individual's rights under the PWFA.
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What other federal laws may apply to pregnant workers?
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Other laws that apply to workers affected by pregnancy,
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childbirth, or related medical additions include Title 7
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enforced by the EEOC, which protects an employee from
19:04
discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or
19:07
related medical conditions and requires covered employees.
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Employers excuse me to treat a worker affected by pregnancy,
19:16
childbirth, or related medical conditions the same as other
19:19
workers similar in their ability or inability to work.
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Also, the ADA enforced by EEOC, which protects an employee from
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discrimination and based on disability and requires covered
19:36
employers to provide reasonable accommodation to a person with a
19:40
disability if the reasonable accommodation would not cause an
19:43
undue hardship for the employer. And while pregnancy is not a
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disability under ADA, some pregnancy related conditions may
19:53
be disabilities under the law. We also have the Family Medical
19:59
Leave Act, FMLA, enforced by U.S.
20:01
Department of Labor, which provides covered employees with
20:04
unpaid job protected leave for certain family and medical
20:08
reasons in the PUMP Act Providing Urgent Maternal
20:13
Protections for Nursing Mothers Act, enforced by the US
20:17
Department of Labor, which broadens the workplace
20:19
protections for employees to express breast milk at work.
20:24
So that is basically the gist. There's more little pamphlets
20:28
done stuff on that as well. And then I am going to go over
20:33
real quick the breastfeeding information.
20:42
Drawing. I know this is so exciting for
20:47
you, Bill, isn't it? Oh, actually the, the, the pump
20:51
feeding act is the reason why we had to get a new refrigerator at
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our old office because a mother was expressing milk and had to
20:59
have a place to refrigerate it. And they didn't have one.
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They, they, they had a freezer where, you know, they had waters
21:07
in there, but no refrigerator. So, yeah, ended up having to
21:12
buy, buy a new refrigerator for us.
21:16
We thanked her and you know, I didn't use too much for my
21:19
coffee, but you know, I dabbled. OK, so this was dated September
21:25
6th, 2023. Guidance for nursing mothers in
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the workplace. This is a USPS document, by the
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way. This memorandum provides
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guidance on provisions for the Fair Labor Standards Act that
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covers a nursing mother's right to express breast milk while at
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work. Upon request, employers are
21:45
required to provide reasonable break time to nursing mothers
21:49
each time such employee has a need to pump at work for one
21:54
year after the child's birth. Employers may not deny a covered
21:59
employee a necessary break to pump.
22:03
This requirement applies to all nursing employees, whether they
22:06
are FSLA exempt or FSLA non exempt.
22:11
Such breaks are generally off the clock for SFLA non exempt
22:15
employees as long as they are fully relieved of duty during
22:19
the entirety of the break. FLSA non exempt employees may
22:24
choose to use their normal paid breaks to pump, in which case
22:28
they would be compensated for the break in the same way that
22:31
other employees are compensated for the break.
22:35
In addition, employees are entitled to a functional space
22:38
to pump at work other than a bathroom that is available as
22:43
needed, shielded from view, and free from incursion from
22:47
coworkers and the public. This includes providing access
22:50
to employees who perform work away from postal sites.
22:55
The Postal Service prohibits retaliation against employees
22:59
for exercising their rights. Examples seeking to pump at
23:02
work. Filing complaints with the
23:04
Department of Labor. Cooperating with DOL
23:07
investigations. Nursing mothers who feel they
23:10
have been afforded their full ability to pump breast milk at
23:14
work can contact their human resources manager.
23:17
Excuse me, they feel that they have not been afforded.
23:21
They may also file a written or oral complaint with the
23:24
Department of Labor. The DODOL Wage and Hour Division
23:29
publication 1088, Employee Rights under the Fair Labor
23:32
Standards Act, dated April of 2023, reflects current pump at
23:37
work requirements. This publication must be posted
23:40
and remain posted in all postal facilities in conspicuous places
23:45
visible to employees. Offices must discard and recycle
23:49
any previous versions of the publication.
23:53
If you need further guidance on these matters, please contact
23:55
Field Human Resources Director for your respected area, blah
23:59
blah blah. So yes, if you are an employee
24:04
and you are pregnant or and or breastfeeding pumping, you do
24:09
have protections out there. There is such thing as a
24:13
reasonable accommodation which could just as easily be an RCA
24:18
running out the heavier packages for you.
24:20
You know being or getting covered to take an extra break
24:24
or a little bit longer of a lunch if needed.
24:27
So definitely look into that. Contact your Stewart if you need
24:31
it if you are having issues, if you are in that under that
24:37
category. Also, paternity leave can be an
24:42
FMLA as well. So if you are not taking
24:45
maternity, paternity for the other parent would fall under
24:50
FMLA as well for protection of your job.
24:53
Of course, under FMLA you can choose to use sick leave, annual
24:58
leave or ELWA if you if you choose so.
25:06
And whereas it, it says that it doesn't 'cause, you know, any
25:10
undue extraneous, you know, problems for management
25:14
financially and, and in the course of rations, I always find
25:20
the language to be a little ambiguous.
25:22
So that management has the right to determine what is excessive.
25:27
You know, No, it's it's. Exactly, I that's where I would
25:33
definitely have a local steward involved especially or request a
25:36
reasonable accommodations meeting.
25:40
Yeah, it. And it seems if you read the
25:43
contract, there are so many Mays or cans, you know, without being
25:49
definitive enough to say that they shall or must.
25:53
And that that really pisses me off because it gives management
25:56
a lot of leeway in regards to interpreting that language.
26:01
You know, the, the black and white stuff, they can't argue.
26:03
But in those situations, you know, they, they've got a wide
26:07
scope of, of sitting there and coming up with reasons of
26:10
saying, you know, well, we can't do this.
26:12
We can't provide this type of service or assistance to
26:15
somebody. You know, and given all the
26:18
offices across this country that are short of, you know, help
26:21
period, this would be a situation that might, might come
26:25
up and might rear its ugly head up because of the fact that you
26:27
are so short of carriers you can't accommodate a pregnant
26:31
woman. And I agree, yeah, there there
26:34
are those offices that are extremely short and in and
26:38
obviously there is protections out there.
26:40
I mean it even if it means you have to file an EEO complaint or
26:45
something with the Department of Labor as it would follow then
26:48
that's what you do. I mean, if that's what needs to
26:51
be done, that's what you do. Because, yeah, I mean, your
26:55
limitations that you're going to have is between you and your
26:58
doctor. And that's where you start with
27:03
because I know, you know, everybody's limitations during
27:06
pregnancy is definitely different.
27:08
I I know that all three of my pregnancies were completely
27:11
different. So, you know, I've known
27:13
carriers that worked right up until they went into labor and
27:17
finished a route in labor. You know, it it, it's
27:20
unfortunate to have to see him go to that far.
27:23
And it's nice to know that there are laws now in effect to help
27:25
protect us. Yeah, it's, it's still, it's not
27:30
perfect, but it is something. Oh, that's more than I know
27:38
about the pregnancy thing. And except for the fact that,
27:41
you know, we, we just helped them, you know, I mean, I didn't
27:45
know the specific languages in regards to it.
27:48
And I knew that the FMLA also stood, stood in the way of, you
27:51
know, badgering the employees. But, you know, we've only had
27:55
probably two or three situations in my career where we actually
28:00
had, you know, pregnant carriers.
28:03
They were all female and you know, we, we, we, we gave them
28:08
assistance without even being asked.
28:10
I mean, you know, it was, you know, we're going to help
28:12
protect the carrier in the baby. So 9 times out of 10, management
28:17
didn't even have to get involved in into the situation.
28:21
But that's before we got micromanaged to death.
28:23
So, you know, that was back in the day.
28:25
Yeah, yeah. I knew when RCA who management
28:28
wasn't going to work with her on it.
28:30
I mean, the extreme heat we had that summer and the dot, she had
28:34
doctor's notes left and right. And it got to the point she she
28:38
quit. And this was before 2023.
28:42
So yeah, it's. Hi, Ray.
28:48
So Bill, it's me and you and Melco.
28:51
So I have some questions that come in from listeners.
28:57
I think we can kind of go through and address some of
29:00
those tonight on the air. OK.
29:03
OK. OK, All right.
29:05
We haven't done one of those in a while, so we'll kind of go
29:08
ahead and do this. I'm going to go with the most
29:10
recent one that I got yesterday. It says.
29:12
Hi everyone. I hope you can help me answer 2
29:15
questions that I've come across. One, I understand pars labels
29:19
are now included in the 52 week running count.
29:23
But my issue is the first label forward not printing for my
29:27
route when I get a second label saying it's deleted because the
29:30
forward is not verified. Am I getting screwed for lack of
29:34
a better terminology because I'm not even getting the first pars
29:37
label? This has happened multiple times
29:39
on both routes in my office and I can honestly say it's happened
29:44
to me many times. I'll get a delete and not even
29:46
know that they had put in a forward in.
29:49
And I know and I've noticed since they've started that this
29:52
verification process that any of the good pars labels I do
29:56
receive do not say new, they say modification.
30:02
Modified. They are modified, so you are
30:04
not getting the initial one until it is verified and at that
30:08
point it's then put in as modified and so you're going to
30:12
get that modified 1. And if they never verified, I
30:16
have seen that I'm just getting the deletes.
30:18
I'm not getting the initial one because it's not verified,
30:22
therefore it's not active. Therefore, you're not entitled
30:27
to the second label because it never went through the process
30:31
before it was modified. Correct.
30:35
And that, and that's how I would handle that too.
30:37
You know that that if, if you didn't get it, you're not
30:40
getting credit for it. So I mean, come on, folks, let
30:43
let's be reasonable here. Even if management isn't, we
30:46
have to be. Exactly.
30:48
But I would argue it would argue that if you got the one that
30:53
says delete, you should at least get credit for that one because
30:56
you have to look at it and potentially put it on a pink
31:01
card. Well, even if you get the the
31:05
delete one, you're still required to post it on your
31:07
cards the show that you received it.
31:10
That's the way you cover your ass in case of the customer
31:13
calls up three weeks later and says I'm not getting any mail
31:16
forwarded. So you still go through the
31:19
normal process of putting the parts label onto the card.
31:23
I forget what number that is that 8192 I don't remember.
31:31
Right off hand either it's the pink card, I don't.
31:33
Know either? It's the pink card, yes.
31:38
All right, so I hope that one answers it.
31:40
It from the sounds of it, we're not getting the initial ones
31:43
because they got to be verified so it's going to come up as a
31:46
mod anyways or you're just going to get the delete because it was
31:49
never verified so #2. Understanding I have yes is that
31:56
they actually have to go to a post office to verify it and
32:00
they should be getting a letter saying that.
32:03
Yes, are the other instance is if they do it online and they
32:08
get charged, I think it was like $1.10 or something like that
32:12
because they have to use a debit or credit card in their name.
32:16
That is their legal verification if they're doing the change of
32:20
address online and those still come.
32:25
Up as much. Five years ago, it was a dollar.
32:28
Yeah, it's like $1.10 now. It's not much.
32:35
All right. So the second question from this
32:38
listener is the new safety checks the postmasters are
32:42
supposed to be completing on all the vehicles used to service
32:45
routes. Both routes in our office are
32:48
POVSAS, the postmaster when this was supposed to be completed and
32:53
they said they was unsure but we're going to ask for
32:56
verification. I requested it to be completed
32:59
during load time so we can get some sort of compensation out of
33:02
this new requirement since we don't get time to check our
33:06
vehicles like city carriers do or government vehicles I should
33:09
say. Any help in answering these
33:12
would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.
33:13
You can't wait to listen to the next podcast.
33:15
Look forward to it every week. I personally.
33:20
Have never heard of a vehicle inspection for a POV that we
33:27
have one POV route in our office and I have yet to hear of
33:31
anything. I honestly would contact your
33:36
ADR or Dr. about that because that's not something I
33:40
personally am aware of when it comes to POV's.
33:45
Yeah, Singer. But I would say, well, PO VS are
33:51
supposed to be route ready when you arrive at work, but if
33:56
management is supposed to do some type of safety check on it,
34:01
they're supposed to be doing a factor check when you come back
34:05
in the afternoon. So which is end of shift duty.
34:08
So they could do it then. Yeah.
34:11
But yeah, definitely. Just my thoughts.
34:13
Yeah, like I said, that's something I personally have not
34:17
heard. Like I said with one POV route
34:20
in our office, it's not anything I have heard of in my unless
34:24
it's something in your district. But again, I definitely I would
34:28
reach out to your ADR or Dr. on that one.
34:30
Honestly, Bill, your thoughts? I, I have yet to ever have a
34:36
supervisor or anybody in management.
34:38
Do you know our safety checks on our vehicles?
34:40
I mean, we usually do it myself or, or had another carrier, you
34:44
know, assistance. I'm doing him.
34:46
And and whereas the POV is supposed to be route ready and
34:51
when you arrive at work, if they're going to require you to
34:54
do a safety check, then I would have that put in on my
34:58
miscellaneous time during the mini mail survey and, you know,
35:02
8127 times the rest of the year because it is not required.
35:07
And if you're doing it now and requiring it on APOV, then I
35:11
want to get paid for it every day.
35:15
Otherwise, shut the front door and you know, get out of my face
35:18
because you know, it's up for checking the lights, backup
35:21
worn, you know, turn signals, wipers.
35:24
What, what safety checks is a management, an individual
35:27
management qualified to do? Are they checking the, you know,
35:30
the how, how much you know, brake pad you have on there,
35:33
whether or not your rotors are too thin or not?
35:35
I mean, you know, you can go 99 ways of Sunday on this, but you
35:39
know they're not required to do it on the POV and if they want
35:43
you to then get paid for it. Absolutely.
35:46
I'll file, file and smile. And if this is a directive
35:50
coming down from somewhere, like I said, contact the ADRDR to get
35:55
better clarification. They asked for a copy of that
36:01
directive, too. Yeah, that exactly think about.
36:05
It a. Buddy of mine used to have apov
36:09
that he didn't need any more, but it was still on premises and
36:15
management would go out there once every six months to a year
36:20
and walk around, check his tire tread, make sure everything
36:23
looked good, make sure he wasn't leaking oil or any other fluids.
36:29
Yeah, I've never seen anything management wise do anything like
36:33
that. So like I said, I my best advice
36:39
would be to contact ADRDR. All right, next one, This one
36:44
came in almost a month ago, but you know, says hello, I'm a big
36:49
fan of your podcast. I'm a regular role carrier from
36:52
I'm not going to say and I have a question.
36:55
Can management force regular carriers to take out missed
36:58
pitches for their route? I'm going to safely assume
37:02
you're saying this sorted parcels.
37:04
All of us regulars were just informed this week that we will
37:08
have to take out any missed pitches when we return from the
37:11
street. This will be an almost daily
37:13
occurrence. Thank you for your time and all
37:15
you guys do. Yep, management can do that.
37:20
They could have an RCA run miss sorted or they can have you take
37:26
a second trip and that's how you'd be compensated.
37:29
Would be after you complete your end of shift duties.
37:31
You hit that PM casing, hit start load, go load your missed
37:35
pitches in load and document how many miles to get paid $0.03 a
37:40
mile. It would be a second trip. 3
37:43
minutes. 3 minutes a mile. That three cents 3 minutes. 3
37:48
minutes a mile, yes. Yeah.
37:51
And here's the problem. If this is happening
37:54
consistently, where is management's interaction to
37:58
prevent this from happening? If it's a daily occurrence, then
38:03
something's slipping through the through the cracks here that
38:06
you're not seeing, the courts aren't doing so you're you're
38:10
mismanaging. And, you know, being the type of
38:15
asshole that I am, I would bring that to their, you know, right
38:18
to their face and say, look, you're mismanaging, you're
38:21
wasting postal funds because of the fact that you don't have
38:26
this action corrected and it's been going on for weeks or
38:30
months or whatever. I mean, yeah, it, it's fine.
38:33
You're getting, you know, and it's a mile.
38:37
Do you really want to do that if you're already on an overburden
38:40
route, have to go back out for three minutes a mile, you know,
38:46
yes, it's getting lighter out. You know this, the sun, you
38:49
know, set is not as early. It's after 5:00 PM now.
38:53
But do you really want to do this?
38:55
You know, every other time? Or yeah.
38:58
And are those routes that are start 10 miles from the office
39:03
or more? Now will you have some of these
39:05
SNDCS? SNDCS are more than that, yeah.
39:09
Yeah, you're going to get extra load time towards your
39:12
evaluation if you're APOV over 40 miles for the day cumulative
39:18
you're going to get the additional EMA.
39:20
But some is it going to be worth it?
39:22
I mean, I mean my, my the last second trip I took for a miss
39:27
sorted parcel was a complete 3 miles round trip.
39:34
I mean, really. And and and they're they're
39:39
they're in goes another pet peeve of mine, the EMA, if you
39:43
go out in the second trip for a POV route and you don't get 40
39:47
miles, you don't get the extra mileage, you still drove your
39:50
vehicle out there and back. Why is that?
39:55
Why? Are you getting paid 40 miles
39:57
already? Yeah, that's including the.
40:00
Route 10 miles. I'm still getting paid 40 miles
40:04
for the day. Getting the 40 miles, again, I
40:07
reiterate, if you have to go back out again, this is the wear
40:12
and tear factor on vehicle. We are not driving Checker cab.
40:16
OK Checker cabs were designed specifically for stop and go
40:20
traffic in cities. People don't understand why
40:24
these things would last forever. They were designed for that.
40:26
Your vehicles aren't designed for that many stops and goes and
40:31
stops and go to surge. I mean, you don't want to pay
40:35
them for 40 miles if you're going to pay me, you know, for
40:38
the 40 miles and and say, you know, you don't get anymore
40:41
unless you go over to 40. It's not worth my time.
40:47
Want to hear it? I have to go back out, OK?
40:51
I have to, you know, put my vehicle back out there and then
40:55
risk damage again because of the fact that you can't manage
40:59
correctly. So I should be compensated all
41:02
the way around? OK, next question.
41:09
This came in at the end of January.
41:12
Says hello I am a city carrier shop steward and I am reaching
41:17
out to find something out for a roll carrier I work with that
41:20
has a question. The whole office has been
41:23
getting a lot of raw residual letters this past week.
41:26
Again reminder this is the end of January like three to four
41:30
times the normal amount. Of course I'm paid hourly so
41:33
casing it is no problem. I wasn't sure how that works for
41:36
rural carriers though. They feel like they're being
41:38
cheated and I tend to agree, but from what I have researched I'm
41:42
not sure if there is any recourse.
41:44
I was hoping that you guys could provide some clarification I
41:47
could pass on. I know letters are counted
41:49
during many mail survey, but I wasn't sure if anything outside
41:53
of that mattered. Despite being a city carrier,
41:56
I'm an avid listener to the podcast.
41:58
Thank you for everything you do and thank you for listening from
42:01
the City side. We appreciate that because I
42:03
know a lot of us listen to from ADA arbitration from the City
42:07
side. It kind of gives us an idea.
42:09
Now on the work from the floor. Oh yeah, there's a lot of good
42:14
ones on the City side. So honestly, yeah, outside of
42:18
the mini mail survey, there really is no recourse on.
42:22
The 125 pieces. Yes, if it's in excess of 125
42:27
pieces, then we go into 8127 time.
42:31
Am I correct? Yes, and isn't it a shame that a
42:35
city carrier knows moving, you know, rural carriers?
42:40
It's it's yeah, 8127 time based off of the formula of hold on, I
42:49
have to look up what the number is.
43:01
Based on the formula, which I don't remember what it was
43:05
either. Yeah, it depends on how you talk
43:09
to on the 125 pieces thing too. I know there are sometimes where
43:14
you get a ton of raw letters and there are times where you get
43:18
hardly any and it only gets letters.
43:23
Go ahead. .036 5 seconds per letter.
43:32
So you take that 125 for example, multiply it by .0365
43:40
and that's how much time you would get for your total number
43:43
of letters. Yeah.
43:46
So it isn't much. Like I said, it has to exceed
43:50
the 125 pieces. And again, that's going to
43:54
depend on how you talk to because it doesn't.
43:57
We don't get an average until we do the fall and spring mini mail
44:01
survey. Unfortunately, it's something
44:04
that sometimes we have to suck it up and deal with.
44:13
Wow, yeah, 125 letters times .0365 = 4 1/2 seconds.
44:24
Damn, breaking it in, aren't you?
44:28
Oh, I know. And then that's a situation
44:38
where, you know, you've got these people, where you get
44:42
these bundled, you know, postcards and you know, there,
44:44
there may be four or five inches thick, you know, and they're,
44:46
you know, basically one for each address.
44:50
And you know, they come in, they're marked WSH.
44:57
The carrier inadvertently, inadvertently I said drops them.
45:03
Now they're out of order. Supervisor, supervisor, I need
45:07
these to be counted as raw. They're not in order.
45:11
You just I, I have shaken my head and walked away from that
45:14
situation saying please don't, don't ask me to represent you on
45:19
this because I'll tell the truth.
45:23
I really will. Yeah.
45:25
I'm sorry. I'm not going to cover for
45:27
somebody trying to, you know, to fudge your waste just just on
45:30
one little item, you know? But hey, that's what you know,
45:34
people do all. Right.
45:36
So here, here. And Speaking of that, this an
45:40
instance that happened to a carrier that I know that says
45:44
management dropped all my DPS this morning.
45:48
This was Saturday. They put it in, they put in the
45:51
end of run report number as raw letters and paid the carrier
45:55
8127 time the case. So yeah, sometimes you get
45:59
management that'll work with you on that, but not always.
46:05
Well, that was like. That that was, for instance,
46:07
when I came in on Monday, raging migraine and all, and there's
46:11
3/4 of a tray that the clerk handed me that was non linear
46:16
male. And I'm going, what the hell?
46:20
And I was, you know, raging migraine at that point.
46:23
So I was definitely a raging, you know what?
46:27
And I carried it out. Well, everybody's got it was
46:30
ran. It's got A tag on it.
46:31
Then show me the numbers or I want a piece count, plain and
46:34
simple. And they did my, my supervisor
46:38
did show me the numbers. So I let it will.
46:41
You be in a bitch. I had.
46:43
Were you? I was I was there was twice that
46:47
morning that I threatened to walk out and go home sick.
46:50
OK, it doesn't happen very often, but and a couple other
46:57
carries go oh, what's what's wrong with her?
46:59
What's going on So. I've had my one migraine in my
47:06
life and I and I ended up on the back floorboards of my wife's
47:11
car trying to be out of the sunlight, you know?
47:14
Oh, it was horrible. Yeah, Oh my God.
47:17
I went out, I went out and took cigarette break with coworker
47:20
and I'm sitting in my car in the heated seats and I put my head
47:25
back and closed my eyes and I felt like I had the bed spit.
47:29
It was horrible. The sunlight, I mean just the
47:33
the carts roll across the work room floor case in the mail took
47:38
me forever. And then I saw how bad it was
47:41
when I was out delivering because I was pulling mail from
47:44
way back when that it was on pull down that I had raw mail
47:47
that I had cased and it was cased in wrong spots.
47:51
And Oh my gosh, it was Monday was such a mess for me.
47:57
It really was it was it was heavy.
47:59
We had that 3/4 of a tray of raw and I raging migraine.
48:04
It wasn't that pretty at all. One day I came home and.
48:08
Went short, short, short of a actual bullet wound.
48:10
I've never had anything so debilitating as a migraine and I
48:15
thank God I've never had one since.
48:18
Yeah. I mean that it just cripples
48:20
you, it really does. Someone said not going.
48:26
Someone said not going to lie. I'd like to see a video of
48:28
Kristen being pissed off. No, no, you don't trust me.
48:35
I think that was everything that I had in there that I hadn't
48:39
addressed already to people. So you got anything else you
48:45
want to touch on Bill? Let's see, I can't talk about my
48:50
old office because that's not relevant to what happens across
48:54
the country Resolutions. Yes.
48:59
That that that was a, you know, question put to me into in
49:02
regards to a possible resolution.
49:05
And I referred the individual to Wild Bill McGinley, who is the
49:11
resolution expert of the rule craft.
49:14
Wild Bill has been hosting for years Eagle Fest.
49:19
And that's where they have a compilation of people gathering
49:22
together to put forth, you know, resolutions to be considered,
49:29
started on, worked on, refined, fine-tuned and fine-tuned.
49:32
Again, before you even get to the National Convention at at
49:38
every almost, you know, regional convention, whether it be
49:44
Eastern states, SWAC, SAC, Midwest, whatever.
49:48
While Bill shows up and he rents a hotel room and has one of
49:53
those whiteboards where, you know, you just turn around and
49:56
put down, you know, spitball your ideas and everything.
49:58
And then the next night they start working on them.
50:02
The National Convention when we get the resolutions that are
50:06
being proposed to the body, he's in his hotel room.
50:10
And, you know, it's usually, you know, at least 20 people in
50:14
there and, you know, several gallons of alcoholic beverages
50:17
for your enjoyment, plus food. They sit there and they work the
50:21
resolutions until like 1:00 and 2:30 in the morning.
50:25
I mean, Kristen, remember, we've we've done that.
50:27
You know me, you and James. You know instead of wee hours of
50:31
the morning. I've done it at state
50:33
conventions too, where you, you, you sit down working the
50:36
resolutions. Yes.
50:39
This, this is the time, ladies and gentlemen, for you all to be
50:42
spitballing ideas and throwing them out there and, you know,
50:46
talking to people in regards to what resolutions you like to
50:49
pass. I've already got 2 coming up.
50:52
So, you know, one of course will fail right away because it
50:57
regards term limits on the National board.
51:00
The other one, I think it is really going to cause a stir
51:03
because it affects how they get paid.
51:07
And I, I, I think that, you know, I, I think the fact of the
51:11
matter is that they're overpaid and overcompensated for what
51:16
they do. And that is that is one of the
51:19
situations where if you're going to serve on the national board
51:25
and your spouse is going to come live with you and you can't
51:29
afford the drop in income of your spouse's job if they have
51:34
one, OK, then realize that you should not maybe not take that
51:39
position. We're not there to turn around
51:45
and say, oh, we're going to give you enough money for both of you
51:49
and you know not, you know, to support yourself and your spouse
51:52
without them having to work. We're not there to provide, you
51:55
know, Social Security supplemental income for your
51:58
spouse. It's not the way it works.
52:01
You're there to provide a service.
52:03
If you can't afford to do it, don't run for the office.
52:09
Yes. And and that that's the third
52:11
one actually there. Mr. Johnson, go back to the
52:14
subpar rate on your routes in the 4th.
52:18
The 4th resolution is once you become a National officer or you
52:27
are a member of the of a full time member of the National
52:30
Steward System, you are not allowed to bid on other routes.
52:38
Either stay and play or take your lumps.
52:42
I. Could see that.
52:50
I mean, it isn't, isn't that what the well, Malco, you know,
52:55
just just click on the button there.
52:57
You got bailed off on us already.
53:00
But the thing of it is, is that if if you were allowed to, you
53:05
know, bid off your route like Don Madsen did, like Mike Swain
53:08
did, like several other, you know, people did, then you know
53:12
what the hell I mean here, Here's Clifford dealing, OK?
53:18
He's the one that brought it up in Texas that, you know, they
53:20
should be getting pay commensurate with their salary
53:23
on the national board. Why you all sit there and
53:27
profess to be rural carriers. So why are you getting paid more
53:31
than what a rural carrier would be on your route?
53:35
Clifford? By delaying his retirement that
53:38
turned into almost a half $1,000,000 of money.
53:44
The 2020 three he made $300,000 off of the net and often the
53:52
NRLCA and wasn't working for the NRLCA.
53:57
But because he delayed his retirement to the one year after
54:02
the convention where that was passed, he raked in almost a
54:05
half, $1,000,000 / 2 years. Yeah, it's.
54:13
But they did it for you guys. They did it for the the craft
54:17
right my ass. I'm glad they did.
54:21
Sorry about that. My computer went all fast on me
54:24
and wouldn't let me come back up.
54:28
That's OK, it happens to the best of us.
54:33
In the worst that didn't Oh, that's, that's what I want.
54:39
I, I want people to start working on resolutions.
54:42
Definitely you're going to have, you know, the annual next 60
54:44
days. Yeah, your, your local annual
54:47
meetings are just around the corner.
54:49
I know mine is next month and I got to get started on my
54:52
resolutions too. I do believe we're having a
54:54
presentation at my spring booster this next weekend and
54:58
resolutions. So I will, you know, be paying
55:00
attention to that and get ready to get my resolutions together.
55:08
And, and the thing of it is you can bring it up to us here on
55:10
this, you know, on the Discord channel, I posted messages to,
55:15
you know, myself, James, Kristen, you, you want help, you
55:19
want some guidance, you want to let you know anything.
55:22
I mean, like I said, I directed the individual towards Wild
55:25
Bill, who is excellent at resolutions.
55:27
But the fact that it is don't wait till last minute because
55:33
once you go to the meeting, you have to have it ready to be
55:36
presented to your state. It has to go to the state before
55:40
it goes national. Oh, don't dilly dally.
55:45
And it is harder to get stuff to go through and under new
55:48
business at state depending on what it is as well.
55:55
It's you know, once you get it, definitely put it through at
55:57
your local if at all possible. That way you know, it passes, it
56:02
passes at your local or automatically go to the state
56:05
and then it's addressed there. It passes and if it is something
56:08
that's not state specific and passes at state to and then
56:12
it'll go on to be presented at National.
56:18
Yep, and the navigation will vote on it.
56:24
Yep, and it'll be one of those many resolutions that we sit
56:27
down and go through through the wee hours of the night.
56:33
That our president discards because he only wants to take 20
56:36
or so of the best. Yeah.
56:42
But if you don't, try. We will have a president next
56:45
time that we negotiate. We'll see.
56:53
As Bill was saying. I'm going to say, as Bill was
56:57
saying about getting with us, in the Discord there is a
57:02
resolution channel that you can put your ideas.
57:06
You actually. Oh, definitely, yeah, yeah, we
57:09
did have, I'm going over resolutions and we had a little
57:12
pow wow up in my room, several of us on, you know, three
57:16
different nights, usually two to three nights.
57:19
We'd all be going up there through it.
57:20
I've sat at, at state convention, we get small groups,
57:24
whether we met in a common area or somebody's room or whatnot.
57:28
And we'd sit and go through resolutions like the same way,
57:32
you know, we'd have our discussions, you know, do we
57:34
like this? What would we, you know, could
57:36
we amend? Is this amendable?
57:38
Is this, you know, do we object for one reason or another and
57:43
why? And you know, it's just
57:45
something that you do together. It really helps build those
57:49
bonds too with other carriers, especially if you're you like in
57:52
my when we met in my room in National, I there was 12345 half
57:58
a dozen different states represented it.
58:00
We all just sat together to dip and went through them together.
58:04
You know, that's what you do and you discuss them out, you know,
58:07
and. And with resolutions, you got to
58:12
keep in mind that at the podium, they read it and then it has a
58:19
couple of seconds and they # the gavel.
58:22
If no one objects to it, yes. So the reason we're going
58:29
through them and read and reading them all night long
58:33
practically is to see which ones we don't agree with.
58:39
And it could be we want clarification of what the right
58:45
the maker meant because of the way it's worded.
58:50
Yes, I. Mean it varies and then they
58:53
have. And they and they can be
58:57
reworded too. They can be reworded at the at
59:01
the convention. Sounds like a good time.
59:07
It's a lot. It's a lot of work.
59:09
That's what it is. Oh, it is.
59:12
I know I've had, you know, good. Was it?
59:15
Oh, it was in Grand Rapids this last time, Bill James and I, we
59:18
sat outside on a couple different evenings going through
59:21
them. And yeah, it, it is a lot of
59:25
work. It really is.
59:28
It's, you know, people saying, oh, these these conventions and
59:31
whatnot are all a bunch of parties.
59:33
It's really not Yeah, we have a banquet in the middle of the
59:38
week and that's really it. The rest of the time is work,
59:44
work, work one way or another. I mean, when you go to National
59:48
Convention, you know, you got your all your prompt
59:51
circumstance on Tuesday and you know you and that's when you.
59:55
And then you start digging at resolutions already, you know,
59:58
Wednesday evening you have a banquet, but you know, that's
1:00:03
really all the. Partying, so to say, kind of
1:00:07
happens the rest of the time, you know, Thursday night is
1:00:11
caucus and then Friday is, you know, elections and you, you
1:00:16
kind of, if you can, you get started on your resolute.
1:00:19
Usually resolutions kind of start on Thursday and finish off
1:00:23
in between elections on Friday. And so you really have to take
1:00:27
that time. I know even after banquet we go
1:00:30
back to the room or wherever we were and go back over
1:00:33
resolutions. After we got done eating and
1:00:36
having a couple beverages, if that's your thing, you know,
1:00:39
then we went right back to resolutions.
1:00:41
Well, I know there were a few people that were in no fit
1:00:46
business to be looking at resolutions after they left the
1:00:49
banquet. They always have those few
1:00:52
anyways, but yeah, you know. Why?
1:00:56
It's, you know, it's. Not read a lick.
1:00:59
Of. Yeah, can't read a lick of
1:01:01
what's on the paper, but they try.
1:01:07
Yeah, it's fun to argue with, you know.
1:01:10
Yeah. They can be, that's for sure.
1:01:12
You know, And then, you know, caucus is National Convention
1:01:16
night. Caucus night is just a late
1:01:18
night in general. Oh God.
1:01:20
Especially if you get a lot of people running and then it's
1:01:25
it's even later night. I mean, 10-11 o'clock 11:30 by
1:01:30
the time you're getting out of your caucus room or you know, if
1:01:34
you're. Running for office by morning.
1:01:35
Some candidates last year. Something like that, yeah.
1:01:40
Or, you know, even as, you know, Bill and I can attest on having,
1:01:44
you know, running and being on caucus night, that's even more
1:01:49
exhausting because you're walking a marathon.
1:01:53
So it's yeah, it, it's not a lot of partying people think it is.
1:02:00
Each candidate gets 15 minutes in room, so you have to take 15
1:02:05
minutes and multiply that by how many candidates and what I said.
1:02:09
It was about 20 this last year. Yeah, it sounds about.
1:02:14
Right, it's like 5 hours of listening to people plead their
1:02:19
case on why you should vote for them.
1:02:24
Yeah, that way you're tired and delirious on voting day.
1:02:30
But even voting day, I mean on Fridays during National
1:02:33
Convention, depending on elections, especially if you get
1:02:37
a half a dozen people running for an executive committee
1:02:40
position, elections can go on. I remember Grand Rapids 2018, it
1:02:47
was like 10:00 at night when we left, when we finally got out of
1:02:51
there. That same in Orlando, yeah.
1:02:53
Yeah. Well, we were down there.
1:02:56
Was 22. We went to after 11:00.
1:02:59
Yeah. Yeah, Ronnie almost forgot to
1:03:04
close due to closing ceremonies and retire the colors.
1:03:10
He dismissed everyone and we said wait.
1:03:13
Oh, it happened, yeah. So I mean, you know, regardless
1:03:19
of what people think, it's not a huge party.
1:03:22
It's, it's a big work fest more than anything.
1:03:27
And, you know, and and it's more mental on you than it is
1:03:31
physical because it, it is a lot to take in mentally.
1:03:36
And and that could be for your state conventions too,
1:03:39
especially if you've never been to a state convention.
1:03:42
It, it can be a lot, even though it's a shorter period of time,
1:03:46
it can be a lot for people as well.
1:03:50
But definitely it doesn't. I don't want to discourage
1:03:52
people from getting involved and going though.
1:03:54
I mean, that's where the real brunt of the work is done is at
1:03:59
your state and national conventions.
1:04:05
Yep, Yep, Yep. Yep.
1:04:07
All right, guys. So we're going to wind this
1:04:10
down. I think I've covered the
1:04:11
questions that we hadn't addressed the few we touched on
1:04:16
pregnancy and pumping. And yeah, got a little bit to do
1:04:22
I, I'm still working on my edit book presentation.
1:04:25
Be be be patient, please. It takes some I have to actually
1:04:29
be able to sit down at the computer and put that together.
1:04:32
So. But well, if you weren't busy
1:04:35
going off getting new tattoos instead of handguns, you could
1:04:38
have purchased a handgun tattoo than the tattoo, OK?
1:04:42
I have to wait to my I'm waiting until my Cpl. actually comes in
1:04:46
so I don't have to go get a purchase permit first, so.
1:04:50
You I was down at my range last week.
1:04:53
I walked in and and the one guy turns and I says what side of
1:04:58
the store you buying today? Yeah, but I beat the ranges.
1:05:06
Actually, I don't have a. All my local ranges are outside
1:05:10
so there's no chance of me being.
1:05:12
Out at a range. Anytime soon I would have to
1:05:15
drive 3 hours for the closest indoor range.
1:05:20
I I I did have them bring 2000 rounds out to the car though.
1:05:24
Nice, nice. Well, I did.
1:05:27
You know, in three hours I went through 43 clips.
1:05:32
Wow. That That's a good time, baby.
1:05:35
Let me tell you. Good.
1:05:36
Time gosh now I miss doing that OK guys so we are going to wind
1:05:41
this down now since we've went way off topic and we're talking
1:05:44
about what we do outside of work so or how we enjoy our
1:05:50
retirement and. We we get to do things outside
1:05:55
of work. Once in a great while, yeah.
1:05:58
Yeah, I, I, I burned an X day for Friday, let's put it that
1:06:03
way. So I.
1:06:09
I see you tell me that. I was going to tell you, Melco,
1:06:13
go ahead and give your final thoughts for the evening.
1:06:18
As someone in the chat said earlier last week of the survey,
1:06:24
don't sweat it. This doesn't make much of your
1:06:27
count or of your evaluation. It'd be just enough to either
1:06:32
put you up to the next or drop you down to the next level if
1:06:40
you're that close. Be safe out there, stay
1:06:45
hydrated, and don't get overwhelmed.
1:06:49
Bill. Bill.
1:06:53
Is tell me it's the last week you're in the the final
1:06:56
countdown for the mini male survey and you're right it it
1:07:01
supposedly allegedly accounts for about 6% of your evaluation
1:07:07
if you take out and and flat mail that they already pre
1:07:12
counted. It really does account for even
1:07:14
less than 6% because all your distances are measured, your
1:07:19
dismounts, your cluster box and all that should be up to date.
1:07:23
So you know, it just take a breath, step back.
1:07:28
You know, you, you get a, a training half of mis sorts.
1:07:33
It's going to happen. It happens to all of us,
1:07:35
especially on Mondays. OK, you, you're not getting the,
1:07:38
the full count on, you know, this item or that item.
1:07:42
Don't sweat it. It, it, it's really not worth
1:07:44
the anxiety that it, that you know, is really going to tear
1:07:48
you out. Like I said, I, I met with a guy
1:07:51
who just retired. Friday was his last day and ran
1:07:55
into an RCA who is quitting the post office, OK.
1:07:59
And he and I can't believe the difference in his countenance
1:08:04
because he's not going to work there anymore.
1:08:07
It was like meeting his twin brother, but his twin brother
1:08:13
was happy versus where he was working for the post office, you
1:08:17
know, splitting routes every day, working Sundays, you know,
1:08:20
working, you know, past 12 hours a day and, you know, filing the
1:08:24
grievances. OK.
1:08:26
It's, it's just it's it's not worth getting upset.
1:08:29
Just do your job. Do the best of your ability.
1:08:32
Do it the way you do every day. OK, No shortcuts.
1:08:36
Be safe. For God's sakes.
1:08:38
Do you still have winter in some areas?
1:08:41
You Kristen, and you know, there's ice out there.
1:08:45
Be safe, be diligent, You know, get home to your loved ones.
1:08:50
It's it's the most important thing that you do every day is
1:08:54
make that final delivery of you to your loved ones at home.
1:08:59
That's the only thing that matters.
1:09:01
That's the only reason you're doing this job, your loved ones,
1:09:05
to make sure you get home to them.
1:09:06
OK. God bless you, Kristen.
1:09:10
Thank you guys. Like I said, we miss James
1:09:12
tonight and thank you Melco for filling in for a little bit.
1:09:17
I know it's wasn't an overly educational tonight, but hey, we
1:09:22
did touch on some topics that we've had requested and answered
1:09:25
some questions that have been hanging out in the e-mail for a
1:09:28
while. So I am a busy person and I do
1:09:31
apologize when I don't get to those right away.
1:09:34
I do send them out to the guys, the lab.
1:09:36
Hey, what's your input on this? So I want everybody to stay
1:09:41
safe. Yes, there's still snow in my
1:09:43
area. It is still technically winter.
1:09:46
And so as we are coming in, we are now on the 2nd of March.
1:09:51
Wow, two weeks until my birthday.
1:09:53
But anyways, we will stay safe out there.
1:09:57
Guys, remember last week of the mini mail survey?
1:10:00
Don't overthink it too much things remember when you get
1:10:05
your final numbers back and disputes, which I'm hearing
1:10:08
people still haven't gotten disputes back from the last one
1:10:11
and further back, unfortunately, yeah.
1:10:17
So I want everybody to stay hydrated, stay safe, be cautious
1:10:22
out there if need be, wouldn't need be.
1:10:24
And we will be back next week. Hello, Let me take a moment out
1:10:43
of your day. It's only going to be a few
1:10:45
minutes long and I just want to introduce myself.
1:10:50
My name is Malkov. I am a proud rural carrier.
1:10:54
I just wanted to let you know that in regards to what's been
1:11:00
going on recently, yes or no, we should not be afraid or scared,
1:11:10
but we should be concerned just by itself.
1:11:15
The announcement that they want to take the Postal Service and
1:11:19
move it into the executive branch instead of its own entity
1:11:24
is not overly concerning. But looking at everything else
1:11:28
that's been going on, that brings concern to me.
1:11:35
I want to be able to complete my career as a rule carrier till
1:11:43
the time I decide I want to retire.
1:11:48
I am worried that if things keep going with no one doing
1:11:56
anything, then that might not happen.
1:12:02
But there are things we can do. Like James always says, we're in
1:12:10
this together. We need to be united as one
1:12:15
craft rural carriers employed by the United States Postal
1:12:22
Service. We need to band together.
1:12:27
We need for to stop this bickering between ourselves.
1:12:36
I like this. I don't like that one.
1:12:39
I don't think this one's doing that great a job.
1:12:41
I don't care. That's not how we're going to
1:12:45
get through this. How we're going to get through
1:12:48
this is everyone, regardless if you're a RCA that just started
1:12:53
last week or a 30 year, 40 year veteran, or the president of the
1:13:01
National Rural Educators Association.
1:13:05
As the old host Josh used to say, you need to take a step
1:13:09
back and take a deep breath. Don't get overwhelmed.
1:13:15
And that's exactly what we need to do.
1:13:18
We've gotten overwhelmed, so we need to take that step back.
1:13:22
We need to take that deep breath, we need to get our head
1:13:25
on straight. We need to step back in and
1:13:28
fight. The 1st and best way we can do
1:13:34
this is by contacting your local, your national
1:13:40
representatives and let them know you need them.
1:13:44
You implore them to please support HR 70, which is the bill
1:13:51
that will prevent privatization of the Postal Service.
1:13:56
We need to all be on the same page.
1:14:03
By having differences of opinions is fine, but as a
1:14:08
common goal we need everyone to be on the same page in this
1:14:15
fight. We don't need people going back
1:14:19
and forth with each other. That doesn't do anyone any good.
1:14:26
So please look up your representative's contact
1:14:30
information and let them know you want them to support Bill HR
1:14:37
70. I do apologize for this being a
1:14:42
very short brief episode if you even want to call it that, but I
1:14:52
did want to get this point out and I hope I can see speak to
1:14:58
y'all again in the near future. Thank you and have a good day.