National Association of Letter Carriers Memorandum

National Association of Letter Carriers
2029 Woodland Parkway, #101
St. Louis, MO 63146-4247
From the Desk of
Memorandum
Telephone:
(314) 872-0227
(314) 872-0233
FAX: (314) 872-9204
MIKE WEIR
National Business Agent
NALC BRANCH OFFICERS and EDITORS
REGIONAL MAILING
The enclosed material is provided to update you regarding current and upcoming
information affecting the members of Region 5.
1.
National Business Agent's September Report. (Front & Back)
It covers such topics as MIARAP, S. 1507, Healthcare Reform and the addition of Mike
Birkett as the newest RAA in the regional office.
2.
Information to be Used for Pivoting Grievances.
We are experiencing an upsurge in management's contractual violations regarding the use
of pivoting. We included this particular packet in a previous mailing; however, during
our reviews of the impasses on this issue, we have noticed that branches are not including
this information or making the necessary arguments that are contained therein to support
the union's position. This information provides the historical context for how pivoting
was applied with regards to Article 41, Section 1.CA. It is very important that you
include all of the arguments and documentation, and link it to your particular
circumstances. If you have any questions, or need any additional information, please
contact us at the regional office.
Mike Weir
National Business Agent
NALC St. Louis Region 5
Pivoting is defined in the Postal Operations Manual [POM] in the following two
sections:
"Pivoting is a method of utilizing the undertime of one or several carriers to
perform duties on a temporary vacant route or to cover absences.
\Jonpreferential mail may be curtailed within delivery time standards on the
vacant route and/or on the route of the carriers being pivoted ..
"Pivoting is not limited to periods when mail volume is light and when
<.tbsences are high, but also can be uti lized throughout the year tor
maintaming balanced L:i.lrrterworkloads."
'Nhen one only reads these sections of the POM, it leaves an impression that Postal
management has a right to create undertime at any time on a letter carrier
.Jssignment by curtailing mail on that assignment and creating a situation whereby
management could pivot the letter carrier and have him/her work on another
assignment in an undertime status.
However, those POM sections, which are covered by Article 19 of the National
Agreement, as they relate to wages, hours, or conditions of employment, must be
read in conjunction with Article 41, Section 1.C.4 of the collective bargaining
agreement:
"4.
fhe successful bidder 5hall work the duty Jssignment as posted.
Unanticipated circumstances may require a temporary change in
JssIgnment. fhls same rule shall <.tpplyto Carrier Technician
.lssignments. unless the local agreement provides other~ ise."
The concept of reading one section of the contract or handbook or manual without
consideration for all other relative sections of the contract, including relative provisions of
handbooks or manuals, defies a well established principal used by numerous arbitrators in
contract interpretation.
"Those parts of all handbooks. manuals and published regulations of the Postal Service,
that dirt:l:tly relate to wages, hours or working conditions. ~s they ~pply to employt:es
covert:d by this l\greement. shall contam nothing that contlicts \"\ith this .\greement ••md
shall be continued in effect except that the Employer shall have the right to make
changes that are not inconsistent with this Agreement and that are fair, reasonable. and
equitable. "
Historically, the exact same POM language appeared in the POM, prior to Issue 7, in Section
617. It was deleted by the Postal Service from the POM in Issue 7. Following the issuance by
the Postal Service of Issue 9 of the POM, the NALC was notified by a Postal Service
correspondence, dated April 4, 2003, that this language was going to be put back into the POM.
A meeting was held between the Postal Service and the NALC on August 5, 2003, during which
the Postal Service assured the NALC that the inclusion of this language in the POM was not
intended to impact the historical use or its application. [the historical use and application was
never to circumvent the strict application of Article 41, Section 1.C.4 of the National
Agreement.] Pursuant to Postal Bulletin 22124, dated March 18, 2004, this language was
re-incorporated into the POM. as it appears today. It was then printed in Sections 646.1 and
646.2 of the POM in Issue 10.
That POM language was not challenged by the NALC because of the assurances we received
during the 2003 meeting with the Postal Service, the fact that the "pivoting" language can be
applied without violating Article 41, Section 1.C.4 of the National Agreement, and the fact that
the previously quoted Article 19 language serves to prevent the Postal Service from making
handbook changes which are inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement.
The thrust of this explanation is that management cannot curtail mail at a route and pivot a
regular letter carrier off of his/her assignment on a regUlarly scheduled day, unless the
circumstances that caused another assignment to be vacant or in need of additional letter
carriers to work on it, which caused management to believe that there was a necessity to pivot,
were unanticipated. Normal amounts of sick leave call ins or the failure to adequately fill the
letter carrier compliment in an office are not unanticipated circumstances.
The previous explanation pertains to the pivoting of a regUlar carrier on his regUlar assignment
on a regularly scheduled day. However a similar rationale could be made that a regUlar letter
carrier or Part-time flexible letter carrier should not be instructed to curtail mail and be pivoted
off of a hold down assignment on the regular scheduled day of that assignment. In such
circumstances, Article 41, Section 1.C.4 of the National Agreement would not be the contractual
;Juthority. Article 41, Section 2.8.5 of the National Agreement (regarding opting, aka "hold
down assignments"l however would be. That language states:
"5.
A letter carrier who. pursuant to subsections 3 •.md 4 above, has selected a craft duty
~lsslgnment by exercise of scniority shall work that duty assignment for its duration."
There would be only one situation where management could curtail mail at a letter carrier's
case, where the letter carrier was either the successful bidder on the assignment [and there
isn't an unanticipated circumstance] or the successful opter on the hold down[both on the
regularly scheduled day of the assignment], resulting in the pivoting of that carrier and that
would not result in a contract violation. That situation would be when the mail that was curtailed
was desigated by its mailer for delivery on a subsequent day.
Lastly, should management begin pivoting in a manner that serves to violate either Article 41,
Section 1.C.4 or Article 41, Section 2.8.5 of the National Agreement, where they had not
previously done so, that would constitute a violation of Article 5 of the National Agreement,
which states:
"The Employer will not take any actions atfecting wages. hours, and other terms and conditions
of employment as defined in Section 8(d) of the National Labor Relations Act which violate the
tcrms of this Agreement or are otherwise inconsistent with its obligations under law."
I would be remiss if I did not address the obvious question that the proper application of pivoting
rules and the collective bargaining agreement raises, which is, how does management cover
the route[s] that are vacant or in need of additional assistance when there is no unanticipated
circumstance that caused that need? The answer is simple, Le., utiliZing regUlar letter carriers
on undertime, utilizing ptf [not on a holddown] and/or TE letter carriers on straight time or
overtime. and/or maximizing the overtime desired list letter carriers up to twelve hours.
d
UNITED ST~TES
POSTilL SERVICE
RECEIVED
JUL J 4 1997
CONT~~4;r .'J)M;!/!~~i\nONUMJl
Mr. William H. Young
Vice President
National Association of
Letter Carners, AFL-CIO
'ALe. WASHitfGroIl,
D.c.
100 Indiana Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2144
Re: F94N-4F-C 97005324
CLASS ACTION
LNERMORE, CA 94550-9998
Recently, you met with Nora Becker in a pre-arbitration discussion of the above-referenced
case, currently pending national arbitration.
The issue in this grievance is whether management violated the National Agreement when it
utilized routers in undertime basis to perform delivery duties.
After reviewing this matter, we mutually agreed that no national interpretive issue is fairly
presented in this case.
The parties agreed that application of section 617.2, Pivoting, of the Postal Operations Manual
(POM) does not change the provisions of Article 41, Section 1.C.4. of the National Agreement.
Routers must be kept on their bid assignment and not moved off the duties in the bid
description unless there is an undertime situation, or in "unantidpated circumstances.·
Accordingly, we agreed to remand this case to the parties at Step 3 for further processing and
application of the above understanding.
Please sign and return the enclosed copy of this decision as your acknowledgment of
agreement to remand this case, removing it from the national arbitration listing.
wim~h=
Vice President
National Association of Letter
Carriers, AFL-CIO
Date:
475 ••'e"'FAHT
WAlHNQTIlN
Pv.zA ~
DC 202150-4100
7Itf/?7
MEMORANDUM
In the early 2000's, management took the pivoting language out of the POM and
then reinstated the language with a letter from Manager of Labor Relations Policies
and Programs, Doug A. Tulino dated July 30, 2003 (M-01704). In reinstituting the
language, Mr. Tulino states, "the reinstatement of the language is not intended to
impact its historical use or application." The importance of this letter comes into
play if management argues that the language in 646 of the POM somehow changed
the historical use of pivoting or that past practice does not apply beyond the 2003
new POM language.
~
&
UNITED STATES
POST/.JL SERVICE
Gary H. Mullins
Vice President
National Association of Letter
Carriers. AFL-CIO
100 Indiana Avenue. NW
Washington, DC 20001-2144
This is in response to your correspondence dated April 29 regarding the reinstatement
of Section 617.2 Employee Undertime Utilization-Pivoting in the Postal Operations
Manual (POM). As discussed, the language was inadvertently deleted. The
reinstatement of the language is not intended to impact its historical use or application.
If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact Jim Caputa at 202-
268-6170.
-
SincereJy
I
•
Manager
Labor Relations Policies and Programs
475 L'ENFNlI Pu,z,oSW
WASHWGU>I DC 20260-4 100
Contents
644.2
Postal Operations Manual
644.2
Conversion of City Delivery Service to Rural Delivery
Service
As a general rule, conversions from city delivery to rural delivery service shall
be considered only for the following reasons:
645
a.
To establish clear-cut boundaries between city, rural, and highway
contract delivery territory and eliminate overlapping and commingling of
service.
b.
To restore reasonable operating efficiency where pockets of delivery
area become separated due to some physical change that is expected
to be permanent (e.g., construction of a dam or limited access highway,
elimination of a bridge, etc.).
c.
To accommodate municipal or community identity preferences where
the Post Office gaining the delivery territory does not have city delivery
service and the carrier casing and delivery workload to be transferred is
less than the minimum scheduling requirement for an auxiliary city
route.
Carrier Duties, Responsibilities, and Conduct
Refer to Handbook M-41, City Delivery Carriers Duties and Responsibilities.
646
646.1
Management
Pivoting Definition
Pivoting is a method of utilizing the undertime of one or several carriers to
perform duties on a temporary vacant route or to cover absences.
Nonpreferential mail may be curtailed within delivery time standards on the
vacant route and/or on the route of the carriers being pivoted.
646.2
Pivoting Usage
Pivoting is not limited to periods when mail volume is light and when
absences are high, but also can be utilized throughout the year for
maintaining balanced carrier workloads.
647
Reporting Local Ordinances and State Laws
Managers are expected to report in a timely manner to district offices any
contemplated action by local or state authorities to enact or consider
enactment of local ordinances or state laws that would adversely affect
operating costs or performance of postal services.
354
POM Issue 9, July 2002
Updated With Postal Bulletin Revisions Through May 26, 2005