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Beachwood Labor/Management Meeting Minutes
On Tuesday September 16, 2008 a labor/management meeting took place at the Beachwood Post Office between the representatives of NALC Branch 2128 Toms River and the management staff of the Beachwood Post Office.
The meeting was scheduled to start at 9:00 am
Those in attendance:
Management NALC
Brian Sheeran, Postmaster Joseph R. Palmerson, President
Dawn Pantle, Shop Steward
The meeting began at 9:00 am.
Some of the items discussed and/or agreed upon were as follows:
- Route Times – The NALC requested that the route times be posted on the cases as they should be. The postings are to state the route number; the begin, leave, return, and end times. A recent update has led the NALC to believe that the route times have been posted. Upon our checking, we found that the route times have been posted.
- Pivots – Joe said that the carriers have told him that the 3996’s are given to carriers who are performing a pivot without all of the information that should be listed on it. Joe said that the 3996’s are to be filled out for all pivots indicating the estimate work in hours and minutes as well as the start and ending points of delivery. The estimated amount of pivot time, whether it is in the office or on the street, should be indicated on the 3996. Reasonable travel time is to be estimated and inclusive of the pivot time. The 3996 should also indicate authorization of the pivot and whether the pivot is for overtime, undertime, or a combination of both The letter carrier is to fill in the actual street time in the appropriate sections indicating the beginning and end travel to and begin and end travel from the pivot. These are the basics – the standard operating procedure. Joe then stated that there appears, from what he was told, to be additional time that is not accounted for on the 3996, or in the pivot, that is part of the pivot and additional work the carrier must perform, such as, getting circulars, parcels, DPS mail, accountables, etc. All of these functions and duties require time and should be accounted for. The pivot itself should be estimated in time and the actual time that is used should be included in the authorized time that is given to the carrier.Office pivots should be all inclusive of time performed on that pivot from beginning to end and should be mirrored with the swipe on the time clock transactor.Street pivots will reflect the time used by when the carrier moves from their assignment to another and is accounted for on the 3996 when the carrier enters the times for “Begin Travel To”; “End Travel To”; “Begin Delivery”; “end Delivery”; “Begin Travel From”; and “end Travel From”. The timeclock transactor permits carriers to enter street time pivots, therefore accounting for the total time for that pivot.Brian stated that this is a work in progress. Brian agreed with what Joe had to say and said that things have gotten better. He stated that he [Brian] does not have a problem with the carrier street times. They are pretty consistent.Joe also said that the carriers in Beachwood would greatly appreciate it if they would be notified as soon as possible when they will be required to pivot. Carriers go into work with the assumption that the workload for that day should ideally be completed in eight hours. As we know, the ideal world is different from the real world. Carriers may have to make arrangements in their personal lives for such things as child care and medical appointments, as well as being able to estimate their workload and return time for that day.Joe asked if management make conscientious effort to accommodate the carriers in this request – to the degree that is practical.Brian said that this is not a problem. He will instruct Karen to notify the carrier as soon as she knows that they will be needed for a pivot. Dawn had asked if management could give her a list of pivot times on a daily basis? Joe said that Dawn discussed the aforementioned with him and that he thought that it would be a good idea to provide Dawn with this list to address any issues that come up regarding pivots. By her having the “pivot list”, she will not have to entertain hearsay and misinformation. It appears that pivoting is an issue for several carriers in Beachwood and that by her having that pivot list; she may be able to address some of the issues that may arise. Joe said that we know for now that pivoting is pretty much an everyday occurrence and a viable option for management to use, given the fact that mail volume is down and carriers, at times, find themselves with less than eight hours of work. With this downtime, pivot times and the frequency of pivoting often comes up as a matter of controversy and confrontation. It is the intention of the Union to lessen the degree of controversy and confrontation and to resolve issues. By having the Union with a daily pivot list and keeping the Union apprised of who is pivoting that day, where and for how much time, it may eliminate some of the controversy and confrontation.Brian said that this is a good idea and he will make sure that Dawn is notified every day of the pivots.
- Start Times – Joe stated that carriers have shown an interest and have expressed a desire in starting earlier now that the mail is being processed in Trenton and is arriving earlier than it had when it was processed in Toms River. Between the setting of the date for this Labor/Management meeting and the actual meeting, the starting time for letter carriers was changed from 8:30 am to 8:00 am effective September 13, 2008
- Artificial Undertime – There appears to be a question of whether a carrier who comes back early at day’s end can case mail on another assignment, who has downtime, who would pivot, and how is it being tracked? Joe said that, for the most part, the carrier who comes back early is the carrier who is to pivot. Each situation will dictate its own response and answer ... and should be addressed on a case by case basis.Depending on whether a carrier is on the overtime desired list or not would dictate a different response depending on the particular scenario. .Joe said that there are many scenarios that could be posed; but as a rule of thumb, the letter carrier assigned to the route is to work the mail the mail for that day, morning and afternoon mail, provided that the carrier will complete that work in eight hours. Article 41 of the National Agreement gives the carrier assigned to that route exclusive right to work that assignment as posted. Dawn said that two types of artificial undertime created in the Beachwood Post Office - undertime in the morning created by curtailing 3rd Class Mail to accommodate a pivot and afternoon undertime created by the carrier who comes back early and cases mail on another assignment. Joe said that mail in the morning should not be curtailed to accommodate a pivot. All the mail for the assignment should be cased by the carrier. The issue of pivoting then comes into play depending on the unique circumstances for that day. Joe also recognized that there may be situations that arise that may dictate the curtailment of mail and the use of pivots to get the mail delivered. He said again, that each case must be addressed on a case by case basis. Joe encouraged the parties to work together – management, the union, and our carriers. The rules are the rules and they should be followed. Can we make exceptions? Surely we can, provided that all the parties agree and no one is harmed by the exception. Brian agreed with Joe on the rules that Joe stated. Brian led Joe to believe that the rules are applied each day to each circumstance of the given situation.
- NALC Bulletin Board – Dawn asked if the NALC Bulletin Board could be placed in a more suitable place that is clean of other information and more accessible for the carriers to read. Brian said that there is no other place available to put the NALC Bulletin Board other than where it is now. Joe told Dawn to look for a new place that is suitable. Joe said that he was sure that Brian would accommodate her request if at all possible.Brian took Joe onto the workroom floor to show him the renovations that were done to the building. Joe was impressed. The office is clean and carrier friendly.Joe told Brian that he did a great job in getting most if not all the repairs that the Beachwood Post Office so desperately needed.
- Plastic Trays – There appears to be a shortage of and a need for 4-sided hard plastic trays. Our carriers need the necessary equipment to perform their job. The white trays pose a safety concern even when the white trays are doubled up. Flats are heavy and occasionally cause the middle of the tray to collapse. Letter carriers can get hurt from this.Trays that collapse can also cause the flats to fall out, causing unnecessary time and money to the Postal Service. Letter carriers will have to pick up the flats and place them in the order of delivery, or have bring the back the mail delaying service, and with the soon to be implemented EXFC, have carriers extend their road time to deliver 1st-Class residual letters and possibly BBM mail that is cased with the flats. Carriers may also realize a sense of frustration and negativity when this occurs. The offices of Toms River and Lakehurst have ordered or intend on ordering trays. Joe suggested that Brian do so too. Brian said that he would order 4-sided trays after October 1st.
- EXFC – Dawn asked for an update on EXFC. She wanted to know the following:
- How would EXFC be implemented?
- Brian said that we are in it now and began on the onset of the 8:00 am start.
- Who would deliver the mail that is returned to the office at the end of the day?
- Brian said that it depends on any given day. He will make use of the PTF’s, regular carriers with undertime, and the overtime desired list.
- How does the use of the overtime desired list play a part in this EXFC?
- Brian said that he will follow Article 8 of the National Agreement.
The meeting ended at 10:58 am.
Signed 9/22/08 Signed 9/17/08
_____________________________ ________________________________
Brian Sheeran, Postmaster Date Joseph R. Palmerson, President Date
Beachwood Post Office 08722 NALC Branch 2128 Toms River
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