National Association of Letter Carriers

No, that's not a typo, we need to prepare for 2016. How so you ask? It's simple ... 30 of the 36 offices served by the branch are going to be adjusted in some way based on clock rings and carrier input.

Unfortunately, clock rings don't tell the whole story. You see, chances are (and those chances are extremely high), that you are doing things wrong. Some of the things you are doing wrong you may be doing unknowingly, while others you may be doing wrong deliberately in order to make your life easier at work.

For instance, are you STILL casing FSS mail? There is one office in the branch where the majority of carriers are coming in off the clock and casing their FSS. These carriers are not only donating their life to the Postal Service, but management is breaking the contract and the law, and the kicker is that the routes in this office will grow because the carriers aren't showing legitimate figures. Recently, the OIG was in the office but they showed up so early that management had time to tip off the carriers not to touch their mail off the clock. I can't make this stuff up.

That's an example of knowingly doing something wrong. What might you be doing unknowingly? There are a few offices where carriers have to park offsite. Some of these carriers are walking to parking lot and retrieving their vehicles on office time. These carriers will lose this time. Retrieving an offsite vehicle is part of your loading and is street time. Start punching correctly.

How about procedure while delivering mail? At a recent branch meeting, I asked for a show of hands for those that thought they knew proper procedure for delivering at a curb line mailbox. Quite a few people raised their hands. Once I explained that proper procedure is to remove your vehicle from gear and place the gear selector in neutral on level ground or park on an incline and asked those that did not know that to put their hands down, most hands went down. I am not instructing you to change your method, but I would strongly encourage you to ask your supervisor or postmaster if he or she wants you to follow the safety rules. If you do ask and he or she says no, please contact the Union office.

How about one of the most basic functions of our job on the road; how about the proper procedure for delivering a parcel? Did you know that the M41 (City Delivery Carriers Duties and Responsibilities) clearly states that the first thing you do is "DETERMINE IF SOMEONE IS AVAILABLE AT THE ADDRESS BY RINGING THE DOORBELL OR KNOCKING ON THE DOOR." That's right, we don't drop and run (with the exception of the Amazon test whereby Amazon has specifically instructed us to do just that). Our job REQUIRES us to ring the bell or knock on the door and make an effort to place the parcel into the customer's hand (if the parcel fits completely into the mailbox, you don't ring or knock).

We want to grow the parcel business! We want to provide customer service! We want to do our job professionally! Over the years, I have given countless training sessions or route inspections and I can say that the overwhelming majority of letter carriers either did not know that they were supposed to ring or knock or simply chose not to ring or knock. In one office that was inspected last year, after much prodding a letter carrier delivered all parcels properly and that one action alone prompted the route to be cut by approximately ½ hour.

So, as I asked in the title, are you ready for 2016? If you get in the habit of following these RULES every day and follow them professionally for the rest of your career, you will be able to address your overburdened route and force management to make it more manageable.

The policies referenced in this article are available for download on the Carrier Resource page.

There will be 30 stations from Branch 25 in the CDRAAP process. That number represents more than half of the stations in the process from the entire district! If you're wondering, the Union submitted 14 stations, Operations Programs Support made good on a veiled threat and submitted the other 16.

After researching what was in the best interest of the letter carriers of the Branch, I opted to place 14 stations in the process. It was not a decision that was made lightly. It would be irresponsible to go through the process without a pretty good idea of what the results will be. The stations were submitted because after the previous "RAP" processes, the routes were extremely tight and with the increase in parcels the routes became outright overburdened. Period. That is why they were placed into the process.

Management (Operations Programs Support) selected 16 stations from the Branch to place into the CDRAAP process. It is not your Postmaster or OIC or Supervisor or even their POOM that wants to opt in. The local people know that nothing good will come of this in the OPS selected offices. This was done after I refused to turn my back on the 14 stations that I submitted and pull them out of the process. This was done to punish the branch for the past failures of OPS in making improper adjustments. That's the simple, undeniable reasoning behind the decision to include as many stations as management opted in.

I mentioned research when making my decision. From what I can gather, OPS did no such research. I have contacted a few Postmasters to talk about the fact that their office has been added to the program, and they were unaware until my call. "Their people" didn't have the decency or the respect to contact them. And you thought it was only dysfunctional on the workroom floor? Hardly.

They did so in order to realize savings. Unfortunately, the savings that they are identifying on paper are in many cases the result of improper practices in a particular delivery unit. I find it difficult to understand or to believe that an office that has been "RAP'd" in the last few years, and then realized an enormous increase in parcel post, would now show that there are savings to be had on letter carrier routes. How could this be?

Not to sound like a broken record, but if you've been casing FSS, running your route to make your second job, or cutting corners in some other way, Operations Programs Support is about to show you how much they appreciate your effort. They're going to add to your route, and do their best to cut a route or routes out of your office and excess people from your office.

By the time you read this, 6 of the 8 evaluation weeks will have already been completed. We have repeatedly given you the information that you need to be successful and that information was quite simple: don't case mail that shouldn't be cased (FSS), don't skip or shorten lunches or breaks, do your route professionally each and every day. If you do all that and still have a route that is less than 8 hours, then perhaps it is best for the future of the Postal Service, to evaluate your route and properly adjust it to 8 hours. If you haven't been doing that during the last several months, you have put yourself in a very precarious position.

Here's the problem; what do we do if the paper says that your route is less than 8 and you say or know that it is more? Now more than ever it is your responsibility to safeguard your (excuse me, the Postal Service's) route. It won't do you, your customers, or the Postal Service any good for you to have an overburdened route. Likewise, none of those referenced above will benefit from an "underburdened" route. A fair day's work for a fair day's pay is a very clear and absolute concept.

It's never too late to do your job professionally, and consistently day in and day out. Get ahead of the curve and be prepared to "make your case" to the team that will be coming to your office to adjust your route. Take ownership of the practices in your office, whether good or bad, so that the evaluation team can have the benefit of your input. In other words, if you're casing FSS and management was aware of it, be prepared to make your case. If you've done that, you've lost both office time AND street time and perhaps that is why OPS thinks there are great savings to be had. They (OPS), have no investment in your office, you're only a number.

Stay informed, Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Dave Barbuzzi

Twenty-seven years ago last month, a veteran letter carrier and union activist handed me a national agreement and various materials from our national union that he had obtained from the most recent national convention. I found it fascinating to read the summaries of the arbitration decisions that had taken place in the prior two years and I was amazed at both the rights we had and the rights we did not have.

At that time, Internet traffic and the availability of information was miniscule compared to what is available to all of us today. Today, I'm not aware of too many people that aren't connected to the Internet. As a matter of fact, more and more people have smart phones, and some of the smart phones are pretty big (big enough to read comfortably).

Our national union has a multitude of resources available on the web at www.nalc.org. Each and every letter carrier can and should avail themselves to as much of this information as possible so they can be aware of and defend their rights.

There is a "Workplace Issues" section on the site that has over 15 years worth of "Contract Talk" articles as well as a similar amount of "NALC Activist" issues. The NALC Activist is a publication produced for stewards and arbitration advocates that provides all kinds of information to help them represent letter carriers. Any letter carrier can benefit from browsing these two particular resources.

Also under the "Workplace Issues" tab you can find "City Delivery". City Delivery has resources to help a carrier prepare for a route inspection, and to understand the process so that after the inspection they can protect their rights. City Delivery also has a section specifically for CCA's that contains contract issues and memoranda of understanding that apply to CCA's.

There is information for those letter carriers that are considering retirement, for those that are injured on the job, and there is a wealth of information dealing with safety and health. There's enough information for a career's worth of lunch break reading for anyone that chooses to take advantage of it.

Although this may sound like a commercial for the NALC Website (by the way, our Branch 25 Website is not at all shabby either), it's not. The Union's job is to defend your rights. It is my responsibility to provide the resources and the support to the stewards and officers to do the same. It is no small coincidence that each of my "President's Message" columns end with the words "Stay Informed".

I believe the best way to defend your rights, is to be aware of your rights. As we all know, there really isn't all that much talk on the workroom floor anymore. As a matter of fact, as I'm out and about some days, I frequently observe no talking whatsoever. That's unfortunate.

That conversation that used to take place in the morning was sometimes letter carriers keeping other letter carriers informed. It was sometimes letter carriers asking for and receiving advice about something that had happened to them at work. Those morning conversations often served to tip a steward off that something may not be quite right.

Stewards aren't mind readers. Unfortunately, more and more letter carriers are clamming up due to the enormous pressure to get out of the office now! They're afraid to ask questions or to report concerns. Fortunately, many of you do indeed use your phones and call the office for guidance. That's great! We love to talk to you!

However, if that's not your bag, please take advantage of the resources that are available to you. If you read something and don't understand it, call. If you look for something and can't find it, call. Elsewhere in this issue of the "WAKE UP! " there are articles from a past and present steward. The past steward challenges you to stand up for yourself and take ownership of the fact that YOU are the Union. The present steward relays some of his experiences where he has picked up the phone over the years and received the support and guidance that he has needed. As I read each of these submissions, I was gratified to know that they got and continue to get what they need from the Union. You can get what you need as well, all you have to do is be willing to ask.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

I hope the above date marks the beginning of the improvement of working conditions for you. You, and your sisters and brothers will determine if that's the case. Let me explain.

What is the single most important aspect of your job that impacts every other aspect of your job? It isn't the time required to perform your duties in the office and on the street. It is the amount of time that you are credited to perform your duties in the office and on the street. We all know that those two numbers are often times vastly different. How can we fix that? Before I get into the answer, I'd like to explain just how much is impacted by the time that your route is credited.

First and foremost, do you enjoy the interaction that you have each morning with your supervisor? Chances are, you are told how much "undertime" you are projected to have and what you are expected to do with that undertime. If you try to explain that management's "projections" aren't accurate, you end up "talking to the hand". In some instances, "talking to the hand" is better than the alternative. Believe it or not some of the supervisors and 204B's are berating letter carriers that fill out 3996's and have brought the conversation into the gutter by accusing the letter carrier of "stealing" time or suggesting that the letter carrier simply go to the window and take money out of the drawer since they're already stealing from the service.

Let's say you are fortunate enough to have a decent relationship with the management in your office - we do have quite a few decent managers. Are you able to get annual leave when you want it? If you put in for sick leave in advance for an appointment does management try to coerce you into making the appointment on your day off? Are you forced to work overtime even though you aren't on the overtime desired list? These problems are all the result of a lack of staffing. Staffing is the direct result of the number of routes in an office amongst other factors, and the number of routes in an office is the direct result of how long it takes to perform all the office duties and make all the deliveries in your city or town. YOU determine how long those functions take so YOU determine your interaction with management and the staffing in your office.

You see, although I have no sympathy for those that have chosen to wear the tie, they are micromanaged as well. Some of them have the wherewithal to stand up for themselves, and some of them are just yes men or yes women. Management at the Area level sees YOUR numbers each day. They have terms like "drill down" to find out why YOU the carrier on route whatever in whatever office spent 8 minutes too long in the office and 10 minutes too long on the street. They base their findings on DOIS and they make your boss's boss answer for your performance. Your boss's boss calls your boss, brow beats him or her, and what rolls downhill?

So, if I told you that there was something that YOU could do to stem the tide of that which rolls downhill; that there was something that YOU could do to reduce the amount of forced overtime that you were required to work; that there was something that YOU could do to increase the number of people allowed off on annual leave; and something that YOU could do to reduce the pressure you receive from management for exercising your contractual right to make a doctor's appointment; what would you say? I hope you would say: "What can I do?"

You can put in for a special route inspection if you qualify. You qualify by working 30 minutes of overtime on your route or receiving 30 minutes of assistance on 3 or more days a week over a six consecutive week period. If you request an inspection, the inspection must be completed within 28 days of your request. Period. I'm asking every member of this branch that if you qualify, submit for an inspection on September 19, 2014. Fix THEIR mess. Make your work life better.

We have 36 stations in this branch. If, on average, 3 letter carriers per station requested special inspections, that would be over 100 requests. That would be YOU making a statement that things aren't right here. I use the date September 19, and I would sincerely like to see a concerted effort to make those requests. However, you know how mail is in your office. You can request an inspection right up until November in order to be inspected before December begins. It's your call - think about it and make a difference in your office, make the request.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

In last month's President's Message I wrote: "The only way we can assert our rights is to request a special route inspection." This month, I am urging as many letter carriers as possible to do so if you qualify. How do you qualify? If your route requires 30 minutes or more of overtime or assistance three or more days a week over six consecutive weeks, you qualify. Management has 28 days from the date you request the inspection to COMPLETE the inspection. That being said, you probably know when your route gets the most mail. Often times, September and October are good months for letter carriers to be inspected. Control your own destiny, request your special inspection with calendar in hand so that the 28 day period falls during a time that you are confident in your mail volume. Parcels obviously play a role in the results. December is excluded.

In the past, carriers that have qualified and have undergone special inspections, have been assigned a later start time and have been provided phantom router assistance. Recently, the branch has prevailed at arbitration on a case where the arbitrator ruled that such an adjustment is not proper as "permanent relief'. Like anything else in this District, I wouldn't doubt that we will have to relitigate this issue as Labor Relations and OPS Support seem to be populated by a group of sore losers that will continue to break the rules out of spite and vindictiveness.

Case in point, the Reading route inspections. As I also wrote last month, the branch felt that management failed to abide by the Arbitrator's decision and we were preparing to ask her to invoke her retained jurisdiction. Both I and the Labor Relations advocate submitted pre-hearing briefs to the Arbitrator and then participated in a conference call with her. She agreed that the Union had indeed established a prima facie case that warranted another hearing on the most recent Reading inspection. That hearing is scheduled for August 15, so hopefully this misery will be over soon.

The Arbitrator said something else to management on that conference call. She said that she "strongly recommended" that management NOT implement any route adjustments in Reading until such time as she heard the case and ruled on it. She warned that if she found the inspections to be improper, it could affect remedy to the carriers. I'll bet everyone reading this can guess what management did. That's right! They implemented the faulty route adjustments anyway!

Call it arrogance, call it audacity, I call it stupidity! We will put on the best case possible, we will seek punitive financial damages, and I hope that we are successful. Stay tuned.

In another matter of significance to every letter carrier in this branch, and in the country, is the fact that there will soon be an election at the national level for some of the national officers and National Business Agents. Please, educate yourself and vote! Apathy is our enemy so please take responsibility for the future of our workplace and make your voice heard through your ballot.

Speaking of apathy, I will certainly acknowledge that it is painfully difficult to become educated on politics and to stay informed on what is happening. It is disgraceful to observe the obstructionism that takes place in Congress. Social media outlets are rife with emotional issues that somehow persuade some blue-collar workers to support politicians that would send them straight to the unemployment line if they could. Politicians spend more time attempting to point out what is wrong with the other guy than they spend highlighting their own accomplishments. Think about that next time you "share" or "like".

Of all the information that was provided to the convention delegates, the information that really blew me away dealt with the distribution of wealth in this country. Make sure you're sitting down before you read the next lines. 38% of this country's wealth is owned by the top 1%. The bottom 60% of the population owns only 2.2% of the country's wealth. The Wal-Mart family owns more wealth than the bottom 40% of the country. 95% of all new income goes to the top 1%. The politicians that are attempting to eliminate your job are representing the interest of that top 1%, not your interests. They can disguise it with guns, patriotism, birth certificates, border control, abortion, Afghanistan; but they aren't looking to better your lot in life.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

Do you have a family? Do you have children? If a letter carrier asked a manager those questions I could envision said letter carrier being walked out of the building. However, not so when a Postmaster approaches a letter carrier on the street and asks those very questions while 2 or 3 supervisors look on in blind adoration of the menacing Postmaster. They probably aspire to be just like him when they grow a set, oops I mean when they grow up one day. This is the same office where one of the supervisors told a letter carrier a couple months ago that he could essentially falsify a street observation on the carrier and the two supervisors in the vehicle would corroborate his story.

To the carriers involved, PLEASE provide statements if you haven't done so already. I would like to take this matter as far as I possibly can and historically we have had success addressing these kind of miscreants, but we need statements and we need witnesses. Pardon my infringing on dog bite prevention season, but "every dog has his day" and the management team overseeing the DMU doesn't even deserve the dignity afforded to dogs. However, these "tough guys" will continue to follow the lead of the Postmaster until WE stop them. No one else is going to do it for us, WE have to take the lead and force them to treat us with dignity and respect.

As this issue goes to press, the inspection of the Reading office (third one in less than 18 months) has just wound down. This inspection was the result of multiple arbitration decisions that determined that the last inspection was improperly conducted and was rendered null and void.

Part of the reason the prior inspection was rendered null and void was because carriers were not allowed to conduct themselves the way they do every other day during the year. Multiple supervisors would go out and "instruct" (read: "attempt to intimidate") carriers. Well, guess what? During the inspections that just wound down, as many as four supervisors went to the street to supervise (again, read: intimidate) letter carriers. On some instances they literally surrounded the letter carrier while they peppered them with questions and comments. The same carrier that was asked if he had a family and if he had children was told that there were two roads people could follow and he was following the wrong road. I wonder how the arbitrator will feel about management's behavior? I wonder how the Postmaster's boss and Labor Relations will feel about management's behavior.

During this ordeal, the letter carriers conducted themselves in a dignified and respectable way. They showed no hostility towards the inspection team and the leader of said team commented to me about that fact. Each and every letter carrier in Reading should be commended for counting to ten and maintaining their pride and dignity during such a stressful ordeal. It's unfortunate that the local management team couldn't follow the lead of the carriers. It must be noted that when I write "local management" I am referring to a hodge podge of supervisors assigned to the building, not necessarily those assigned specifically to Reading.

That being said, it's time to look toward the future. Specifically, the future of potential route inspections and adjustments in the branch. At the moment, we have no knowledge of any inspections planned for the fall. That does not mean that there will not be inspections. Each and every carrier has the right to a route that is adjusted to as near to eight hours as possible. Like many of the rights that carriers have, it is up to us to assert our rights.

How do we do so regarding an 8 hour route? The only way we can assert our rights is to request a special route inspection. In the recent past, carriers have requested said inspections and shown that their routes are over 8 hours only to be granted a later start time and phantom router assistance. The only way we can avoid this is to have multiple carriers in each office submit these requests. If your office has an auxilIary route and there are multiple carriers that are overburdened, it would be in your best interest to have this addressed. As always, there is no guarantee you will be pleased with the results, but how pleased will you be knowing your route is overburdened and you aren't doing anything about it.

Finally, at this time I would like to comment on this year's food drive. The branch did very well. We realized an increase of some 40 tons of food over last year's totals. That's right, 80,000 more pounds of food! I realize that I asked a lot of Branch 25 letter carriers. I also realize that some weren't happy about my request that we donate our time two days a year. Well, your efforts paid off and the food collected this year will go further than it has in years. When I called and received calls from letter carriers to obtain the totals for their office, often I was told that "the pantry said this is the most we've ever collected", or "the carriers' trucks were full half way into the day". I didn't hear anyone say "it wasn't worth it to volunteer our time on those two days." I am very grateful and very proud to represent such a great branch. Take a look at the opposing page to get a better sense of what our efforts are for. Thank you!

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

It has been a very busy season for all of us.

There are a few places where it has been just a little busier. Newburyport and Andover underwent six-day mail counts and inspections. The carriers in each of those offices did an outstanding job and each office gained time as a result. The carriers should be commended for their work ethic and professionalism. Someone else that deserves a great deal of credit is Executive Vice President Paul Desmond. Paul spent countless hours pouring over the paperwork from the inspections and was able to improve the results for the carriers in each office. We were able to achieve these results without filing a single grievance. Great job Paul!

We recently completed another DUO in the Woburn facility. Burlington "moved" effective April 5. It appears that Reading will be moving into the facility on April 30. Branch 34 President Bob Lind, Woburn Postmaster Bill Harris, and I came to terms on an LMOU to address the DUO and President Lind signed the LMOU with Postmaster Harris. I am pleased to say that I was able to negotiate a provision into the LMOU that addresses the most significant concern that Branch 25 carriers had: non-choice leave. In the original LMOU, both branches made compromises and those compromises resulted in leave provisions that neither branch was happy with. As a result of the most recent negotiations, each branch was able to revert to the way they had done things in the past.

I mentioned that Reading was going into the Woburn installation effective April 30. Reading is also scheduled to have route inspections during the last week that route inspections are allowed; the end of May. No good can come out of an inspection that won't yield times that are representative of what is needed for the majority of the year. The inspections are the result of an arbitration decision in which the arbitrator ruled that the postal service and the Union either had to agree on a proper evaluation of the Reading office or management had to conduct inspections if no such agreement could be reached. As I write this article, there is still an outside chance that an agreement can be reached. I recently spoke with labor relations and operations programs support and made an offer that I felt served the interests of all parties involved. Hopefully, they will accept the good faith offer that I presented.

Speaking of "good faith", I am very disappointed to report that that the management member of the B Team recently accused me of "bargaining in bad faith" in his portion of a recent B Team decision. I have addressed it with the manager of labor relations, and with the business agent and I am awaiting feedback from them before deciding what my next step will be.

I am telling you about this because I want you to understand that some management will go to whatever lengths they have to in order to taint a case and win. Recently, a supervisor in one of our offices "jokingly" let a carrier know that he could produce two "witnesses" to any false allegation that the supervisor wanted to make. Imagine the thuggery involved when someone is willing to lie and two others are willing to swear to it. That's happening right here, right now.

The only thing we have is our integrity and the truth. We must write statements and document when these things happen. If the carrier referenced above waits until after the false allegation is made and sworn to, no one will believe that the incident ever took place. It will be the carrier who is looked at as being dishonest. It is a shame that there are morally bankrupt individuals in positions of authority.

Statements are not just for grievances either. For instance, in one of our stations a brash young supervisor has had run ins with three carriers recently. In at least two of the three instances the Supervisor accused the carriers of giving him attitude. Then, later, he said that every carrier in this particular station had a bad attitude. I wonder if perhaps the supervisor is just a punk? Could that be the case? The problem is, if incidents like this happen and the carriers involved don't reduce the activity to writing and date the statement, then it may appear as "sour grapes" if they come forward later. I would advise that you write a statement and mail it to yourself in order to use the postmark on the envelope to validate the date of your statement.

It really is pretty sad that it's necessary for me to give you this advice. But then, these are pretty sad times at the P.O. I truly hope I have a positive article next month.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

Sit down, get comfortable, I've got a lot to say.

For years, no, actually for decades, this branch has instructed carriers to do their jobs the same way day in and day out. We have asked carriers to be professional, safe, and to be sure to take their full lunch period and their two full ten minute breaks; nothing more, nothing less.

We have advised letter carriers NOT to case DPS, FSS, circulars and everything else that we shouldn't case. We have advised letter carriers to obey and grieve. We have advised letter carriers to not make copies of MSP scans to falsify records. We have advised letter carriers to scan a package delivered when it is actually delivered, NOT while they're still in the office.

In short, we have played by the rules and fortunately I can say with confidence that the overwhelming majority of Branch 25 letter carriers have done the same. Unfortunately, the rules seem to be changing, and we have to know what those rules are.

I was in Bedford this morning to observe the rollout of the "City Carrier Package and Accountable Study". WOW! What a cluster! Management can call it whatever they want to call it but it's just another time study designed to put the proverbial thumb on the letter carrier. Give me a minute to duck after you read this next line: Why don't they just activate the GPS all the time? Why dont they just install surveillance cameras on the inside and outside of our vehicles? Is a professional letter carrier concerned about Big Brother knowing what he or she is doing in the office or on the street? Who cares if they know where we are? The basic premise, the one I am extremely confident that our letter carriers (all letter carriers) adhere to is that we are not "stealing time" from our employer. We leave theft to those in positions of authority who have nothing else to do but fudge numbers and steal in other ways.

The letter carriers in Newburyport and Andover just underwent inspections. During the week in Newburyport it came to my attention that not only had letter carriers been consistently casing FSS mail with management's knowledge, but they had actually been instructed by management to case the FSS mail. Without much effort I could rattle off at least five more offices where this is taking place and with a little more effort I'm sure I could find a dozen. I stood on the workroom floor with the Postmaster and the representatives of Operations Support and made it clear to them that the 1840B times (the average street time prior to inspection) were no good. These times were made of street times that included the casing of FSS mail.

Guess what? In several instances these 1840B times are being used by management (we'll grieve it) and you can rest assured that these times are significantly less than the actual average street time during inspection. Are you casing your FSS mail? Look, I understand the hours are brutal. The job is not fun anymore and I could use profanity to describe the conditions that you withstand day in and day out. But you have to understand what you are doing to yourself each day that you case mail that should not be cased.

I had a conversation with the manager of Operations Support today. He told me he was going to put an end to the casing of FSS mail. I don't know what he expected me to say, perhaps he thought I would beg him not to. I told him that if he was successful in putting an end to the casing of FSS mail that I would personally write him a letter of commendation! I told him that I had been trying to do just that for the three years that FSS has been around and that it was some stubborn Postmasters and even POOMs that presented bigger roadblocks than letter carriers.

In the article that follows by Executive Vice President Paul Desmond, you'll find advice about not putting in for special inspections on management's terms, but rather on your own terms. Paul was gentle. I'm going to give you the harsh reality, and I'm going to ask you to have a little faith. I can't and won't make promises, but I can be confident that my advice is sound.

Special inspections are great tools for letter carriers. WE dictate when our routes are examined and adjusted. WE control the data that leads up to the inspections and WE have nothing to fear if we are doing our jobs professionally. Of course, the unwritten policy has always been that if a carrier puts in for a special and comes out over 8 hours, that carrier will be punished with a later starting time and router assistance. That is a real possibility, but should we cave and stay on unmanageable routes and fight with management every day out of fear?

Start preparing for your special inspection NOW.

Stop casing FSS, DPS, and circulars. Stop cutting your lunch and breaks short to get to your second job. Stop rushing through your route to get to the afterschool activity or sporting event.

Document your daily activity. Think back, have you been casing FSS, DPS, etc? If there are dates that you are absolutely certain of, record them in a notebook and be prepared to present them and explain them. If you are instructed to case FSS, DPS, etc., document that.

You don't like working these long hours and all your days off; then do something about it. Continue to practice being professional and continue to document anything improper that you're instructed to do and THEN and ONLY THEN, put in for a special inspection. A word to the wise, historically September and October are the best months to be inspected. Management has 28 days from the date of your request to conduct the inspection. Do the math. If your route shows 30 minutes or more of assistance or overtime on 3 or more days a week for 6 consecutive weeks, you qualify.

If you're qualifying during the summer, you're going to qualify in September. We have 36 stations. If 3 or 4 letter carriers per station qualify and follow through, it could result in hiring. No promises. I can't go to each station and carry each route. BUT, I have just told you how to get a leg up.

I hear you. I know we need more staffing. I know you want your days off, especially heading into prime time. How bad do you want it?

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

Last month I printed an email that I sent to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe regarding the horrendous mail flow issues in the Greater Boston District. I received a phone call the next morning from Greater Boston District Manager Charles Lynch to address my concerns. In a nutshell, I was told that difficulty in hiring for Tour One at the plant, and the logistical challenges of the transportation schedule, were the largest contributing factors to the problem. I was assured that they are doing everything in their power to entice employees to accept the jobs, and that they would continually explore ways to explore the transportation schedule. From what I understand, subsequently changes to transportation have been made and there is a noticeable improvement to the mail flow. It's a start.

Last month Paul wrote about the band of thieves that is Operations Programs Support. Paul wrote about how they will indeed steal time from you and that you must educate yourself to recognize what is happening so that successful grievances can be filed on your behalf.

We conducted a route inspection training in North Andover, but unfortunately the winter hit us with yet another snow storm and the training was not very well attended. There are resources available, however, on the national union's website at www.nalc.org. The NALC Guide to Route Inspections is available to all. I would strongly suggest that ALL letter carriers (and managers also) check out this great resource. Letter carriers and local managers alike would be well-served to know how to protect themselves from OP Support.

Recently, Bill Anderson who is the shop steward in Reading, did just that. Bill filed a series of grievances during the fiasco that was called a route inspection last year. The cases were presented at arbitration in January, and thanks to the preparation of Bill, and the expert testimony of Bill and Paul, we were able to prevail in four separate grievances (there were 5 filed, we're awaiting a decision on the fifth). The arbitrator ordered, among other things, that: "The Postal Service is directed to re-train route inspectors and their supervisors prior to future inspections to ensure compliance with relevant Handbooks and Memoranda."

In another one of the cases the Arbitrator wrote: "Based on the above, the undersigned Arbitrator concludes that Management unilaterally implemented route adjustments, after a flawed mail count and route inspection, conducted in disregard of the Handbooks M-39, and M-41 and relevant Memoranda. Management implemented the route adjustments in the face of Union grievances, and complaints. Management attempted to reason that the adjustments were timely implemented, as required by the M-39, within 52 days. However, a flawed process cannot be cured by meeting the 52-day time frame."

Take a minute and think about that. Does it sound familiar? Some of you deal with managers that disregard the contract every day. Last month I referred to the rumblings from the workroom floor of "what's the Union going to do about it?" Sometimes not everyone likes the answer. The answer is, the Union will do whatever YOU enable us to do. The Union will take a grievance as far as the documentation that you provide will allow us to take that grievance.

Elsewhere in this newsletter Kevin Sullivan writes about documentation. Documentation is precisely the reason why we were able to prevail in these arbitration cases. Great job Bill!

Since last month, three more Branch 25 letter carriers (that I'm aware of) have suffered falls that have resulted in trips to the emergency room or hospitalization. Please be careful. Parcels are heavy, staffing is horrendous, time off seems to be a distant memory, but none of these things matter to your family. Your family just wants you to return home safely every night, and they deserve that that simple request be honored. Take your time, observe your surroundings, don't take chances, get home safe.

Finally, Paul Desmond and I will be attending NBA John Casciano's rap session with some Branch stewards. Try to make it to the March branch meeting to find out what John, his staff, and President Rolando had to say.

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi

I am very much aware of the ridiculousness that letter carriers face each day. If it weren't illegal, I'm sure many of you would start up an "Over-Under Pool" for mail arrival time each day. I have spoken to some of you, or conversed via email, and I realize that you are frustrated. I also realize the idea of being forced to work even an hour of overtime due to the ineptness of those in charge is even more aggravating than being forced to work your entire day off due to extraordinary circumstances related to volume. The point is, the letter carrier, and the customer suffer the biggest harm as a result of the misguided decision to reorganize (for lack of a better term) the processing of mail in the Greater Boston District.

I have been informed that letter carriers on the work room floor are asking what the union is doing about it. I have brought your concerns to the Business Agent. I have been made aware that several other Presidents have done the same. I have been assured that the District Manager will be contacted regarding this fiasco and it was suggested to me that I contact the District Manager as well. I attempted to contact him, but he was out of town. Not wanting to let the moment go, I decided that I would reach out to our Postmaster General. Below is the text of an email that I sent to Postmaster General Donahoe. I will keep you informed should I receive a response.

Stay informed!

Dave

Good Morning Mr. Donahoe,

My name is Dave Barbuzzi and I am the President of NALC Branch 25. I represent approximately 900 active letter carriers throughout Massachusetts from Amesbury in the North to Holliston in the Southwest.

The reason for this email is that I would like to give you the opportunity to address my members regarding the horrendous mail flow this entire district is experiencing since processing operations have been "reorganized". I don't expect that you will show up at a meeting, but I do believe that my members, and all postal employees in this district, deserve an answer from the top as to when and how there may be relief.

Specifically, sir, I could use yesterday as an example. The day after a holiday, and empty trucks were pulling up to loading docks at 9:00 a.m. These trucks should have contained the day's DPS mail, but they did not. Letter carriers were sent to the street with parcels only in bitter cold temperatures and instructed to return to the office at 11:00 a.m. to see if the DPS mail had arrived yet. Then, after the mail finally arrived, non-ODL letter carriers were sent to the street at 12:30 p.m. with their entire route to deliver, and the requirement to provide auxilary assistance to other routes.

Yesterday was not an isolated incident either. In the recent past, offices have gone the entire day without some of their automated mail. Why? It was stuck on an elevator at the facility at South Postal in Boston. In case you are not aware, mail is processed on the fourth floor of that building and I'm told (I have not witnessed it first hand), that it is incredibly inefficient to have to depend on elevators in that facility.

We were asked by the District Manager at a District Safety and Health Committee meeting last year to "give it a little time" so that the kinks could be worked out. The "kinks" have only grown larger and tighter. There is no rhyme or reason to the arrival times of mail at the AO's. Customers receive sales ads weeks and in some cases over a month after the sale has ended. Letter carriers are delivering mail until after 8:00 p.m. in poor conditions and in some instances in questionable neighborhoods. Our customers and our employees deserve better.

My next Branch meeting is February 4. I would truly like to be able to provide my members with explanations to why this is happening and more importantly answers as to when it will be corrected. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

David J. Barbuzzi
President, NALC Branch 25

Please be advised that your presence is requested for a pre-disciplinary interview. Please feel free to bring your representative along (... unlike management who will try to keep craft employees from their representatives, I want you to have proper representation. The more the merrier ...) to this meeting.

It's been very difficult attempting to determine who you are. While conducting an investigation, many have said that they are powerless to effect any change. They are just as frustrated as the carriers delivering the mail, and the customers receiving this horrendous service.

Many have said that Supervisors, Postmasters, and even the almighty POOMS are merely pawns in the power struggle that is the Postal Service. Before last April, EVERYONE was convinced that the manager of operations support was the be all and end all of any decisions made in the Greater Boston District. Well, April has come and gone and the status quo has prevailed. Nothing has changed, which makes me ask again, where does the buck stop?

You're not doing a good job. From an operational standpoint, the proverbial s--t seems to have started hitting the fan when you decided that it would be a good idea to take all the "extra" postal vehicles out of the city craft and force the rural carriers to take them. Not only did many of the rural carriers not want them, but now, even if an office is staffed properly they are handcuffed by the lack of vehicles to deliver the mail! You couldn't see that one coming? We have an aging, wicked old fleet of vehicles that break down frequently. We should take this into consideration and have spare vehicles. We shouldn't handicap offices by forcing them to scramble for the tools to deliver mail.

You also don't demonstrate professionalism when things don't go your way. You don't lose well. I mean, some routes are overburdened. When a letter carrier musters the courage to do something about it, you really show how morally bankrupt you are by bullying that carrier(s) from 20 or more miles away. We all know the formula. Give them the inspection, try to steal from them with bogus deductions, and if that doesn't work create phantom routers and start them an hour or so later to make an example of them so that others will be too afraid to put in for an inspection. And don't ever, EVER admit that you screwed up and that the routes and maybe even the entire office is overburdened. After all, your leader is going to do away with Saturday delivery and when that day comes, the fewer routes there are the fewer routes will have to be eliminated. Now THAT's foresight!

I could go on with OPS, but that wouldn't leave me time for labor. Ahh yes ... labor relations. Where shall I start? Do you know how inexperienced your department is? Now, inexperience isn't something that someone should be punished for - we're all inexperienced when we first start at something. Is the inexperience why you don't want to deal in good faith with the Union? Do you believe that if you don't deal with us, all those cases that could/should be resolved will go to arbitration and give your reps the experience that they so desperately need? Don't you think it would serve everyone better if you taught them to negotiate instead? Who's decision was it to take "relations" out of labor relations?

Finally, who's running the plant? Better yet, who's the boss of the person running the plant. You're both of marginal value to the Postal Service, and I'm being kind. You should work day and night to correct your deficiencies or get on the next bus out of town! There is far too much wrong with the mail flow to the associate offices to think of this as a minor glitch, or even a series of several hundred minor glitches. The mail flow situation is FUBAR, plain and simple. There is no excuse for mail to arrive at any post office at eleven or twelve o'clock, EVER! Drivers should not get lost going to offices that have existed longer than said drivers have walked the earth. Mail should not get stuck on elevators for a day and not be delivered.

Who are you and what do you have to say for yourself? Never mind, to hell with the PDI. You're fired! (I wish it were that easy).

Stay informed!

Dave Barbuzzi