Springfield: CCA Performing Rural Work
Hey there everyone! We’ve got a Step B resolution regarding CCAs being used on rural routes due to staffing. Step B resolutions are precedent setting in an installation, meaning that if there are any more violations we can point to this being an ongoing issue. While we have had several lower level resolutions at the Informal or Formal A level, we haven’t had any Step B decisions. This is good for us to have because we’re getting into the heavier season and this will more than likely show up again.
If you’re having the issue of CCAs being used on rural routes in your area, check this out and see how to contractually support that practice as inappropriate. Let’s get into it!
Here we see that the incident date was 5/12/24 and it was resolved on 8/28/24. Surprisingly that doesn’t seem like a long time to wait anymore, but it’s certainly longer than we should have. Your local stewards got their hands on this around 10/10 (ball-parking that).
We see there are a couple issues: one is that a CCA was used to carry a rural route on Sunday Amazon. The second issue is that information was not provided when requested.
The decision shows a couple of important things on this page and the next.
A violation occurred when the CCA was used on a rural route.
It is a violation because no emergency as defined by the National Agreement was present.
The grievant will be paid 50% of their base pay for the time working on a rural route.
Management will adhere to the provisions of the National Agreement when assigning CCA to rural work (which is to say only in an contractual emergency).
Finally, management will cease and desist from providing requested information for grievance handling. This is more for your stewards, but it’s a big deal because we are often not given what we request and have to chase it down.
Here you can see a couple points from the Union and management. Again, this is never the full list, but happens to be some of the points that the Step B team grabbed onto. As a steward this is a great thing to study to learn from. As a carrier, this is important to see how you are being represented by your local management team; this is where they attempt to justify violating the National Agreement or where they deny they did at all. Always give this a read.
Then we get into the explanation:
So you can see that the Union was able to demonstrate no emergency that would have required CCAs to perform rural work occurred. This is important because the crux of management’s position was that there wasn’t enough staffing. While we all can sympathize and know that it sucks to be short staffed, it is no justification to violate the National Agreement, especially when management maintains the exclusive right to hire and retain employees.
Pretty simple one, right? Because this is a Step B decision, it covers all of Springfield, not just the office that it came out of. So GSS and JGS, speak up if this happens in your office. The same goes for all the offices in Branch 203!
That’s the way that a lot of our grievances are, honestly. If you give a read over these Step B decisions you can see that they’re easy to read and follow along with. That’s intentional because the stewards and supervisors on the workroom floor aren’t lawyers or anything like that and we need to be able to read it. Sometimes issues can get a little complicated, but it’s mostly breaking down elements of a grievance into their relative provisions and identify violations. Blam. There’s a ton of help for stewards out there too, so that really helps us be as prepared as we can be for the next grievance.
That’s all there is to this one! Thanks for the read. If you think this stuff is cool, get in touch with a steward and let them know. If you’re interested in standing up for your rights and improving your workroom floor, there’s a place for you among the ranks of Branch 203 stewards.
In solidarity, and until next time!