Springfield: Projections Use and Noncompliance

All right folks, we got one back from the Step B team regarding management’s use of projections data. This has been rampant in our installation for a little over a year now, and management has really gone out of their way to expand this practice into a massive wave of violations at this point. If you’re interested in the details of it, check out this article from a few months ago about the process and your protections in the face of these violations. That article is from February and isn’t up to date with the latest arguments made by both sides, but you’ll see some of them here. Let’s go into it.

First thing to notice on this one is the time line; the incident was filed on August 9th and the Step B team resolved it on September 6th! That’s a pretty quick turnaround and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of that soon.

Next let’s look at the issue statements. Basically, the Union is saying management is not in compliance with previous national level settlements (article 15) and that by doing so they are violating their responsibility to maintain an atmosphere of mutual respect (M-39 section 115.4).
M-00326 is about recording unauthorized time when given instruction to carry in an overtime status, and M-01664 is about using projections as the sole determinant of a carriers work day, as well as there not being any street standards. M-01664 is important here because it clearly states that there are no street standards in accordance with “fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work.” More on that later.

Then on to the Decision section, which is agreed to by the USPS and Union Step B representatives and is binding. It states that management will comply with M-01664 and M-00326, which is good, but isn’t very strong, but wait… what’s that in the next sentence?!

“Management will cease and desist violating Article 15 of the National Agreement.” THAT is what we want. THAT is strong. Article 15 is all about our grievance procedure and abiding grievance settlements. Your local team has worked hard over the last year and a half to show how willfully management repetitively violates previous grievance settlements. Sometimes violations originate from local management, sometimes it’s directives from upper management, but in the end it’s all the same; nothing personal, but we want compliance the way it is expected of us. Your local steward team has shown that the ongoing violations are so repetitive that the Union membership needed a more general protection against repetitive violations, and we got it.

I know, your first thought is, “They’ll just violate that too, so what’s the big deal?” Just like building a house, you have to go one brick at a time on a solid foundation for the rest to stack up. “Cease and desist” language is very strong at arbitration, and that’s ultimately what we’re working to bolster; our case at arbitration in the event that we go there (and indeed, there are several that are going to arbitration as a result of the Union membership and steward team’s work, so thank you again). So we’re building our case like we would a nice home; one brick at a time, and solid as a rock.

The cherry on top? Management is paying carriers $50 for any 1017B logged within August 3-29th, and removing any 1017B from their records. This escalation has come because this practice is ongoing and egregious, so we’re trying to find out what will make it stop. I hope this helps us do so.

Geez! That was a lot of info! The rest shouldn’t be as dense, so let’s move through it.

Here you can see some of the points that the Union and management made during their meetings. This isn’t all of them, but it’s a few that stuck out to each party. This is very important.

The Union’s position is, well, pretty simple and contractually based. The Union can point to our documents in our case files for every contention, and it is well supported (which is why we won). Management’s position is their counter to the Union’s assertion, so I want to go through it with you so you know what they’re saying in these meetings and what they think of your work. Remember as you read this that these arguments have come from your local management team.

• Firstly, they’ve accused carriers of not working hard enough. They are arguing that they are giving you more work in projected undertime because you owe them more labor, because you’re not being fair to USPS by not working hard enough. Article 34 has a lot to say about “Fair day’s wages for a fair day’s work.” I suggest you read that to learn about the concept, because you’ll see that a lot going forward.

• Next they accuse carriers of expanding street time, basically saying you’re not working because of stationary time on the scanners, that’s their only proof. They make this accusation even though they know that scanners record stationary time continuously every second the scanner isn’t moving even when you’re working. Yes, they are aware that you are working, but relying on a flawed system of “stationary time” to argue that you’re actually not. Cluster boxes, relay time, comfort stops, waiting at a traffic light, applying sunscreen, hydrating in the heat, applying PPE for different weather scenarios, taking cover from lightning, and so much more; that is all technically stationary time to the scanners, and now management says you’re being dishonest by expanding your street time by doing those things and pointing to scanner data. That’s all work! That is exactly why we do not accept scanner data as the truth in any capacity.

• They argued next that they don’t rely on projections to unauthorize overtime… So any time they’ve said, “DOIS says you don’t have OT,” or they give out extra assignments based on DOIS projections, they’re officially arguing saying they never said that. That’s why it has been so important for you to write statements about your interactions for your stewards. Remember that. Anytime this happens, request steward time and provide a short statement.

• They argue that they haven’t issued any discipline, so it’s not a big deal. Even though the process for recording unauthorized overtime is directly related to the issuance of discipline according to handbook F-21 section 146.24.

• On the next page is their last argument; that the grievance is invalid and punitive in nature. Well, we’ve got 25+ resolutions stating management’s current practice is a violation on many fronts, so…

Next is a bunch of contract talk. It’s boring to read, but very easy to read, and important for carriers to understand so they aren’t taken advantage of. Interspersed in the contractual provisions are the Step B team’s notes, which gives us insight into their rationale and how they came to the determination. You’ll notice that there is a lot of contractual citations the Union has made being referenced by the team, but none provided by management that supports their position.

This page is one of the last and has the Step B’s summary. It quickly overviews what’s inside the resolution without any frills. I’ve redacted names and other personal identifying data, so that’s what the blackouts are about.

This is why we need statements from folks, so we can tie it to contractual provisions and process. Because some of you are providing statements it has helped us tremendously, so thank you for standing up for your rights. Your local steward team can help, but we can’t take those first steps for you, so being courageous and exercising your rights have helped us win this for you. Thank you.

If you’re not in Springfield and these issues are happening in your area, please let us know! We would like to represent all of our membership, and this shows that we can help get things done there.

That’s a big one wrapped up! Thanks for reading, and share it with a fellow carrier in your office. Stay tuned because these projections resolutions are far from over; we have several months of a back log I’m still waiting on from higher levels.

Be safe out there and have a great day!