State Convention pt 2: Contract Update
All right, a LOT was covered on Saturday, so I’m going to break these up into smaller segments according to the info that was gathered there. Let’s go!
NBA David Teegarden introduces the regional team. These are names of people that you’ve likely never heard of on the workroom floor, but they are the ones in the regional office making the Union work happen. They’re grievance assistants, they’re administrative assistants, they schedule cases for arbitration, they organize copious training opportunities, they take our phone calls, work with carrier academy, branch officer support, OWCP… man. I didn’t realize all the ways these people work for us, but it became clear how much they do and who they were doing it.
But up first, Nicole Rhine, Secretary Treasurer for the NALC stepped up to the mic and said, “I know you all want to know about this first thing; contract updates.” It was music to our ears as she broke some of it down.
I took some notes as quickly as I could for you so I could share it with you. None of this is confirmed to be set in stone, but in the works. Here’s what I got:
The contract negotiations are broken down into two main segments: “Work Rules” and “Economics.” The Work Rules part of the negotiations are largely in tentative agreement, but the main differences remain in the Economics portion. The higher end of the pay scale is in contention as it will have a big effect on the Service. The Union is seeking a single pay table with less time to get to the top step, as well as a sizable increase on the top pay. It was eluded to that the CCA position will remain as a means of flexibility for the service in exchange for getting that higher pay, but it was not confirmed to the be position.
Work Rules said to be in Tentative Agreement.
There will be changes to Article 15 to speed up the timely resolution of grievances. We don’t know what that looks like, but that could literally be anything, so I don’t know whether to be relieved or nervous. More on that later.
If carriers are placed on Emergency Placement (commonly called a 16.7) carriers may have the option to use Annual Leave to cover that. That sounds nice if it’s a legitimate use of 16.7. I’m worried management will be abusing 16.7 more than they are already.
Carriers will be able to sell back up to 80 hours of Annual Leave at the end of they year if they’re maxed out.
They’re exploring creating a T-6 position that crosses installations for their assignments. I’m trying not to put my own thoughts on that out here, so just use your imagination.
Figuring T-6 pay to include Juneteenth.
CCAs get 40 hours annual leave after 360 days. So yeah, sounds like the CCA position is here to stay for this contract…
Advance Annual Leave for PTFs.
More Overtime Lists. They’re considering carriers being able to sign up for their NS days, an ODL list that can’t be called on their NS day, and a few others that weren’t specified. Apparently getting more lists is something both parties want to allow more flexibility for carriers. Personally, I’m thinking about working grievances for like eight OT lists and the thought of it makes my bones hurt.
A mentoring program for new employees. Hey, that actually sounds pretty good to give support to new carriers. Retention and training has always been an issue, especially in larger installations, so I’m hoping that this can foster a greater sense of community at work. Those fresh employees need a support network!
Uniforms! Nicole admits this is a trouble spot for both parties because a solution is much bigger than either entity. If we increase our uniform allowance the prices on gear goes up, so how do we get ahead of that? It has to do with price gouging and the vendors, but a clear path forward isn’t available at this point. I saw a sun hat going for $90 on a site and that got me riled up, so I’m glad it’s an issue, but disappointed that there’s no fix coming.
The NALC wants to be in control of 1187 reviews, which is the Union membership paperwork. Apparently the Post Office does all this, and it’s not very efficient, so the NALC is trying to get a hold of all this paperwork for dues processing, membership benefits, and more. Apparently there’s a lot they can do with it in a more efficient manner than the Post Office. Go figure, huh?
Thank you so much to Nicole Rhine for pushing for that information to bring to us, she was absolutely fantastic. Was it what we wanted to hear? Probably not. Is it more info than we've gotten this whole time? Heck yeah it is, and I’m thankful for any piece of info we can get. That’s all I’ve got here; this was just a small portion of what we covered on Saturday, so stay tuned for the next ones.