C-31979: National Arbitrator Shyam Das issued an award on July 2, 2015, upholding the Postal Service’s position that former City Carrier Assistants must complete a 90-day qualifying period following their conversion to career status before they may be credited with or take annual leave. (Both the APWU and the NPMHU intervened in this arbitration. Each has a similar classification to CCAs, and their respective National Agreements include similar applicable provision)
The Award interprets section 512.313(a) of the ELM, which provides that “new employees are not credited with and may not take annual leave until they complete 90 days of continuous employment under one or more appointments without a break in service.”
The arbitrator rejected NALC’s argument that this requirement should not be applied to newly converted CCAs since they are not “new employees” and concluded that the ELM language that restricts the use of annual leave for 90 days applies to new “career employees,” which includes CCAs. C-31979
C-31980: National Arbitrator Dennis Nolan issued an award on June 29, 2015, denying NALC’s position that Section 126.3 of the M-39 Handbook is enforceable under Article 19 of the National Agreement.
NALC had contended that Section 126.3 requires management to schedule in advance replacements for those carriers who it knows will be absent on a given day. However, the arbitrator disagreed, finding that this section is only “an instruction to supervisors to complete a particular form, described as a ‘Unit Daily Record,’ several days in advance.”
The arbitrator concluded that these instructions on the proper use of a form do not “assign or guarantee employees any hours.” Accordingly, the form does not “directly relate to wages, hours, and working conditions” as required by Article 19.
Although the award only addresses M-39 Section 126.3, Arbitrator Nolan’s opinion discusses criteria for determining when handbook and manual provisions are enforceable under Article 19. Nolan’s analysis should prove helpful to NALC stewards, branch officers, and arbitration advocates when preparing and presenting Article 19 grievances. C-31980
It’s nice to know that others feel the same way I do. Thank you.
Union membership is down, possibly due to this move. CCA employment is temporary for 360 day terms and can be separated at any time due to lack of work. After 5 days they can be reappointed. Remember, the union begins with “u” (you). A union can only be as good as its membership.
Chuck, the NALC took the issue all the way to an arbitrator. The arbitrator made the decision, not the NALC. If you have a problem with the decision, talk to the arbitrator! Why don’t you work with out a union. I’m sure the Postal Service, or any place you work, will treat you with the up most respect and high wages! Welcome to the new America. All you are is a cheap source of labor. Time to stand up and fight back. With out the unions, the Postal wages would still be very low. My father worked as an RPO clerk. In the 50’s he was paid 86 cents per hour! President Esenheimer vetoed six pay bills. So if you think things are bad now .You should know who your enemies are, it’s not the union. try going it alone.
Union John CCA’S don’t get sick leave. Mark you are crazy. The union wants as many pathetic people on the rolls to get dues. Wake up. Union does nothing good, takes your money so pathetic Union workers can sit on their fat lazy buts and do nothing. Ypu people have to sto drinking the Union kool aid and wake up. They do nothing for the good worker, only the workers who can’ t do their job. Wake up
people
You are wrong Mark and union John- the Nalc would rather have 10,000 non loyal members rather than 10 loyal members simply from the amount of dues they get….. it’s sad that more members don’t recognize this…. I am actually a UNION STEWARD so I know EXACTLY how things work! I have spoken with our state president and Rolando himself, and I got the same answers from both: “do not question the leadership of this union, but give to colcpe.” I WILL not encourage a CCA to join, until they become full time. I have had many issues with management about them, and they have begged me for help, but I can only do what our regional office tells me, and believe me that is not very much!!! The CCA position is a joke, and it was only designed to satisfy both sides- the union got 30,000 bodies and the PO had to hire someone so this is what they went with. If Rolando had the choice of hiring 30,000 CCA’s with no benefits, or 15,000 PTF’s with benefits who do you think he would pick? I will give you one guess and it’s not the PTF’s. Why do you think he is so against 5 day delivery and curb side boxes? “It will drive business away.” Right? Isn’t that what he has said? Ask the customers on your routes what they think. I have and have spoken with over 100 of them on a 600 stop route, and not 1, I repeat that: not 1, has said they want their mail on Saturdays or would they care if they had to put up a curbside box. You all can drink the koolaid and let the nalc think for you, but I will not. I have been in this union for almost 20 years, and I can read between the lines. If this next contract only gets us a 1% or so raise/year again, then I am out and will take my chances. I won’t play their games anymore, especially after what I have been told after I spoke to them. When they told me not to question their leadership, I figured I was doing exactly what I should: question their leadership since I pay dues also. I’m sorry if this is harsh, but it’s reality. Don’t get me wrong- the Nalc has done a few things to benefit me, but I feel that they should be doing more. Time will tell though if it happens.
The blame for the creation of the CCA category and fiasco is on the shoulders of NALC President Fred Rolando,who agreed to it in contract negotiations prior to arbitration to bring in more dues paying members at lower pay than TE’s in the previous he contract. After Das decided the terms of the 2010-2016 contract,Rolando denied that he negotiated for the creation of the CCA category.
Carrier chuck your comment seem to show how little you know about how things work and why you would have probably never considered working for the postal service if there had not been a union which got you the wages you have. Not to mention the amount of sick leave and annual leave you receive every year that people working non-union jobs can only wish for. If you are a member of the NALC, you and all member are the NALC and you are equally responsible for the contract. You clearly have no clue as to were you and all cca’s would be if there were no NALC and no contract.
It’s not about the CCAs, it’s about forcing the Postal Service to hire regular carriers, PTFs in other words career employees, not disposable employees. And if your a union member carrier Chuck you should be ashamed of your comment! Don’t like the union get out, plain as that!! The union would rather have 10 loyal members then 10,000 dis-loyal members.
What’s your point, carrier chuck? Don’t join the NALC?
Really?
So:
-Management will treat you with more dignity & respect when they know you’re a scab?
-You won’t get jerked around any more than union employees?
-You save money since you don’t pay union dues, and get free representation when you face discipline?
-Your co-workers won’t look at you differently when they learn that you’re a freeloader?
-The NALC does NOTHING for CCA’s that they can’t do for themselves on their own on a one-on-one basis with management’s representatives?
-The PTF position was something that was created out of the goodness of Postal management’s heart (and no negotiation with the NALC) to give employees like yourself & myself a career path to full-time regular status?
I think your frustration & ignorance is getting the better of you.
Thanks nalc! I will be sure to convince all cca’s to join the union because you have done so much for them…..all the way from no benefits to not being able to use AL for 90 days…. yes I know that it has all gone to arbitration, but why would any cca really want to join the union? can anyone tell me?….. wait, I know- because they have a career path to becoming full time….. well so did PTF’s and they got benefits
carrier chuck:
You are a Union steward and you know how things work, so you say. Well you may have forgotten that the Union does not always have the final say-so on what happens in negotiations, all they can do is their level headed best and hope for the same. When it goes to a third party for a decision, sometimes the Union prevails, sometimes management prevails, and sometimes the decision is somewhere in between. Do you really think that without a Union they would simply not cut your pay and benefits back to nothing simply because they would honor your seniority and your hard work through the years? Wake up dude, they could give a $hit less about any of that, we are all just numbers on their clipboard of what can we do to eliminate some expenses and highlight some phony productivity measurement so we can justify being in charge. If you think you would do better negotiating on your own, just look at what the USPS offered in the last contract negotiations and those cuts and take-backs would pale in comparison to what they would do if they were not held accountable to the collective bargaining agreement. If you have been working here this long and can’t figure out that blaming your Union is the answer, then you should probably quit your Union by quitting working at the USPS, because you are delusional if you think that it’s simply a ruse to collect more dues. Whether you want to admit it or not, things were not always better, things will continue to change, and we as Union members have to be willing to roll with those punches too, cuz we still have it better than if the alternative were the case and you had to fend for yourself every day with a boss who could walk right up to you and tell you that your route is no longer 8 hours, you are going to have to take another hour, get it done in 8, and if you make any mistakes, you will be fired, and we are going to cut your pay by 50 % if you still want to work here cuz the company can’t afford your salary anymore, and btw the company is not going to pay for any of your health insurance anymore so it’s all out of pocket now, and also the tsp matching money for retirement has been discontinued, and I could go on and on, but don’t you see sir, that the bottom line is all these things would be gone and then some if there was no collective voice on behalf of the people working here to check the sheer power brought down on the working class by not having any say so and having to turn back the clock to collective begging, or worse. I sure hope you realize where you are at in this place and have some pride in being a Union member, it’s always a struggle, but it’s worth it to have pride in being able to work for a company that does what we do, and have a few more rights than most of the rest of the working world which mostly includes the right to remain silent…or would you rather just be one step from your Miranda rights every day at work?