A letter carrier, Richie Ray, successfully grieved a new policy that imposed a blanket 60-minute office time for all carriers, regardless of mail volume. The grievance argued that this policy violated multiple articles of the National Agreement and disregarded established postal handbooks and manuals.
Here’s a breakdown of the key points:
The grievance cited specific sections of handbooks M-41 and M-39 to demonstrate the violation of existing office time standards. It also argued that the policy created a hostile work environment due to the undue stress placed on carriers.
Management’s response claimed the grievance was frivolous and cited Article 3, which grants management the right to manage, and ELM 665.15, which mandates employees to obey supervisor instructions. They argued the policy aimed to enhance productivity and reduce overtime.
The Dispute Resolution Team (DRT) ruled in favor of the union, finding the grievance to have merit. The DRT found that management’s imposed policy of a specific office time regardless of mail volume directly contradicted established postal handbooks and manuals.
The DRT ordered management to retract the policy, allow carriers to perform their duties according to established procedures, and conduct a service talk to inform carriers of the policy’s retraction.
Corey celebrated this victory as a precedent for challenging similar policies nationwide. He emphasized the importance of citing specific contractual provisions and using tools like work hour workload reports to support grievances.
Additionally, he addressed the issue of timeliness, using a case from National Arbitrator Richard Mittenthal as an example. This case established that continuous violations of the contract can be grieved at any point, regardless of when the violation began. This sets a precedent for challenging ongoing violations even if they weren’t initially grieved.