Paul Boulanger and Corey Walton lead a Concerned Letter Carriers (CLC) training session on enforcing the Joint Statement on Violence and Behavior in the Workplace (JSOV). Beginning with the 1991 Royal Oak tragedy, they explain the agreement’s history and how it protects letter carriers against harassment, intimidation, bullying, threats, and workplace violence.
The training walks stewards through identifying violations, developing issue statements, interviewing witnesses, gathering evidence, and documenting patterns of abusive management behavior. They discuss using PS Form 1767, requesting management disciplinary records, obtaining workplace climate surveys, and investigating harassment through the Initial Management Inquiry Process (IMIP).
Several national and regional arbitration decisions are examined to demonstrate the enforceability of the JSOV, the union’s information rights, and an arbitrator’s authority to impose corrective remedies.
The session concludes with discussions about building stronger remedies, holding higher-level management accountable, and the CLC’s proposed “Dogs of War” teams, designed to confront toxic working environments and support carriers nationwide.