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No. 04-08 April
9, 2004 |
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Verification
Process Simplified |
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Additional
Letter Answers Questions |
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Following input from letter carriers throughout
the country regarding difficulties in verifying the cased
mail volume under the Moratorium on Route Counts and Inspections
announced April 1, NALC President William H. Young and Postal
Service representatives met April 9 and agreed on a simpler,
easier-to-use form which will be used to track the daily
cased mail volume on all routes.
The parties also agreed to a second
transmittal letter which answers a series of 25 questions
that had arisen from the field regarding this moratorium
and the route verification process.
Both the form
and second transmittal letter can also be found on the NALC
website: www.nalc.org.
Young was accompanied at the talks
by Executive Vice President Jim Williams, Vice President
Gary H. Mullins, and Director of City Delivery Fred Rolando.
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Agreement
on Route Inspection Moratorium
and Cased Mail Verification |
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Transmittal
Letter 2
April 8, 2004 |
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This is the second in a series of transmittal
letters relating to the April 1, 2004 agreement signed between
the U.S. Postal Service and the National Association of
Letter Carriers. To that end, the parties have agreed to
use the attached form to this transmittal to accomplish
daily verification of cased mail volume. This form will
be used in place of the DOIS worksheet and will be provided
to the union's representative on a daily basis. A copy of
this form will be maintained by both union and management.
As we have stated previously, the objective of this data
collection is to ensure that there is an accurate and proper
recording of cased mail volume.
Throughout the first week of the verification
process, both parties have received numerous questions regarding
implementation. Below you will find responses to these questions
that the parties have jointly agreed upon:
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1. Is cased
mail volume verified every day or only on days the route is
served by the regular carrier? |
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Response: A
route's cased mail volume should be verified each day,
whether the route is served by the regular, technician,
or any replacement carrier.
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2. Are auxiliary
routes included in the verification process? |
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Response: Yes.
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3. Are offices
not using DOIS included in the verification process? |
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Response: Yes.
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4. Is S999 mail
from the DPS included in the verification process? |
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Response: Yes.
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5. Is cased
mail that has been piece counted on automated equipment included
in the verification process? |
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Response: Yes.
It will be listed separately on the form. Normally, letter
carriers will be able to visually verify the accuracy
of the automated piece count. Disputes will be handled
in the same manner as with linear verification.
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6. For routes
that have a router as a permanent adjustment, can the router
continue to be used during the verification period? |
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Response: Yes.
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7. Can office
assistance be provided to regular carriers on their own route
that have medical restrictions? |
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Response: Only
if casing the whole route would exceed the medical restrictions.
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8. Does the
restriction of no office assistance apply when the regular
carrier is not on the route? |
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Response: No.
The restriction does not apply to technicians or other
replacements. It does, however, apply to the regular carrier
working on their own route on a non-scheduled day.
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9. May supervisors
conduct one-day efficiency office counts during the moratorium
period? |
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Response: No.
The moratorium includes route counts of all types including
one-day efficiency counts.
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10. May supervisors
complete forms 3999 on the street? |
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Response: No.
The moratorium includes route counts of all types including
3999s.
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11. Has a procedure
for resolving a supervisor-union representative verification
dispute been addressed? |
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Response: Local
management should notify the district labor relations/operations
contact who will resolve the process dispute with the
NBA office.
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12. If the local
parties have a minor route adjustment agreement pursuant to
MRA memorandum, does the moratorium apply? |
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Response: Yes.
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13. Can a count
and inspection mandated by a grievance-arbitration decision
or required by 271g be conducted during the moratorium period?
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Response: No.
These types of inspections are suspended during this time
and will be reviewed again in the Fall of 2004.
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14. Does the
moratorium on inspections and adjustments apply to all types
of routes? |
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Response:
Yes.
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15. Can a regular
carrier be pivoted in the office when there is undertime on
their own route during the verification period?
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Response:
Yes.
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16. Who verifies
the cased mail volume on a route that is pivoted?
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Response:
The first carrier assigned to case after the mail is distributed.
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17. What operations
number should the union representative be in while resolving
disputes and/or counting mail? |
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Response:
Steward time on the clock
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18. Can those
offices that have withheld positions in anticipation of excessing
after route inspections and adjustments continue to withhold
through August 31?
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Response:
Yes.
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19. When the
carrier and the supervisor agree on the cased volume, does
the union representative also have to verify the count?
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Response:
No.
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20. When the
supervisor and the union representative cannot agree on the
volume, will the two of them conduct a piece count?
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Response:
They, or another agreed-to third party, will count the
mail. The letter carrier assigned to the route does not
count the mail.
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21. Should we
record non-productive time spent counting the cased volume
as ‘stand-by' time (Operations Number 354)?
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Response:
No. The union representative counting the mail is on steward
duty time.
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22. Is headquarters
going to produce service talks on Moratorium issues?
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Response:
We believe that these Q&As should provide sufficient
information for the local parties, but we will consider
jointly prepared service talks if the need arises.
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23. How do we
respond to grievances filed on count verification activity?
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Response:
See the response to Question 11.
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24. Do we need
a written acknowledgment from the carrier agreeing to the
count?
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Response:
No.
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25. Can an acting
supervisor count mail?
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Response:
Yes.
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© 2001-2005 National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO |
