Did They Wreck Your Route?
By Steve BurtMSALC Director of Education
Bad route adjustments do happen. The causes are many, including lack of management knowledge, mathematical errors in the adjustment process, and asking one carrier to conform to the performance of another when work is shifted.
The policy of using the worst possible time from either the Form 1840 (inspection week analysis) or the 1840-B (8-week time card analysis) or a selection of worst office and field times from these or several other possible sources -- and the deeming of the time selected to be the most representative -- is an almost certain guarantee that routes will be enlarged and
usually overburdened. If the adjustment process was biased against certain carriers or if management had targeted the unit to arbitrarily lose a number of routes, overburdened assignments are inevitable.
But you don't have to take it!
Very frequently, a route will prove to be overburdened after the carrier has covered the assignment for a number of weeks. In fact, demonstrating that the route cannot be routinely delivered in 8 hours is usually necessary before management will concede that something might be wrong. Even then, their usual response is to blame the carrier -- claiming that the overtime, field assistance, and curtailed mail are the carrier's fault due to poor work habits
or accusing the carrier of engaging in dilatory work practices.
Carriers have a strong protection when their routes are overburdened through the special inspection process. The right to a special inspection is found in the M-39 Handbook, Section 27 Special Route Inspections. See especially Section 271(g.).
Special route inspections may be required when one or more of the following conditions or circumstances is present:
a. Consistent use of overtime or auxiliary assistance. (When the X-Route process is utilized, routes may be "built up" to no more than 8 hours and 20 minutes during the interim period, see Memorandum of Understanding dated September 17, 1992.)
b. Excessive undertime.
c. New construction or demolition which has resulted in an appreciable change in the route.
d. A simple adjustment in the route cannot be made.
e. A carrier requests a special inspection and it is warranted.
f. Carrier consistently leaves and/or returns late
g. If over any 6 consecutive week period (where work performance otherwise satisfactory) a route shows over 30 minutes of overtime auxiliary assistance on each of 3 days or more in each week during this period, the regular carrier assigned to such route shall, upon request, receive a special mail count and inspection to be completed within 4 weeks of the request. The month of December must be excluded from consideration when determining a 6 consecutive
week period. However, if a period of overtime and/or auxiliary assistance begins in November and continues into January, then January is considered a consecutive period even though December is omitted. A new 6 consecutive week period is not begun.
h. Mail shall not be curtailed for the sole purpose of avoiding
the need for special mail counts and inspections.
Stewards should be prepared to grieve special inspection violations under the M-39 Handbook, Section 271(g.), citing Article 19 of the National Agreement. Seek reasonable monetary awards, such as $10 daily or penalty rate for all overtime suffered, if the special inspections are unreasonably denied or the adjustments are delayed .
271 When Required
Special inspections are requested in writing so that the carrier can prove that the request was genuinely made, and to indicate a reference date from which the 4 week requirement can be established. Arbitrators have awarded sizable sums of money to carriers when it can be shown that the carrier requested a special inspection and it was unreasonably denied, or when the
inspection took place and management ignored its 52 day time limit to subsequently adjust the route.
Disclaimer: The material in these articles is not presumed or intended to reflect an official position of the
National Association of Letter Carriers, of
Branch #1, NALC, or the Michigan State Association of Letter Carriers. These articles contain opinion statements of the writer offered for basic informational purposes only. There is no substitute for consultation with or representation by a trained advocate. The writer cannot assume responsibility of any type for the use of this material by others.
