Questions and Answers

A. Since March 23, the day it was notified, the union has been doing everything it can to stop management from abolishing and reposting almost every bid job. On Monday, June 8, the union filed an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union has met with our national union officials about this issue. It even took the unprecedented step of asking National President John Hegarty to meet with Judy Herrick. That meeting took place on April 8, 2009.

The union also met with our regional and national contract administration team and with the Service's regional managers. We currently have our best and most-experienced union officials working on this issue.

We have been in close, almost daily, contact with Bill Hanna to figure out the intricacies of management's plan and to assert influence and control where possible. For example, the union said it would not condone management's plans to side-step Shared Services during the bidding process.

The union has made numerous requests for information but management has never provided some of the most important material, namely the job description of every single bid - including the all-important position number. Until the union can make a side-by-side comparison of every job, it has no way of knowing which jobs are affected and must be part of the expedited bidding process.

Q. Contractually, what can we do?

A. We can file a grievance for every single job that's abolished or reposted and we can demand out-of-schedule premium for all the time that a mail handler has worked off his or her schedule. We can also demand that management reverse its actions and return all jobs to their original state.

Q. Does the contract say that management can create 63 mail-handler relief jobs?

A. No. In fact, the contract is clear that each job must have a specific set of duty assignments.

Q. If there is no language in the contract allowing management to create relief jobs, why is it doing that?

A. Management has interpreted our Local Memorandum of Understanding's language about the tour being the section to mean it can create a job where a mail handler works in any area in the section (tour). The LMOU was written that way to make sure vacation and holiday scheduling and overtime were done fairly.

Q. How long will it take for these grievances to be heard?

A. At least several months. Judy knows the expensive risk she's taking - she would have to pay out-of-schedule premium to every single mail handler for a great number of hours if she loses. That's why she's telling her labor relations people to put this grievance on a fast-track. If the case goes before an arbitrator, it could take a year or longer to be heard.

Q. What's the likelihood that an arbitrator will side with the union?

A. It's a 50-50 shot. There is never any guarantee that any grievance will be won.

Q. Why didn't the union tell us when people would start receiving their letters?

A. A notice was posted on the bulletin board on May 19. That notice stated that people would start receiving their letters during the first week in June. And that's precisely what happened: Tour 1 began receiving letters on June 3. The poster also appears on the union's Web site.

Q. When will mail handlers on Tour 2 and Tour 3 receive their letters?

A. They could get them at any time. But management has said it would begin the expedited bidding process (on Tour 2 and Tour 3) shortly after the June 19 bid posting.

Q. I work on the platform on Tour 2. My drop days are Tuesday/Wednesday. The new schedule calls for platform people to be off on Tuesday/Wednesday. Since those are already my drop days will my job be reposted?

A. It' not that your job will be reposted. But your job will be "put in play" by the expedited bidding process. Tour 2 is losing nine jobs. So the contract says the most-senior person who's losing a job has the right to select a job from all those under him (or her). Once he's picked a new job, the next most-senior person will pick from all the jobs remaining. And then the next most-senior person will pick, and so on, until all the jobs have been selected.

Q. I read in the letter that Tour 1 people received that they can bid on any job that's posted. Can they bid on Tour 2 jobs?

A. If a Tour 2 job is posted, they can bid on it. But there won't be any Tour 2 or Tour 3 jobs posted.

Q. It's not fair that all the senior mail handlers from Tour 2 and 3 can infiltrate Tour 1 and take all the weekend jobs. Why is the union allowing this to happen?

A. First, it's speculation that will happen. Work hours may be more important to some people than weekends off. Second, the National Agreement governs whether or not the bid will be opened or closed. Tour 1 is an open bid because it is gaining five jobs. The other two tours are losing jobs and, therefore, those bids are closed. This is coming directly from the contract.

Q. Why doesn't management simply abolish everyone's job and start over?

A. Management must justify the need to abolish a bid job, in accordance with Article 12. Also, management is supposed to keep all disruptions to a minimum. That's been one of our biggest complaints: The union doesn't believe management explored every option to right-size the organization. It just took this drastic measure.

Q. I am constantly being moved from one area to another. Isn't this ever going to stop?

A. Well, to hear management tell it, once everyone is in their new bid jobs the movement from one place to another should be greatly reduced. Management says that's because no area in the plant is properly staffed at this time and that's what the abolishing and reposting is supposed to resolve.

Q. What if I'm on a change of schedule? Can I stay on my changed schedule after the new jobs go into effect?

A. That will be decided on a case-by-case basis and is being left to the discretion of the MDO on your tour.

Q. If I'm on a change of schedule, do I bid with my usual schedule or my current schedule?

A. You bid with your usual schedule.

Q. I'm on light duty. Can I still bid on a job?

A. Yes, as long as you provide documentation that says you will be able to do the job within six months.

Q. In the past, jobs that were changed were done by operation. Why not now?

A. The bidding process is per the National Agreement. Article 12.3.B4 says that a change in days off requires for the job to be reposted. Almost all reposted jobs are because of new non-scheduled days.

Q. If I'm a level 4 can I bid a level-5 job?

A. Only on Tour 1. Tour 2 and Tour 3 are closed bids by section and by level.

Q. Will there be any unassigned regulars after all new jobs have been awarded?

A. Management said there may be some, such as those on workers' comp.

Q. Is management trying to force the senior people to retire?

A. We believe so. It would then be able to hire replacement workers at a much cheaper wage. Also, it would spend less for new workers' health benefits, since any new workers are likely to be younger and less in need of said benefits.

Q. What if mail volume continues to fall?

A. Earlier this year, Postal headquarters in Washington floated the idea that it may reduce carrier delivery from six to five days. But, so far, there has been no further action taken. When asked if the Service was planning on furloughs for later this year, Judy said none were planned at this time. (The union reminds members that the Service's financial problems can be solved with the stroke of a pen if Congress passes HR 22. That bill will allow the Service to stop prefunding retiree health benefits. The Postal Service is the only government entity required to prefund its retiree health care expenses. It spends between $4 billion and $6 billion a year to do so.)