I’ve been a Steward, a Craft Director and for a very short period of time a Legislative Director. Like many of you I’ve investigated and filed grievances for contract violations, where there was no interpretive dispute, and where the postal service was clearly in violation of the National Agreement. I thought that once I showed the contract violation and added the proof of the violation management would have to settle at the lowest levels, but they rarely did. You can imagine as a new Steward how disoriented I was when it was denied.
Truth be told in my experience and the experiences of the more and less experienced Stewards I observed, most of these violations are intentional due to the despotic tendencies of unqualified 204b’s, supervisors and managers. You know the ones that barely came to work and when they did come, they didn’t do their fair share but was promoted to EAS anyway due to favoritism, nepotism or something else. Unfortunately, there are a lot of this ilk at the Postal Service, and it needs to stop. Nevertheless, even on issues where the Joint Contract Interpretation Manual (JCIM) is clear they still deny it.
What I’ve found in my 4 years as a representative is that there is no coordination among locals, at least in this area, to police and enforce the contract. Bargaining unit work as stipulated in the contract, is our work. No manager, Postmaster, Supervisor, contractor, or other Craft employees employed by the Postal Service should be performing that work without consequence unless there are exceptions written into the contract. But when you have locals failing to enforce this axiom because union officials are too close to management or simply due to laziness or lack of knowledge, membership loses out and jobs are and can be lost.
Taking into account the different kinds and levels of the USPS facilities, which by the way the National Agreement has already addressed, union officials should still be protecting in all instances the rights of the members above and beyond their own discomfort, desires and self-serving causes.
Clerk work is Clerk work and it’s not to be performed by anyone other than a Clerk. Motor Vehicle work is for Motor Vehicle and should not be performed by anyone other than a Motor Vehicle Craft employee and Maintenance work is maintenance work and should not be performed by anyone other than a Maintenance Craft employee. The same applies to Mail Handlers and Letter Carriers. There is enough food on the table for us all to be satisfied. We are not scavengers and shouldn’t behave as such. Nor should we attempt to take more than our fair share. The meal set before us is not intended to fill the few, but rather, it’s intended to sustain us all. The contract allows space for local considerations within the boundaries of the National Agreement and even in that it only allows for certain things to be negotiated locally.
All locals should be in lock sync with the contract because this makes it easier to win grievances at the higher levels and to prove the Postal Service is in violation. If you see a violation at your facility, you can trust and believe that violation is occurring in other locals nationally as well.
In order for membership to get the best return on their investment in the union, the National Agreement must be strictly enforced, all the time and in all places. No local should be dissenting and no official should be hesitant to enforce the contract because it may negatively affect their chances of holding their seats and whatever benefits that seat affords them. But If you still want to continue along that path, please tell me what’s the point of Collective Bargaining.
The Community Steward 