Episode 313: Salted peanuts

0:00I fight with passion and he inspires. Are you ready for a war? Alright welcome back to From A It Arbitration Tuesday night. Just got back from a movie. Tracey and I love glossy movies. On slot. Have y'all heard of that one? On slot. It's getting terrible reviews. I love the movie. Now let me tell you something extremely violent. Terribly violent. Very bloody. But on slot. Very good movie if you like violent movies. But I was reading the reviews. It's getting keeled. I left thinking that's pretty damn good movie. But if you just love violence and bloody violence, on slot, it's your movie. I love the concept.

1:01The three killers in it. But it's a good movie to me. Anyway. I hope y'all had a fantastic day today. Worked today. Day after holiday. Got absolutely demolished with mail and packages. Heat. It went by yesterday but yeah. It's always good getting out there seeing my people talking to them. And so a good day. A very good day. I hope y'all had a fantastic day as well. It's going to be hot the rest of the week. Please be safe. Take care of yourself. Make sure you're doing the proper things. Just stay hydrated. Take breaks as needed in this heat. I'm going to cover just a few things today. Not many. So it's not going to be a long episode. I know I've always said that and it'll end up being three hours. But I've got just a few things I'm going to cover. But tomorrow will be at Branch 2200 in Pasadena. That's tomorrow. So Pasadena, anybody around there?

2:03Y'all come. Talk to us. Ask questions. We love that. So we'll be at Branch 2200 Pasadena tomorrow. And then Branch 411 San Bernardino Thursday. So Branch 411 San Bernardino Thursday. So make sure y'all come out and talk and holler at us. All right. I'll see you in everybody. We always have a fantastic time. And yeah, look forward to it. Couple more weeks, about three more weeks. Those ballots come out. And we're going to run through this tape. A lot of people reached out today talking about business agents going around their regions, coming into their offices handing out stuff. Thank you. We will definitely address it. Some major stuff going on that will definitely get things overturned in some of these regions. Crazy stuff happening. Crazy stuff. Intimidation. Things like that and like what is going on here?

3:04Is an election. My God. But crazy things going on man in this country over this election. You know, the mudsling and stuff like that, you got three more weeks. Three more weeks. And the constant stuff coming out. It's constant. There's nobody telling each other they love each other on social media. They're not saying man best of luck to you. I love you. It's his full-on drama. But he got about three more weeks of it. But keep reaching out to me with things that are going on. We're definitely getting that in the hands of people who need it. And I love you. I do. And we're going to have a great election. We're very excited about it. And I hope you are too. Just make sure you spread the word. That's all we need. And it'll take care of itself. Just spread the word. Okay. And everything else like I said, everything else is going to be fine.

4:05I want to talk about a few things like I said. First off, I don't know if you saw this but the postal worker who was critically injured when his vehicle was hit in the rear. Did you see that? The carrier lost a leg. These things happen way too often in our craft. We're dying out there. We're getting murdered. We're getting robbed. We're getting hit. Mamed. The heat issues we have going on. And we can't convince an arbitrator that we deserve a higher pay than clerks. Is that what the idea is at national? I'm not going to get into that stuff. Those are normally for the Monday editions. We're talking about certain things like that. But again, as light blue, you can't convince somebody that we deserve higher pay, that

5:06we do more. And we're at risk. You will not have one clerk ever get dismembered, mained for doing their job. Not one distribution clerk will ever get run over. Will ever get hit in the rear and get a leg removed or murdered out there delivering mail or succumb to the heat. Things like that. And so the fact that we don't think that we can convince an arbitrator that we deserve more money. Matter of fact, we have a national arbitrator's decision that says we should get more money. So I don't understand the mindset. I just don't. But pray for the brother that happened to, okay, that is a tragic, tragic thing. And yeah, a lot of people sent me that. And I just wanted to say, hey, pray for, pray for that individual. Pray for our brother and that that happened to terrible situation, terrible.

6:10But some discipline I'm going to cover, then a fantastic decision. The chief Stewart sent it to me. And it's about the willful delay of mail and Kurt in not delivering mail to keep from paying overtime. Now we've got two very good ones. And so we'll go over that and go over a few things that people sent to kind of quick things that will address, okay. And then we'll be done with it. I'm yawning like crazy. I don't know why. I wasn't sleepy when I walked in here. As soon as I sit in this chair, I want to go to sleep. Maybe I have to start doing my episode standing up. But as soon as I sat in this chair, man, my eyes are watering and I'm yawning. And so that gone anyway, anyway, here's something that somebody sent me. So walking the day, the day after the holiday, and I find undelivered mail from Saturday.

7:11The 3996 was at my case who was supposed to carry it. I asked the carry what happened. She stated management would not let them work overtime on Saturday. And did not get carried. Supervisor told everyone that no one was allowed to work overtime and mail was left. Didn't we just have a win on this somewhere? And so that's where I'm going to put in this arbitration, okay, is on that. And so this is happening nationwide. I don't know if there's been a directive from national on it. I've not seen one if there has been. Because to me, this is one of the most important things that we're dealing with is this willful delay of mail. Congressmen and Congresswomen need to hear about it. People like Josh Holley who keep firing up the Postmaster General need to hear about it. The newspapers and media need to hear about it.

8:12And they need to understand what's going on with the Postal Service. It's not a Postal business. It's a Postal Service. And so when people pay us to deliver things, we need to deliver it. We don't need it sitting on a floor for however long. And that's something that when we take over, I will make sure that there are avenues for people to reach out to us to tell us what's being left. And there's also avenues for me to go and tell people this is what's happening. I will do that when we take over. I promise you that. I'm sick and tired of the service ruining itself for numbers and for money. We're a free service. Okay. And so I'll address that decision here in just a second. Here's another thing. And this is being handled, but I'm just going to read it.

9:13It's been grieved. And so, but this person just put it out. The day after Labor Day, we begin tour at 7 a.m. as usual. The hot case is not ready for first drag and won't be until about 740. And parcel pitching is a long way from finishing. 20 minutes in. The supervisor comes around and gives us every single carrier a leave time of 8 a.m. And a return time of 3.30 p.m. This is one week after the station manager was preaching about how we need to make our 3996 estimates reasonable. These guys are only forthcoming with these guys are only forthcoming with information when their system projects under time. If we're at triple our base, they'll just instruct us to have an eight hour day. Won't even give us the protection. It's blatantly dishonest stemming from a foundation of disrespect for our carriers.

10:16And that's true. I'm going to ask them where are they getting this eight eight p.m. or eight a.m. leave time from. If I come in at 7, that's obviously the hour office time. I come in at 7 and you tell me they have to leave at 8, where are you getting that from? I'm going to request the data. And obviously we're probably going to have a violation of the 1769. Right talking about Dois and these projections. Projections are not the sole determinant for carriers leaving or return time or daily workload. And so M1769, there's others, but they're handling that. And so I'm not going to get in at too much because I have great faith in them. They've done a fantastic job with things prior. But I just wanted to let you know again, these are things that we're dealing with nationwide. The hour office time is still going on. We were been talking about this for three years now.

11:17It's still going on. And as far as I know, I could be wrong. There's nothing come from national to address it. Nothing. They're probably just leaving it up locally. The problem is I don't know if any business agents have put out anything locally to deal with the hour office time or 45 minute office time or 30 minute office time or 20 minute office time. I don't know. It could have been. There could be things out there. I've not seen anything. But it's been going on for three years. So I doubt it has. And so we still have stewards fighting that fight every single day to protect our people. And so there's just another thing going on. We come in at seven. The entire station has to leave at eight. All of them have to be back at 3.30. My mail's not even up. 20 minutes in. You're telling me these things. Where are you getting your return time from? Where are you getting your return time from?

12:19Don't know. Just straight eight hours. And so my mail's not even up. You're giving me a leave time of eight and a return time of 3.30. And so they said they were handling this class action. And so that's going to take care of that. We saw the thing about hip that was going around M 2017. We're a Senate interpretive says dear Brian on several occasions. Our representatives met at the interpretive step to discuss case number this regarding the heat illness prevention program. Hip, time limits are extended by mutual consent. The parties discussed whether the hip and specifically the training portion could be deemed a contract violation if not completed. The parties recognized that the hip is developed and administered by the postal service at the national level with the purpose of protecting our employees against heat related illnesses and must comply with the provisions of the collective burning agreement.

13:22While the hip is not a contractual requirement. The parties recognized management's responsibilities under Article 14 of the National Agreement accordingly. Issues arising related to the hip program will be discussed by the national parties. Therefore this issue is closed. Any other issues remaining or grievances held pending the outcome of this national case will be processed and accords with Article 15 of the National Agreement. So any grievances in the system that were held up based on this interpretive issue will now go to arbitration. And that's all that is. And so if it's not a requirement to do it, why is it falsified? Why falsified? If it's not a requirement, if it's not a requirement, you just don't do it. But why would you falsify it? Why would it go into our hero training records as something that we've completed when we haven't? If there's no requirement to do it.

14:24People are falsifying it today. Why? It's not a requirement. Brother Gates in the media, the Postal Service said that he had received his hip training. When in fact, it was falsified. So if it's not a requirement to do something, if it's just a suggestion, if it's just something that's out there that they wish they would do, or we should do, why is it being falsified? And nationwide. Now, I know Brian said that there were discrepancies. He refused to say falsified. There were discrepancies. Where is my director of safety and health on this? He's going around now telling everybody that he had begged Renfro to send this national and he wouldn't. And he's also going around telling everybody that he's the one who got Renfro removed.

15:26I swear to God, he's going to different places and saying he's the one who had Renfro removed because he sent an email saying he no longer supports him and then everybody else followed suit. And so holy smokes, man. Y'all didn't do anything like blues what he's saying. None of this stuff has been gone over four years. This up evil. That didn't have anything to do with it. He did it himself. And so all the kudos to him for the email he sent getting Renfro and Barnard out of there. That's how powerful he is. But anyway, there's that about the hip. Here's another thing sent out over the scanner. Please explain the reason of not sticking to your morning estimate. Please explain the reason of not sticking to your morning estimate. And this is on a scanner. I'm not answering that. I'm not answering that question. I'm leaving that be all right because I'm not going to be given an investigative interview

16:32on a scanner. Okay. Now when I get back and they say why didn't you answer it, I need my steward present. Okay. Don't ever answer a question on a scanner. Don't ever write anything down that you don't want to testify to later. Okay. Never write something down that you don't want to testify to later because you will. You'll go in there and they'll say, Hey, look, we sent you this. And this is what you said. And this is an investigative interview. So don't answer questions on the scanner. I would not do it. I'm going to say when I get back, I'll need my shop steward. That's all I would say. When I get back, I'll need my shop steward. I'm not going to be investigated on a scanner. Here's another thing. We keep getting threatened in the morning about stationary events and that they will inspect us because of it. I feel like I'm having to work quicker than I normally do for fear of being disciplined.

17:36I would not work quicker. Okay. If they want to discipline me for stationary events, come on and do it. I've got a lot of things that will protect me from that. Then again, we should have addressed this nationally when it started. Section 134 of the M39 is our best friend. It's the only language either side has on how you're going to do things on the street. It's the only they have no language that protects them from what they're doing right here. None. We have everything. Section 134, that's all I need. You can't spy or use covert techniques. If there's a question about something I'm doing on the street, you need to get up and come out there and watch me. You've got to accompany me. So threats, if they're threatening me, I want to file agreements on that under Section 115, 4 of the M39 handbook, maintain mutual respect.

18:37Okay. And then I want to put in my contentions 134. If you've got an issue with something that my carriers are doing on the street, you need to come out there and watch them. But I'm going to file a class action that management is threatening us with whatever, based off of stationary events that they have no idea if there's anything going on or not, because they've not come out there. But again, and I don't know. I don't think nationals address the stationary events. I know that my president said there's an inconvenience. But I don't know how business agents are handling it. If they are, maybe they are, I don't know. I've not heard anything. I've not seen anything. It's still going on today. So I'm going to say that they haven't. But when we get in there, I'm going to address stationary events. If I've got to take it to national level arbitration, I'm going to do it. If we lose, they're already doing it.

19:38We don't lose anything. But at some point, at some point, this union is going to have to fight back on something, on anything. This union is going to have to fight back against the abuse that the city letter carrier is taking. At some point, and it will be when we win, we will fight back. There's another thing. There's another thing. It's a video that a brother put out about having to deliver. It was misunderstood by the comments I was reading. A lot of people are kind of dismissive. This is a postal worker describing weeks in a vehicle without working AC or even a fan. In a 97 degree heat deserves to be heard. If repeated safety complaints are going on, unanswered USPS management needs to explain

20:41why I take actions. And it had this brother in there talking about having to deliver out this vehicle with no AC and no fan. Now everybody on the comments was saying, hey, I've been delivering this many years and we've not had any AC either. He has no fan, nothing to circulate air, even though it's like a confection of him in those vehicles. You know what I'm talking about? You're just circulating hot air around. But still, if you have any kind of sweat, a fan will make a difference. Right? Any kind of sweat whatsoever. If you pour water on you, the fan will cool you down. Right? I would not drive a vehicle that has no fan. I'm not doing, I'm going to put in a safety form on that. I'm not driving it. If they give me a direct order to drive it, I'm not doing it. I'm not driving a vehicle that has no fan in this heat. I'm not going to do it.

21:43If they threaten me with discipline, I'm not driving a van or anything with no fan in it. Not doing it. They can fix the fan. But we only have one means of any air circulation in that vehicle that's going to reach about 140 degrees and it's the lone fan. And so if I have no fan, not driving, I'm going to tell them, need to fix the fan or do something else. If I'm giving you a direct order to get in it, not doing it. So what are we going to do now? Will you get an investigative interview? We'll come on with it and hurry up. I'm not driving in that van. Not driving the LLV. Not driving FFV. Anything like that with no fan. Just not doing it. If it's unsafe, you cannot make me do it. My life is more important than the mail that you'll keep delaying.

22:45It just is. Not going to do it. All right, here's some discipline that I want to cover. And it was a carry that every day has the same route. And at one portion of the route, they do a U-turn. They always do it. So when they reached out to me, I said, just get all the 39.99s. Anything like that, showing that management is ridden with you because they all write down street by street, delivery point, whatever. And they should have on the 39.99 where you do a U-turn. And if it's not been corrected, if that's just your normal line of travel, you don't deviate, you do a U-turn. Because they do it every day at this one particular spot. Well, it does a U-turn this one day and it gets hit. And so when you have something like this, there's a lot of things that go into it.

23:45Your head starts racing. How are you going to beat it? It's a seven day suspension. What I always do is when I get the decision letter, I'm going to have the investigative interview, I'll probably have the disciplinary action request or whatever y'all call it. And then the discipline. And so what I'll do is I'll get a note pad. And I'll put down the eye, eye. What contractual provisions were talked about in the investigative interview? And I'm going to write those down. And then I'm going to get the disciplinary action request and they will have contractual provisions on there that they have violated. I'm going to write that down. And more than likely they're going to be different. Then I'm going to get the notice of whatever letter warning, seven day, four to day removal. And I'm going to write the contractual provisions down on the pad as well. Okay. So I'm going to have three different sets of contractual provisions.

24:46Now one of the things I always do when I handle discipline is if I have a letter of warning, let's say letter warning. I've got an investigative interview. It's got two or three contractual provisions on it. Then I get the disciplinary action request. Normally you won't have those on the letter warning. So let's say a seven day because that's going to require concurrence. I get a seven day. So I look at the disciplinary action request on the seven day and it'll have some contractual provisions on it. Then you'll have a concurrence. Then you'll get the notice of charges. And if it's different, if it's different on the notice of charges than the investigative interview or the disciplinary action request, I'm going to say that that removal or whatever the seven day is not properly concurred on because the contractual provisions on the seven day were not concurred on.

25:49Does that make sense? I've got an investigative interview. I'll write those down. The disciplinary action request, I'll write those down. If that notice has anything different on there than those two things, anything different whatsoever. I'm going to say that that notice is not properly concurred on because those things were not sent up. Right? The things on the notice were not concurred on. The concurring officials say I looked at the investigative interview and I looked at the disciplinary action request and I agreed with the discipline. Then how did these things get on this notice? How did this provision right here get on this notice? Well, I don't know. So you didn't concur on that? No. Then it's not properly concurred on. Okay? I'm hoping that makes sense. But I've done that since day one. Here's the charge. Now listen to me. It's very important.

26:50We always go with this. You do dates. You do charges. Right? Because when I have my day in court, what does it say? Because the thorough investigation completed before administering the discipline, management must make an investigation to determine whether the employee committed the offense, management must ensure that his investigation is thorough and objective. This is the employee's day in court privilege. Employees have the right to know with reasonable detail what the charge or charges are and to be given a reasonable opportunity to defend themselves before the discipline is initiated. Employees have the right to know with reasonable detail what the charges are. Okay? Always remember that when you deal with discipline. Here's the charge. Subject notice of a seven day paper suspension.

27:51You're being issued this seven day calendar. No time off suspension for the following reasons. Now, what do you think of when you see unsatisfactory performance? You know what I think of? ELM Section 375.2. Unsatisfactory performance. That's the only place you'll find it. 375.2 of the L employee labor relations manual. Unsatisfactory performance. And here's the definition unsatisfactory performance is a level of performance that is repeatedly or consistently below the minimum requirements expected of an employee in the position based on an evaluation of job related factors such as reliability, willingness to work with fellow employees, quantity or quality of work production and attendance.

28:51If a suit visor determines that an employee's performance is unsatisfactory and reasonable efforts towards improving performance to a satisfactory level have not been successful, effort is made to reassign the employee to a job that the employee can be expected to perform satisfactorily. If there is no such job available and if disciplinary action must be taken, the appropriate adverse action procedure is followed. That's unsatisfactory performance. Remember that. Anytime you see unsatisfactory performance on a charge, it's going to say in 375.2 unsatisfactory performance, unsatisfactory performance is a level of performance that is repeatedly. So I'm going to see if he's repeatedly done this U turn and gotten in an accident or consistently below the minimum requirements expected of an employee in this position based

29:53on an evaluation. So hopefully we got an evaluation in this seven day. Here we go unsatisfactory performance. So we've already beaten the seven day on the charge. The seven day is already defeated on the charge unsatisfactory performance. Because it says it was a thorough investigation completed. This is the employees day in court privilege. Employees have the right to know with reasonable detail what the charge are. The charge is unacceptable for unsatisfactory performance. So we've already beaten it there. On August 6, 2026, you're involved in a motor vehicle accident while in the course of your official duties. The investigation indicates you failed to abide by USPS safety policies and regulations resulting in a collision, property damage and liability for the postal service. On August 20, 2026, management conducted an investigative interview with you to afford

30:55you an opportunity to explain your actions during the interview. You admitted to being aware employees are responsible for performing all duties in a safe manner. For complying with all postal service safety policies and for driving defensively and professionally while being all state and local regulations. Furthermore, you confirmed that you have been trained and received instruction on how to operate a postal service vehicle safely. In the written statement you provided on August 6, so that's the day of the accident. I'll talk about that in a second. You stated that you're traveling east on this street when you veered onto this street to complete the U-turn on that street. During this maneuver, the POV entered this street westbound from that street and I'm sorry, I'm just not going to read the straight name. In positions itself, you're line of travel as you completed the U-turn resulting in the collision.

31:56You also stated that you did not see the vehicle entering your line of travel because of a tree on this street was blocking your view. You were asked by the police officer on scene if you had stopped your vehicle before continuing to U-turn to the left and you said no and added that the approaching vehicle was not visible from your LOV at 175 feet due to the tree on this street being in the way. Your answers are disingenuous since you have identified a single tree as the causal factor at two separate locations. You chose to complete the U-turn without being certain you were safe to do so. In addition, this state's revised statutes, 8.11.365 states, you cannot execute a U-turn anywhere your vehicle cannot be clearly seen by approaching drivers from either direction within 500 feet inside city limits which resulted in you receiving a citation.

32:56That's the reason I want the 39.99s to show that this is my normal line of travel every single day. If you had an issue with it, one of those 39.99 rides somebody should have told me don't do that. But if I've been doing it since day one, you're going to have very difficult time upholding that right there on me. The explanations for your actions are unacceptable and do not absolve your responsibility to adhere to USPS safety regulations. You admit to having knowledge of these requirements prior to the incident but have failed to uphold them. Your actions are in violation of the following sections of USPS handbooks and menus. Now let's see if they put in 375.2 under satisfactory performance because that's what I'm charged with. Let's see if it's in here. ELM66515 obedience to orders. Now you're going to have to find somebody that told me not to make that U-turn. If it's obedience to orders, now if you're just going to say follow all safety protocols

33:58or follow all state or local laws, then that's where the 39.99s are going to come into effect. ELM814.2D responsibilities. All employees responsible for performing all duties in a safe manner. ELM831.3332A drivers responsibilities. Drivers must drive safely and offensively. ELM831.3332C drivers responsibilities. Drivers must obey all safety and local traffic laws. In postal service driving policies. EL814.X1C general rules. Yield the right of way and make any other concessions necessary to avoid an accident. EL814.X1G general rules. Enter all run regulated or unprotected intersections slowly and cautiously. Slow down and do not enter cross street until you are sure you can do so safely.

35:00In reaching my decision to propose this discipline I've considered your knowledge of USPS policy and regulations, lack of accountability for your actions, the potential for a more tragic result. Now I'm going to be all over that as an advocate. The potential for a more tragic result. And so you based your decision partly on something that didn't happen for potential of something happening. They do that a lot with roll away runaways. This could have been much worse if there is a school bus or one of there are school children down there and this vehicle rolled down the street it could have run over. We cannot take that into consideration that's not what happened in this accident. So anytime they say something like the potential for a more tragic result, jump all over that. We don't go by what potentially could have happened.

36:01We go by what happened. And your complacency for the practice application of US Postal Safety Policies is for these reasons that this level of corrective action is necessary. So they cannot say that that was not part of it because it says it is for these reasons. One of the reasons the potential for a more tragic result. We can't go by that. That will fail every just calls principle. Right? That does not do process. What could have happened? And so but what was not in there? 375.2 unsatisfactory performance. That was not in there. And that's exactly what you charged me with unsatisfactory performance. Okay? So that's what I'm going to point out unsatisfactory performance and I'm going to explain that to the arbitrator. We'll put that in. We got contentions. This is unsatisfactory performance. And it's repeatedly or consistently below the minimum requirements. I've never had an accident before doing this.

37:04So that doesn't qualify for unsatisfactory performance. If you wanted to charge me with an unsafe act, been a little bit harder for us, right? But unsatisfactory performance is clearly spelled out in the ELM under 375.2 unsatisfactory performance. And that's what we're going to get them with. Okay? And that's without anything. That's only the charge. Another thing that I've always done in arbitration and arbitrator Woolitz would love it is when they put in these things, EL814 section X1G or C. And I would ask the supervisor, while the case file is closed, I would say, can you define for me ELM or EL814 section X1C? Because they did not put that on there. That is labor showboating. Labor does not come in there and testify.

38:05That is labor showboating. Putting things on there, I'm going to tell you. That was probably not in the out or in the disciplinary action request. That's probably new. For somebody from labor saying we'll put that on there because it shows how smart I am. And everybody down there will be wooing on all that stuff about these things. I'm going to ask the supervisor, Mr. or Madam, can you define or tell me what EL814 section X1C general rule states and they will 100% of the time start opening up their file, say, hold up, don't open up the file. Don't open up the file. Do you know what it states? Well, no, I'd have to look at it. Okay. What about EL814 section X1G general rules? Do you know what it states? Well, I have to look at it. Okay. When you go to the sub questions of just calls, is there a rule? And if so, was the employee aware of the rule?

39:08Is one of those? You're not even aware of the rule that you cited against the grievant. How would he know it if you didn't read it to him? Is there a rule? So was the employee aware of the rule? Was the employee 401 of the disciplinary consequences for fail to follow the rule? It is not enough to say, well, everybody knows that rule or we posted that rule ten years ago. So if there is a rule and the employees aware of the rule, define EL814 section X1C to me. Can't so you don't even know the rule that you're citing against the grieve it No What about a L814 section X1 G? Do you know what that states no? So you don't even know that rule that you're citing against the grieve it No, and so those are just games we play when we're in arbitration

40:12It's always fun to get management in those crosshairs like that because they have no idea what in hell to do They'll be looking at their advocate and I'll say I'm over here They can't help you and I would say that you can ask anybody this ever been in there with me. They can't help you now I need to know what the rule states. I don't know Well, you expect the grieve it to know also will always go back to article 29 Okay, article 29 to 29 to The mere fact that an employee was involved in a vehicle accident is not sufficient to warrant automatic suspension or Revocation of driving privileges or the automatic application of discipline and we'll always put that in our Contentions arbitrary to Roberts love that he would always cite that On our behalf when we go in there. We would always put that in there, but So there's just seven days. I don't see anything listed about a letter of warning and

41:17So if there was no letter of warning then they have skip progression and and that's a whole another thing, right? We'll get them on that as well. You got arbitration sites I've talked about all the time where it's a mandate They cannot skip progression To be correct if he must be progressive, right and the very first sentence says what? Was the very first sentence of article 16 state in the administration of this article a basic principle shall be that Dispons should be corrective in nature rather than punitive Was the M39 state is just says rather than shall it says must is the exact same language So the very first sentence of section 115 of the M39 handbook and the very first sentence of 161 state the same thing In the administration of this article basic principle shall or must be that this one should be corrective in nature rather impunitive And if there is no letter of warning we're gonna put that in there and you're also got several other sections that cover it, right?

42:22So there's a little bit of discipline Right, we're gonna handle that we're gonna handle that about delay in the mail got another fantastic decision on delay in the mail Winnie more of these and Nationally, we should be all over this like I said I've already read one It's see 33686 remember I read this the other day see 33686 Yes in 2018 here. We've got one from 2026 It's see 37900 now this was sent to me By the chief steward who obviously did a fantastic job And he said this is how you say my name Okay, he knows I will butcher a name in a heartbeat, but It's from our trainer minus calco and the grievances sustained by curtailing the mail to prevent paying penalty overtime Management violated articles five and 19 and the mission statement and federal statute 39 USC 101

43:29If anybody's delay in mail and we have it all over the place Get this decision 37900 okay, it's gonna have an issue statement for you Because a lot of people like what is the issue statement? Joshua Shroom did a fantastic job and I may do that next week I'm gonna have the war phone next week, but I may do that to his grievance starter on delayed mail Very good, but did USPS management violator equals 19 5 and 8 of the National Grid by unilaterally limiting daily work hours to 10 hours and curtailing delaying mail in order to do so Facts and background this class action arbitration hearing was held in Rutland Vermont on August 18th, 2026 The avic of the United States Postal Service here and after referred to as USPS or management or postal service is Diamond Fulcher the advocate for the National Association of Letter Care is here and after referred to as a union is Daniel Gordon

44:34management presented one witness Curtis King and Postmaster of the Rutland Virginia Vermont installation union presented four witnesses Lucas Bachel City Letter Care NLC branch 495 Stewart and informally represented Chris Greenow City Letter Care NLC branch 495 president and formally represented Nysa Bachel I guarantee he's gonna master me tomorrow. Say you still got it wrong. It's Lucas Bachel That's what I'm looking at Okay, it's so Jay Bassett City Letter Care and Sausa makes holy shit. You should have told me this one make Sama Vouch City Letter Care all witnesses testified under oath administered by the arbitration and all were subject to direct and cross examination In lieu of oral or written closing statements the prize agreed to file memorandums limited to 10 pages and do on before August 28th So they filed a brief

45:36The facts are essentially undisputed honor about January 30th Curtis King Postmaster of the Rutland Vermont Post Office gave a Server-Sustainup talk to the Rutland Vermont letter carriers Postmaster King informed the carriers of a new policy Received from senior management and they will always do that. It will always be somebody else's That's always say hey, man. We got something from the district matter. It's gonna sound crazy You got one minute to deliver packages. They'll always put it on somebody else Going forward all carriers were forbidden to work penalty overtime The delivery of packages and all scannable parcels would take precedence over flats including first class mail The carriers were instructed if they could not deliver all mail without going into penalty overtime over 10 hours All undelivered mail should be brought back to the station When the carriers returned forms 1571 should be completed if necessary To the new policy all carriers were mandated to be off the clock prior to being on the clock over 10 hours

46:38I'm going to read this scanner message that somebody sent me Says all carriers start delivering all packages now You're required to be back at the office within eight hours When you're done with your packages go back to deliver mail until you return to the office So this is exactly what's happening here, right? And then there's more things that people had sent Another person sent me this No dps to leave On this street Tuesday They want parcels to clear completely with no failures then if we have time Drive back and take out the mail after the parcels are done Only parcels delivered and then if you have more time come back and get the mail This is another place the different place. So it's happening everywhere and we need to be addressing it nationally There should be a template nationally sent out nationally to where we can handle it nationally because it's an epidemic

47:41And so Back to this On February 17th postmaster king is part of the union's discovery was asked the following five questions On Friday 1326 did you stop carriers from casing to give a stand-up talk pretending to attend our work limit? Yes In your own words what was the instructions given by you by the area vice president pertaining to a 10-hour limit area vice president instructed the pung he relayed to me no penalty overtime What instructions if any were you given to deal with undelivered mail due to limiting work hours Deliver packages and bring the mail back within 10 hours Are you aware of the first paragraph of article three in the j cam stating While postal management has the right to manage the postal service It must act in accordance with applicable laws regulations Contract provisions arbitration awards letters of agreement and memoranda. Yes

48:42Contents the union in the universe that the unilateral mandate issued by management via the service talk To have all letter carriers off the street before they are over the clock 10 hours Even if all the mail has not been delivered violates article five and eight of the national agreement And via article 19 violates the m432.32 And 665.13 Handbook m41 12.1 And 39 US code 101 notwithstanding the article three grants management the exclusive right to maintain the efficiency Of the operations and trust it to it The union argues that article three requires that this right must be consistent with applicable laws and regulations The union contains article five of the national agreement was violated article five states and full the following The employer will not take any actions affecting wages hours and other terms and conditions of employment as defined in section 8d

49:45Of the national labor relations act which violate the terms of this agreement Or are otherwise inconsistent with this obligations under law article five prohibition of unilateral action Thus article five prohibits management for making unilateral change affecting wages hours or working conditions in consistence In consistent with this obligations under law emphasis added According to national arbitrator Bernstein the inclusion of the term inconsistent with its obligations under law affords the union the ability to enforce all of management's obligations through arbitration Specifically using contract law and the reference in article five to the National Labor Relations Act Butresses the union's ability as well as management to use the agreements arbitration procedure under article 15 of the national agreement The union argues the inconsistent with this obligations under law line which in article five

50:46applies to article eight hours of work Under article eight five letter carriers on the overtime desired list or the work assignment list For full-time carriers only designed to work overtime on their assigned route are able to work up to 12 hours per day This 12-hour daily limit was a change to the 2023-2026 national agreement And it's got the language there In addition, L-432.32 maximum hours allowed Limits the time a letter carrier can work in a single day to 12 hours This includes any meal breaks or any other type of break Therefore in any workday non-employ can be on the clock for more than 12 consecutive hours And it's got the language there The union argues that management by limiting the hourly limit to 10 hours directly Contravenes the 12-hour limits in article eight And L-432.32 and thus acts in a manner inconsistent with his obligations under law

51:48I would get this decision It's got a beautiful blueprint a roadmap for you Beautiful language all these things are going your contentions This is very well done The union vehemently argues that letter carriers have an absolute duty to not curtail any of the days may In fact is important to deliver all the mail that failure to do so can have significant criminal consequences for USPS employee Handbook M41-6-1-12.1 efficient service Begins by stating that letter carriers are required to provide reliable and efficient service If a letter carried knowingly or willfully obstruct or retard the mail federal statutes and post penalties This section further states that letter carriers do not get immunity from arrest for violations of law Moreover, letter carriers expected to discharge their assigned duties conscientiously and effectively ELM-665.13 discharge of duties the union contends that curtailing the mail

52:50Purposefully and arbitrarily does not effectively fulfill the mandate of ELM-665.13 Similar to Handbook M41-6-1-121 in which the union emphasizes that the letter carriers do these to deliver the mail and provide efficient and reliable services to the customers on their routes Is sacrosanct and should be not and should not be compromised by curtailing the delivery of mail The mission statement adopted by the Board of Governors in April 2020 likewise elevates the duty of the letter carriers To be at the pinnacle of the postal service In fact the union presents that hb m41 uphose the mission of the postal system Got the language there The importance of reliable and efficient services also the theme of 39 us code Section 101 postal policy similar to the mission statement adopted by the Board of Governors 39 us code 101 fairly codifies the postal policy of the usps and it's got the language there

53:54The union also emphasizes that management decision to direct the carriers not to exceed 10 hours Even if all the mail was not delivered was not based on an emergency Or a LMU or any exigent or unforeseen circumstances as permitted pursuant to article 3f It was not a response to any of these circumstances, but rather was a unilateral decree created by managerial fiat Furthermore, it was not based on the volume of mail or the differing daily circumstances In section 19a of the 8190 the following statement is the remedy requested by the union The union requests that the usps management stop the policy of shutting off service To the American public for the sole purpose of avoiding the payment of overtime with a double-time rate to all city letter carriers Lucas Bashal a Rutland post office letter care and the chief steward for any LC branch 495 Testified for the union he described the service taught by PM King of the new policy of keeping the carriers to no more than 10 hours for the day

55:03If the carrier was getting close to reaching the 10-hour limit The carrier was instructed to switch over to deliver parcels The witness report time is 745 AM Inning at 615 PM including 30 minutes for lunch The witness explained the OTDL sign-up sheet The witness is a ptf and thus he is not on the OTDL sheet 41571s were discussed representing mail that did not get delivered On February 9th, 2026 approximately 469 letters And 35 flats were returned undelivered representing routes 1 11 and 14 On February 17th, 2026 the 1571 for route 1 indicated 120 letters 2 newspapers 50 magazines 7 flats and 17 packages were undelivered On cross-examination the witness agreed that the curtailment was not an everyday occurrence

56:04However Stewart-Bachal testified if it could not have been delivered it should have been delivered The witness was asked why the the case filed and not have any clock rings in to show who was available to work on the two days in question Advocate Fulture stated perhaps some carriers were not available due to a scheduling issue Or they may have had to end their tour early The witness responded the union was not asking for any monetary compensation And thus the clock rings were not necessary Referencing the OTDL sign up the witness explains two carriers on the list only wanted to work eight hours a day With reference to article 85F the witness agreed that this section applies to non-ODL carriers With reference to the 1571s the witness testified the mail not delivered was most likely a mix First and third class mail On redirect mr. Bachal responding no no when asked of the 1571 breaks down the undelivered mail into separate classes

57:06But does it preferential But it does preferential answer yes Christopher Greeno a 30 year plus carrier and local branch president 495 testified for the union The witness testified the decision occurred to him. That was completely unilateral no discussions or notifications at all Consequently because the decision affects wages and working conditions article eight was violated The witness opined that ELM 432 puts the maximum daily hours allowed at 12 hours and that hb m 41 section 112 emphasizes Reliable and efficient service to the customers and hb will be handbook mr Greeno states that the formulae meeting he received no attachments or any other explanation from management other than the statement An item 18 of the 8190 PM King told him I have been given orders from above And I will always follow the orders Prior to the service talk on January 30th, 2026

58:08All the mail was always delivered unless extreme weather conditions prevented the delivery The only operational window in rottlin was over a decade ago Mondays are typically heavy volume days However, because the number of carriers on the old EL the office is able to function within 10 hours the witness concluded As a flat policy it does not make sense And across examination the witness was asked what under article eight did management violate mr Greeno responded 8 5 c 2 question is it true that management makes the decision when over time is needed Hey Volume and staffing dictate what is needed and management then implements who get the work great answer The witness was then direct I said that not the arbitrator The witness was then directed to read section f from the j cam page 830 once management determines that overtime is necessary For full-time carriers if the carrier is signed up for a work assignment

59:11Over time the carriers to work the overtime is assigned by management Similar to the first union witness Lucas Bichal This witness was asked why no clock rings Hey not asking for compensation With reference to article eight mr Greeno was asked if the carrier is entitled to work 12 hours he answered no The witness answered a full-time carriers allowed 8 hours Acca two hours on February 9th and February 17th the undelivered mail was not rolled more than one day It was delivered the next day Question any customer complaints a not in Rutland With reference to the overtime needs of the postal service the witness stated the number of hours needed is based on volume What determines the workload is volume and availability The witness was asked about how 39 us code 101 postal policy is applicable The mission statement for this law cost for prompt and reliable service by curtailing the mail when letter carriers are available

1:00:12It takes away reliable and efficient service the most important thing that is that customers get the mail And if you've got one of these grievances going up I get this because a lot of time management's questions are the same You'll notice that in a lot of our I've read thousands of arbitrations And a lot of times management the labor advocate their questions are the same How they address things are generally the same And so these are great answers by both the individuals we've read for for Jay Bassett letter carrier advice president for local branch 495 testified for the union similar to the other union witnesses This witness discussed the new policy explained by PM king at the service talk on January 30th Letter carriers are not to work more than 10 hours once close to 10 hours They were to stop delivering and concentrate on delivering anything with a barcode scandals The witness testified it was common to work more than 10 hours in ruddland. It was very common

1:01:15There was no auxiliary assistance This witness was not affected personally at a scene as he does not ask for overtime He is not on any overtime list the policy is still in force Under cross examination the witness was referred to 2926 1571 rowdy 11, which is the witnesses route The 1571 indicates 100 letters and six flags are not delivered He estimated about a half a tray was dps letters case letters and dps letters. He was asked to somewhere third class Answer a chance. Yes He's always going to go over 10 hours usually around 2 pm. He would call us super The fourth and final witness Saasa Maksama Vutch a 10 plus year letter carrier testified for the union Slammer to the other witnesses. He explained the new policy discussed at the service talk It was very common to work over 10 hours in ruttland sometimes out to 9 30 pm

1:02:18The old rules to deliver all the mail on February 17th, 2026. He brought back packages After this instructed to focus on packages He has a couple of complaints from customers another cca had an issue with the customer And across examination he testified he is not on the odl He was scheduled to work for February 9th, 2026, but he didn't With reference to the 1571 the witness testified he completed the form the next day When asked about the 15 spurs referenced in the 1571 the witness stated the instructions for the packages came after February 10th Managements Here's management's position In section 18 of the 8190 Management wrote the following the union failed to produce any documentation that stated management Was not within its rights to curtail mail Management does not refute that PM King conducted a service talk with the city letter carriers on January 30th, 2026

1:03:18Instructing them to refrain from going in a penalty overtime even if it means that some of the mail is not delivered that day All letter carriers must be off the clock prior to incurring penalty overtime The postal service concludes the union failed to meet their prime of fascia burden To establish legitimate violations in the case at bar Curtis King postmaster for the ruttland post office since June 26th testified for management He had a service talk on January 30th. The carriers were not to exceed 10 hours So as to incur penalty overtime This was an instruction from above With reference to article 85f It was correct to limit the carriers to 10 hours a day with reference to j camp page 830 subsection g The witness agreed that it is a good policy not to have work assignment carriers work more than 10 hours a day However, the party is recognized that is normally in their best interest not to require employees to work 10 hours per day and managers should not require

1:04:21Work assignment volunteers to work beyond 10 hours Letter of intent regarding work assignment overtime The witness stated first class mail comprises about 50% of the mail delayed mail is not common Happening about once a month the undelivered mail on 292 17 was delivered the next day It is not normal to use penalty overtime to deliver the mail Working the carriers for 10 hours is never an issue The office is fully staffed in the use of pivots The witness testified he found it difficult to determine who worked the two days in question with a clock rings in the In the case file The union did not provide the information Undercruc now why would the union provide clock rings? Y'all have access to it You should have provided them Under cross examination the witness testified he was the highest ranking official on site The officer in charge there was no official stand-up talk in the file

1:05:26Stand-up talks are typically done as an email The witness agreed that there was no local MOUs concerning Penalty overtime or that curtail on the mail that there was no bargaining with the union before the stand-up talk That except for the sentence in box 18 of the 8190 nothing else was submitted to the union That there was no operational window relevant to this matter On redirect the witness agreed there is nothing in the contract to entire of the carriers to more than 10 hours a day Analyst analysis and discussion Uh, he goes over numerous Sites they're put in I'm not going to read all those even though when you put this case together I'll get them and put them in there and I'm going to start at page 15 Management argues the union failed to show definitively what carriers were available on two 9 and 217 to use auxiliary help if necessary

1:06:28I agree with this just showing the schedules and what carriers were on the ODL or worker summit list Cannot definitely show who worked and was available for the two days Did some carriers go home early for their appointment or due to illness etc The clock rings would unequivocally establish what workers worked and for how long on two nine and two seventeen The union submitted the mission statement adopted by the board of governors on April 1st of 2020 The mission statement is not the equivalent of a statute or law Rather it is meant to be a guiding Proclamation similar to the policy against violence The the M.S. describes the postal services function and purpose it emphasizes the postal service as an integral part of the federal government The M.S. 6 to define the past and future importance of the SPS It reflects the trusted part at plays in the communities through the United States The M.S. proclaims the obligation to serve the people of this nation the importance to provide professional and safe communication between the government and its citizens

1:07:33And the imports of utilizing Evolving technology to service all areas of the nation The M.S. goes on to explain how the postal service continued to implement its mission using all tools including technology, innovation and private sector partnerships to meet the changing needs of the customer This also includes attracting and retaining competent employees Today's post offices have a constitutional mandate article one section eight clause seven grants congress the power to establish Post offices and post roads Its primary purpose is to deliver the mail in 2025 the SPS spent 5.17 billion Only 0.073 percent of the more than seven trillion spent by the federal government In public law 91375 august 12, 1970 many of the concepts and the M.S. were codified in the federal law percent to 39 U.S. code section 101 postal policy

1:08:34This federal statute provides that the U.S. PS shall be fundamental service provided to the people as authorized by an act of congress It shall provide prompt, reliable and efficient service to patrons in all areas and shall rental postal services to all communities It goes on the state No small post office shall be closed solely for operating at a deficit It being the specific intent of the congress that effective postal services Be ensured to residents of both urban and rural communities Furthermore in determining all policies of postal services The postal service shall give the highest consideration to the requirement for the most expeditious collection transportation and delivery of important letter mail After reading the M.S. and the federal statute is very clear USPS is a fundamental service to the American people It shall render prompt, reliable and efficient services to patrons in all areas of the community

1:09:35It is the intent of congress that effective postal services Be ensured to residents of urban and rural communities And importantly even if a small post office operates in the red it shall not be closed The reliable and efficient services of the post office shall supersede the financial burden on the installation This dictum is especially relevant for this grievance The financial savings by not having to pay curious penalty over time Cannot be more important than having the mail including first class mail Deliver to the customers Particularly where the savings is close to Dementimus We are only talking about two days two night and two night two seventeen Where penalty over time would have been paid it is a poor business practice Arbitrary and capricious to save a small amount of money By curtailing mail and in that beautiful I'm going to read the whole damn thing again. How beautiful that is

1:10:39After reading the M.S. and the federal statute it is very clear the USPS is a fundamental service to the American people In that what we always say we're not a business we're a service. We're a free service It shall render prompt reliable and efficient services to patrons in all areas of the community It is the intent of Congress that effective postal services be insured to residents of urban and real communities And importantly even if a small post office operates in the red it shall not be closed The reliable and efficient services of the post office shall supersede the financial burden on all on the installation This dictum is especially relevant for this grievance The financial savings by not having to pay curious penalty over time cannot be more important than having the mail Including first class mail delivered to the customers How beautiful is that Particularly where the savings is close to Dementimus

1:11:40We're only talking about two days two nine and two seventeen where penalty over time would have been paid It is poor business practice Arbitrarian caprice is to save a small amount of money by curting mail After reviewing the ms 39 usco 101 arcos 5 and 19 the relevant arbitrable law particularly the bearer decision And the evidence profit in the case file and at the hearing including the excellent brief by the unions advocate Management brief was also very air you die. That just means very knowledgeable Uh, this arbitrator holds that the union has demonstrated a prime of face a case that management violated articles five and 19 The ms and the federal statute 39 us code But you know, I'll be ordering letter carriers to curtail whatever mail they could not deliver by six p.m So it's to avoid the payment of penalty over time The fact that the union did not use clock rings to show availability although not to the best decision

1:12:42Does not overturn this decision PM King testified he is lucky that he has a full staff with the ability to pivot Consequently the conclusion can be safety drawn that sufficient letter carriers were available on two nine and two seventeen to be used as Elzillerie help In any event whether or not there was available letter carriers on two nine and two seventeen Does not impact this decision the mail was improperly curtailed for the reason to avoid penalty over time The m king also testified the mail at the Rutland post office is approximately 50% first class Thus the curtail mail was not predominantly or exclusively third class as it was the censi decision It was at least 50% first class more over according to the 1571s in the case fall for two nine and two seventeen Approx with five hundred and eighty nine letters We're not delivered for the two days representing almost two hundred and ninety five first class pieces See testimony of Lucas Bradshaw

1:13:43As I'll pine in the 2026 decision profit by the union customers can be affected when first class mail is curtailed And the reason for doing so in this grievance to prevent the payment of penalty over time is not a reasonable When the purpose and function of the postal service including both the letter carriers and management Who both act symbiotically to provide the best mail service in the world as proclaimed in the mission statement And the importance and possible harmful consequences of a curtailing first class mail is compared to the Dementimus savings by not having to pay penalty over time The policy is clearly not a reasonable one Award the grievances sustained The human demonstrated by proponents of the evidence of Prima-Facia case that management By curtailing the mail to prevent the payment of penalty over time Violated articles five and nineteen and the mission statement and federal statute 39 US code 101 Managing is ordered to

1:14:43Season to assist from curtailing the mail in the future prevent the payment of penalty over time So a fantastic decision get it Read it you got sites in there that the union put in are fantastic The arguments made by the witnesses and the advocate were fantastic A great job from the ground up And the shop stood the formulae the advocate the drt A great file a great decision is happening everywhere It's happening everywhere So get the two decisions right and let's get to work on it and let's get manager quit Just deteriorating our service and that's all that is but all right there you have it That's it for this week You have a fantastic rest of the week. Please be safe. Please be safe A lot of crazy stuff going on out there and I will talk to you all next week Okay, I have a couple more people from the CLC on and then we'll have some more education after that all right

1:15:45About three more weeks Byles will be coming out Spread the word. Let's make change to this union. Let's get it back to fighting like it should okay I love you light blue. I love you and I'll talk to you all next week. All right bye