| OFFICERS
| USEFUL INFO
| NEWSLETTER
| STEWARDS
| PHOTOS
| ABOUT 725
| ARTICLES |
| FAQs
| Fresh Squeezed
| Carrier Spotlight
| Video/Slideshows
| Archives
There is so much information that a union official must consider when defending your rights. People fought long and hard to aquire these rights. In fact, we are still fighting to keep the rights that you enjoy everyday and aquire more rights. With that in mind, the Contract Spotlight will feature different items in the contract that you may have forgotten or did not know. Be sure to go back and read the full version of the information out of the documents. These are only excepts from the actual documents.
This article addresses circumstances that take place when your driving privileges are revoked. If the Post Office suspends your driving privileges or you lose your license.
Every Reasonable Effort to Reassign:
Even if a revocation or suspension of a letter carriers driving privileges is proper, Article 29 provides that, "every reasonable effort will be made to reassign the employee in non-driving duties in the employee's craft or other crafts." This requirement is not contingent upon a letter carrier making a request for non-driving duties. Rather, it is managment's responsibility to seek to find suitable work.
National Arbitrator Snow held in I94N-4I-D 96027608, April 8, 1998 (C-18159) that management may not reassign an employee to temporary non-driving duties in another craft if doing so would result in a violation of other craft's agreement. If it not possible to accomadate temporary cross-craft assignments in a way that does not violate another craft's agreement, a letter carrier who is deprived of the right to an otherwise available temporary cross-craft assignment to a position in another craft must be placed on leave with pay until such time as he may return to work without violating either union's agreement. In accordance with Arbitrator Snow's award, in situations where city letter carriers temporarily lose driving privileges, the following applies:
Management should first attempt to provide non-driving city letter carrier craft duties within the installation on the carrier's regularly scheduled day and hours of work. If sufficient carrier craft work is unavailable on those days and hours, an attempt should be made to place the employee in carrier craft duties on other hours and days, anywhere within the installation.
If sufficient work is still unavailable, a further attempt should be made to identify work assignments in other crafts, as long as placment of carriers in that work would not be to the detriment of employees of that other craft.
If there is such available work in another craft, but the carrier may not perform that in light of the Snow award, the carrier must be paid for the time that the carrier otherwise would have performed that work.
Back to top of page
This article gives letter carriers the contractual right to object to and remedy alleged discrimination by filing a grievance. Grievances alleging discrimination may be filed directly at Formal Step A of the grievance procedure. However, if a grievance concerning discrimination is filed at Informal Step A instead, it is not procedurally defective for that reason.
Additonally, in accordance with federal law and regulations, employees and applicants for employment with the Postal Service have legal recourse to remedy alleged work place discrimination. A letter carrier can begin this process by contacting an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Counselor. The matter can then be pursued by filing a formal complaint, having a hearing, appealing to the U.S. Equal Employment Commision (EEOC) and to federal court.
This article also gives letter carriers the contractual right to object to and remedy alleged violations of the Rehabilitation Act through the grievance procedure. The USPS guidelines concerning reasonableaccommodation are contained in Handbook EL-307, Guidelines on Reasonable Accommodation.
Their is a Memorandum of Understanding incorporated into the National Agreement. It establishes specific obligations concerning the Postal Service's duty to reasonably accommodate deaf and hard of hearing employees and applicants under the Rehabilitation Act.
Back to top of page
|