1767 due to tiredness (+12hrs)

[ABCya]

You need to put out in the open, in front of someone outside the office the problems of this overburdened route, lack of rcas, and poor management techniques. How can you do this? With grievances. The only mistake you made was ever mentioning any type of "ailment". What you should have said instead is that you were too exhausted to continue working more hours, and to do so would have been unsafe due to drowsiness . Legitimate and not considered a "sickness".
Here's how to fix that.
File a grievance for lack of pay/overtime pay for the day/hours worked, management falsely "assigning" leave that you never requested, management's lack of hiring of rcas to help on those excessively long days, causing undue stress and excessively long days to regulars .
You can break these up into 4 separate grievances. Here's how I would word the grievance questions:
1) Did my manager (name) falsify a leave request of which I never asked?
2) Did (name) not correctly pay me for working my route on (date) in which no one else was paid?
3) Did (name) fail to hire/retain rcas in our office causing undue stress to me on severely overburdened days?
4) Did management cause me to become so exhausted on (date) by working me excessively long hours with no assistance, as to cause such tiredness that it caused me to have a migrain and blurred vision?
This will show that you were not "Sick", but overworked, deserved auxiliary assistance, and have a manager that engaged in falsifying documents to blame you for his ineptness in hiring rcas. Please don't give up this fight, as so many carriers do, you are in the right, you just have to be careful to never give a reason for not following an order, or finishing your route except for SAFETY reasons, or in your case over tiredness.

I expressed my concerns of overly exhausted to mgmt before. One time I had a supervisor tell me I better not get into my vehicle to drive home then. Call a friend or a taxi. She was serious! I ignored her and left to go home. Nothing came from that though.

 

[U caught my attention]

Volume used to be managed by a real manager, not someone getting management pay for just entering stuff in a computer. The classes of mail never touched in the postal service that functioned until the carrier sorted them. You couldn't touch 3rd class (standard now) until all other mail was up or it was light enough to carry all of it and leave and return by the times on the 4240. The only time you might go over evaluation was if a dated mailing or the 3rd class had been pushed back and had to get delivered. But you usually cased them in the previous afternoon. Things worked better when local management actually managed.

Yes curtailing 3rd was a way to get us on street earlier. Unfortunately my personal route dynamic can be 2 feet of flats/raw with 3 to 4 trays dps and then get parcel overload. With that kind of mix you need more street time to account for driveways, retrieval, walking to door and reload time of pulling items toward cargo. There isnt anything to curtail in office to speed the process up. Time on street depends on the parcel mix of small/med vs large, which addressses are in the mix for that day (if they are closer to parkpoint or longer delivery addresses.) Also If particular customer has multiple huge heavy pkgs or multi s/m needing door delivery. Parcel runner aux assistance helps but generally isnt approved unless peak...getting out on street early is a must. We learned how to speed up street delivery and office time when mail volume was excess, we curtailed and then pitch and ditch on street. You cant do anything like curyail or pitch and ditch with parcel volumes, it takes what it takes. Out of survival, because of past excess parvel volumes, I learned how to quickly process through them. I personally need a clear head and the ability to stay focused and attentive to my day. Some days go smooth and some days are a burning hot dumpster pile of poop.

 

[U caught my attention]

Something I wonder about during peak. Why do the other parcel delivery companys get an assistant? One focuses on driving and one takes parcels to the doors. I just wondered if its a safety issue to avoid exhaustion and help keep focus. I assume they switch off throughout the day but not sure.

I might be wrong on all this, I assume the other companys load level throughout the rest of the year trying to avoid OT. I mean they are going to be giving us last mile, so isnt that one mechanism to their load leveling? Can our local management get aux assistance approval for parcel delivery when needed or is it just peak?

 

[NorthernPines]

Any day worked in excess of 12 hours, followed by an issue of non-payment due to fatigue related non- completion of all duties would, most likely, be arguable under Art 34.1 of the National Agreement.

The very nature of working in excess of 12 hours resulting in overtime payments is an arguable point that the USPS has exceeded the standards of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. It is, therefore, arguable that salary should be paid, and any withholding of that salary, in the face of unreasonable volume and expectations, fails that very test of reasonable compensation for a fair effort.

I'd take that up in a grievance any day of the week.

 

[hockey94]

I expressed my concerns of overly exhausted to mgmt before. One time I had a supervisor tell me I better not get into my vehicle to drive home then. Call a friend or a taxi. She was serious! I ignored her and left to go home. Nothing came from that though.

Sounds like you had a real winner ! Its a little different driving home, than, slinging mail/packages.

 

[Rt2mailman]

Sounds like you had a real winner ! Its a little different driving home, than, slinging mail/packages.

Any day worked in excess of 12 hours, followed by an issue of non-payment due to fatigue related non- completion of all duties would, most likely, be arguable under Art 34.1 of the National Agreement.

The very nature of working in excess of 12 hours resulting in overtime payments is an arguable point that the USPS has exceeded the standards of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. It is, therefore, arguable that salary should be paid, and any withholding of that salary, in the face of unreasonable volume and expectations, fails that very test of reasonable compensation for a fair effort.

I'd take that up in a grievance any day of the week.

12 hour rule applies only to the rcas, not the regulars. I worked 14 hours last Monday, 2 hours of overtime pay for 5 hours of work past my evaluation. Fair, no, contractual, yes. Eventually, when I work over my 2240/2080 it will be made fair, but not until then.

If we make a claim that it would be unsafe to work more hours, yet we have to drive an hour home, that too would be unsafe, as that pm pointed out. If you live a few minutes from the office, no big deal.
I know of a new rca, borrowed from 2 hours away, worked until 10 pm, fell asleep and totaled his car on his way home, luckily he wasn't hurt. I tried to get him to file for the cost of his car. They made promises to him becoming a regular "Very soon" , so he didn't file, still took him a year to make regular.

 

[U caught my attention]

Maybe this working past 12 issue is the harder portion of working "harder and smarter" of rural carrier performance.

 

[U caught my attention]

The very nature of working in excess of 12 hours resulting in overtime payments is an arguable point that the USPS has exceeded the standards of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. It is, therefore, arguable that salary should be paid, and any withholding of that salary, in the face of unreasonable volume and expectations, fails that very test of reasonable compensation for a fair effort.

Yes, but we dont get paid hourly. Our day is spent building toward the next evaluation.
Our evaluation isnt about the actual time we spend its about working through the volumes. There is no real end time.

 

[Shannonboy]

I agree with you Ucaught, but getting po mgmt to agree, that will be a whole different story...

 

[U caught my attention]

I agree with you Ucaught, but getting po mgmt to agree, that will be a whole different story...

True. I will edit so no carrier will assume its as ez pz a win as I made it seem.

 

[Shannonboy]

Well Ucaught, your comments are always well thought out, and succinctly put, I have no doubt you handle grievances, and all things in life with the same straightforward manner. I suspect any pm that wants to give you grief will be biting off more than they can chew. It's simple to deal with po mgmt when you have a BACKBONE, and brains, and you my friend have both.....many newbies could learn a lot just from reading your comments, I know I've learned from your inquisitive mind, and no doubt we will make it to retirement someday, and look back, and say, I learned a lot, met some some really great people, and some really horrible po mgmt, and survived it....and head off into the sunset knowing we did our best....and look for some dreams to chase, and conquer, knowing that if we can be a
RURAL CARRIER, we can handle just about anything....❤

 

[Offspeed]

Come back at midnight and they’ll stop sending you out. Your phone was dead too.

 

[U caught my attention]

RURAL CARRIER, we can handle just about anything.

100%
Rolling with the punches like a champ!
Rural Carrier

 

[Rogtar]

Come back at midnight and they’ll stop sending you out. Your phone was dead too.

Did that myself, now I'm an RCA of last resort. I also moved up to most senior RCA, i think that has more to do with it.

 

[possumswerver]

read other reply also; but no other craft has provisions for payment after 12 hour limit. Rural contract does. other crafts no work after 12 hours, no pay provisions....... rurals work after 12 and have pay provisions. BTW Article 19 makes the ELM part of the rural contract.......... so if no working after 12 for regular, then their would be no need for provisions of working after 12 ............ just like the other crafts.

So it sounds like the contract violates the contract... ha!

 

[psd181]

So it sounds like the contract violates the contract... ha!

no, the contract and ELM allow regular rural carriers to work after 12 hours. It is not allowed for other crafts, just rural because we are exempt and are covered under FLSA 7.2.B, except for the very few regulars hired after the guarantee period who do not sign the 4015D and are covered under normal FLSA rules. Those do not have to work over 12 as the ELM states.

 

[Static]

Update. I won the grievance.

 

[Shannonboy]

Good job Static...way to stand up for your rights. Nothing more satisfying than knowing you proved your pm was WRONG, and them knowing you know THEY were WRONG!!!!!!!