Covering for a terminated regular carrier.

Tlepps · Mar 27, 2019

At our office a regular has possibly been or on the verge of being terminated . On the matrix the only time her route shows up is on a subs secondary pick. She has no primary. What sub has the right to fill that route. The sub who is has it as their second pick or does it get to be claimed by the senior sub so doesn’t even have the pick of that route on the matrix.

btdtret · Mar 27, 2019

Tlepps -- "At our office a regular has possibly been or on the verge of being terminated . On the matrix the only time her route shows up is on a subs secondary pick. She has no primary. What sub has the right to fill that route? "

-- The first sub smart enough to request to be fill the empty Matrix slot.

-- Otherwise, according to the Matrix Quick Reference Checklist: #11 -- when a primary vacancy occurs, it is offered by seniority to qualified leave replacements. ( no requirement to have been previously used or trained on the vacant position. )

Rt2mailman · Mar 27, 2019

How long has this regular been gone? If the route is "pronounced" vacant that means there has been an office change and that opens up the matrix. At that time the most senior Rca can choose that route as their primary. If no Rca chooses (or at the moment is unable to choose because there is no office change and matrix is not open) that route as primary, the most senior 2nd rca may work the route over all others.

Tlepps · Mar 27, 2019

Tlepps · Mar 27, 2019

The route has not been classified as vacant yet but the regular has been out longer than 30 work days, I don’t want to go into much detail about why that carrier has been out but basically from what it looks like in the contract it says under leave replacement unavailability it would go to 2nd or 3rd if that regular didn’t have a primary, but if you scroll down on the contract you see in section E filling a vacancy also means being in extended leave for more than 30 work days would mean that the senior sub would have the option to get that route.

Tlepps · Mar 27, 2019

PastOThirty said:
30.2.D.3.E: offered by local continuous service among relief carriers, aka seniority, but again, because of ambiguous contract language, just because for some reason some relief carrier has more seniority when it comes to bidding, they may not have the longest continuous service as its defined in this section (eg, TRC time in the same office would count) and a more junior relief carrier could have priority over the more "senior" carrier who turned into an RCA before the less senior, but longer server relief carrier.

The regular might be on "extended absence". The union appeals process can be very untimely, so I wouldn't make plans to shuffle just yet. Until the exiting carrier is officially not assigned to the route, the route is not vacant.

We have had a "vacancy" stretch out beyond 3 years because a settlement couldn't be reached with a carrier that was never carrying again due to workplace injury. We also had required route adjustments held up because of that not vacant route being substantially affected. And because route adjustments couldn't be done, other routes couldn't be posted, and until the routes posted, we had relief carriers carrying as if a regular for years, and because relief carriers were working as if regulars, we weren't allowed to hire more relief carriers (back when people wanted this job). It was a mess. Eventually they got a ghost route assignment for that carrier that was otherwise in postal limbo, and the dominos started to fall.

That is fine and all but I was wondering since I am senior sub and it has been over 30 days of absence, do I get the right to claim that route since she only had a sub below me as her relief and he has picked her as his second pick on the matrix. No one other sub including myself has her on the matrix but the one dude and he chose second. I just don’t want to get screwed over hours I could have banked up.

Tlepps · Mar 27, 2019

Yep it is something to think about I have seniority over my other sub coworkers and longest service out of the 3 of us so I win that battle but ya it’s an option of so I want two extra days and lose my favorite route or possibly be nice and let the next in line take it and hope the post master lets me just have an extra day from that route and the other carrier agree to that. Fortunately I love every route in our office so I am cool with anything. Thank you for the info.

Voglio-il mio · Mar 28, 2019

PastOThirty said:
30.2.D.3.E: offered by local continuous service among relief carriers, aka seniority, but again, because of ambiguous contract language, just because for some reason some relief carrier has more seniority when it comes to bidding, they may not have the longest continuous service as its defined in this section (eg, TRC time in the same office would count) and a more junior relief carrier could have priority over the more "senior" carrier who turned into an RCA before the less senior, but longer server relief carrier.

The regular might be on "extended absence". The union appeals process can be very untimely, so I wouldn't make plans to shuffle just yet. Until the exiting carrier is officially not assigned to the route, the route is not vacant.

We have had a "vacancy" stretch out beyond 3 years because a settlement couldn't be reached with a carrier that was never carrying again due to workplace injury. We also had required route adjustments held up because of that not vacant route being substantially affected. And because route adjustments couldn't be done, other routes couldn't be posted, and until the routes posted, we had relief carriers carrying as if a regular for years, and because relief carriers were working as if regulars, we weren't allowed to hire more relief carriers (back when people wanted this job). It was a mess. Eventually they got a ghost route assignment for that carrier that was otherwise in postal limbo, and the dominos started to fall.

Been there done that, & I have the T-shirt! This happened to me!

Voglio-il mio · Mar 28, 2019

PastOThirty said:
If no primary, at this point, someone can choose to be the primary because of the extended absence. It is supposed to be offered by longest service, but likely offered by seniority; which isn't the same necessarily. The matrix as far as secondary and tertiary is irrelevant at this point, other than you as secondary, you can carry it until a primary relief is assigned, or after the primary is assigned and they are unavailable or exercising the routes relief day. Of course once you choose to be the primary, you forgo the primary position elsewhere, which triggers the opportunity for someone else to take what might be your favorite route. The choice isn't without some risk.

An important piece of this is that if the Regular Carrier remains out for 90 days the sub of record (primary) can be converted to a 74 (RCA covering a vacant route) and start earning leave time retroactive to the last day the Regular Carrier worked. The catch here is that you must be the sub of record at that point!

gotstamps · Mar 28, 2019

Once the 30 days passes of a Regular being “out”, mgmt must allow bidding to that Primary position by Seniority along with the residuals from that bidding. If nobody takes the Primary, the the Secondary works it except when working their Primary. On the day the Secondary is working their Primary, the Tertiary works. A PTF (if any) can override a 2nd & 3rd if mgmt so chooses. Seniority RCA works when not on their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Route.