The nightmare re-surfaces... I have so many questions

[Blondie13]

So, everything at my office had been running OK until our station manager came back from medical leave.
I knew what day she was coming back, and I had that day off, so I called an office out of our POOM group that I know is in desperate need of help (they have ZERO RCAs right now) and went to work out there for the day so that way I'd be unavailable if they tried to call me in... because I have no interest in talking to or even looking at our station manager.
Fast forward about a week and a half or so... That office convinced me to transfer and we've already got the paperwork in place with a transfer date of Jan. 4th.
Last Friday I had another scheduled day off at my office, so I went back out to my future station to run a route.... And this is where it gets a bit hairy:

-The start time for peak season at my current station is 6:00AM

-I showed up at my future office at 7:00am, which means I left my house a little after 6:00am.

-I get a call from the fill-in station manager at 9:34am after she sent me a nasty text message asking me "who authorized you to work at the ______ station?". She didn't leave a voicemail or mention anything about any routes being down at my office. ***This is also the same woman who freaked out on me a while back the day I went into the station to pick up one of my checks and ask why nobody had called me since my primary route was down... Too many consecutive days, apparently***

-My future station manager tells me as I'm leaving that the Postmaster of my office sent out a district-wide email that day just to notify all other offices within driving distance that I'm not allowed to work anywhere else until Jan. 4th

So after i run a route at my future office, I went to my station to pick up my check and look at the schedule so I knew WTF I was doing the next day (still hadn't been posted on a Friday and I knew nobody was going to call and let me know for the next day.)
- Fill-in station manager sees me in the parking lot and starts shouting about how our station needed help and takes priority over other stations.

-I go in and look at the schedule to see that for the week of 12/14-12/20 I'm scheduled for one day on my primary route.

-I go to make a photocopy of the schedule and one of the supervisors tries to snatch it away from me but I pulled my hand back and continued on my way to the copy machine. On my way out somebody asked me what was wrong, so I showed them the schedule and said something along the lines of "this f*cking b*ll shit." They then asked why _______ (original station manager who is now back on medical leave until after Christmas) would do this this to me, and I replied with "because she's a f*cking b*tch."

-I go outside and call the Postmaster to see WTF is going on. She cuts me off mid-sentence, literally screams at me about overtime, including "You'll be the last person making any overtime next week, mark my words" and then hangs up.

The schedule has since been changed so I'm working every day but yesterday and Friday, but today they sent me home at 11:45am after running parcels since 6:00am in an attempt to cut down on my overtime, and have me coming in at 7:30am tomorrow instead of 6:00am on my primary. As far as I know, as of 3:15pm all the other parcel runners are still out there getting paid, and as far as I know she hasn't asked anyone to come in late to cut down on overtime.
She even made me unload all the parcels out of my Jeep for my second parcel run when she told me to clock out and I told her I still had packages.

Oh, and I had a lovely little PDI today about working at the other office, and creating a hostile work environment because the supervisor is now saying that I snatched the schedule out of HER hands and went around the office cursing at her, when in reality the conversation I was having had nothing to do with her.

And of course our area union rep is siding with management 100%.

So my questions are
1) Is there anything IN WRITING for proper protocol for working at other stations
2) Is there anything IN WRITING about the use of profanity on the workroom floor (I was told that we couldn't use it in front of customers)
3) Is there anything IN WRITING about about max amount of overtime/consecutive days worked for RCAs during the peak season?

I told them that the email sent out by the postmaster was more than enough for a workplace harassment suit, and my future station manager sent my postmaster and fill-in station manager an email basically saying "Well if she's really so bad just bump the transfer date to Saturday because we could really use an employee that actually likes to work."

The 4th of January really couldn't come soon enough.

 

[btdtret]

Blondie -- [ transfer problems, among other situations ]

-- Never a dull time in your area!

"That office convinced me to transfer and we've already got the paperwork in place with a transfer date of Jan. 4th. "

-- Step 4 ( P-115 ) RCA's who have completed their probationary period may request a transfer 9 in writing ) in accordance with Article 30.2.F. If the gaining office accepts the employee's request for transfer, the losing office MUST release the RCA. The transfer will be effective WITHIN 30 days of the notification to the losing office. ( when did your prospective office notify your current office? ) ( do you have a copy of the paperwork? )

-- Your are correct, things are getting hairy -- mainly because you still belong to your current office until January 4th. Did you inform manglement at your current office about the pending transfer? ( call such action a professional courtesy, while they don't seem to deserve it, )

-- Your prospective office should have informed you of the office's "peak season" start time.

"I get a call from the fill-in station manager at 9:34am after she sent me a nasty text message asking me "who authorized you to work at the ______ station?".

-- Hopefully your answer was along the lines of: " I was not on the schedule and as RCA's are not on call, I had the opportunity to work elsewhere."

"So after i run a route at my future office, I went to my station to pick up my check and look at the schedule. Fill-in station manager sees me in the parking lot and starts shouting about how our station needed help and takes priority over other stations. "

-- That would be correct. Response should have been: "If the station need help, why didn't you have me on the schedule?"

-- Why don't you have Direct Deposit? That would cut down on appearances in the office.

"The schedule has since been changed so I'm working every day but yesterday and Friday, but today they sent me home at 11:45am after running parcels since 6:00am in an attempt to cut down on my overtime." " as far as I know she hasn't asked anyone to come in late to cut down on overtime. "

-- Cutting down on overtime during the Christmas No-Overtime Period is a "time honored" tradition of manglement in some / most post offices. However if you can document you are the only one, that would be grounds for a "disparate" treatment grievance.

"Oh, and I had a lovely little PDI today about working at the other office, and creating a hostile work environment because the supervisor is now saying that I snatched the schedule out of HER hands and went around the office cursing at her, when in reality the conversation I was having had nothing to do with her. "

-- Anyone around to collaborate the action -- one way or the other?

"My future station manager tells me as I'm leaving that the Postmaster of my office sent out a district-wide email that day just to notify all other offices within driving distance that I'm not allowed to work anywhere else until Jan. 4th "

-- Happen to have a copy of that email? As long as you are not scheduled at your current post office, you can "farm" yourself out where available.

-- The email could be proof of "hostile environment" for grievance purposes.

"I go outside and call the Postmaster to see WTF is going on. She cuts me off mid-sentence, literally screams at me about overtime, including "You'll be the last person making any overtime next week, mark my words" and then hangs up."

-- Ask around if anyone overheard that phone call. Could be construed as communicating a threat.

"I go to make a photocopy of the schedule and one of the supervisors tries to snatch it away from me but I pulled my hand back and continued on my way to the copy machine. "

-- Don't know the policy at your office. At my last one, carriers had to get manglement's permission to use the copier.

-- Now down to your questions:

1) Is there anything IN WRITING for proper protocol for working at other stations.

- probably nothing per se, but you "belong" to your current post office. If not scheduled, free to work elsewhere. The new wording in the no-yet-in-print 2018-2021 contract, non-scheduled RCA's can be requested by other post offices ( or words to that effect ).

2) Is there anything IN WRITING about the use of profanity on the workroom floor (I was told that we couldn't use it in front of customers)

- read between the lines of ELM's Section 665 - Standards of Conduct as well as MOU #14 of the contract.

- Why use profanity? That would be lowering yourself to manglement's level.

3) Is there anything IN WRITING about about max amount of overtime/consecutive days worked for RCAs during the peak season?

- No to both. Manglement does the scheduling, so......

- However, if RCA's can demonstrate ( likes copies of schedules ) one or more RCA's are getting a lion's share of the OT, "disparate" treatment rears its ugly head.

-- Hopefully things will settle down after you get to your new post office.

 

[stillfirstclass]

Well if she's really so bad just bump the transfer date to Saturday because we could really use an employee that actually likes to work."

cool

 

[Blondie13]

cool

My future office seems awesome. Everyone is super down to earth and easy to talk to... And they're just generally a likable group of people, unlike the ones I'm currently stuck with.... I can't wait And everyone seems to think my current management is going to give me a letter of removal after today's PDI, but my future station manager said to just grieve it and when my transfer goes through he'll drop all the ongoing discipline.

 

[Blondie13]

Blondie -- [ transfer problems, among other situations ]

-- Never a dull time in your area!

"That office convinced me to transfer and we've already got the paperwork in place with a transfer date of Jan. 4th. "

-- Step 4 ( P-115 ) RCA's who have completed their probationary period may request a transfer 9 in writing ) in accordance with Article 30.2.F. If the gaining office accepts the employee's request for transfer, the losing office MUST release the RCA. The transfer will be effective WITHIN 30 days of the notification to the losing office. ( when did your prospective office notify your current office? ) ( do you have a copy of the paperwork? )

I forget the exact date, but yes I notified them in writing. We originally wanted my transfer date to be 12/28, and they came back with 1/17...
Then both offices somehow agreed on 1/4. And yes, I have the a copy of the paperwork with the transfer date.

-- Your are correct, things are getting hairy -- mainly because you still belong to your current office until January 4th. Did you inform manglement at your current office about the pending transfer? ( call such action a professional courtesy, while they don't seem to deserve it, )

-- Your prospective office should have informed you of the office's "peak season" start time.
I'm pretty sure my prospective office's start time has remained the same during peak (7:00am).
My current office however has changed it's start time from 7:30am to 6:00am... I mentioned this because my station manager tried "calling me in" at 9:34, which is 3 1/2 hours after our start time (seems more than a little late to me)... so since she didn't leave a voicemail or mention anything about me working at my office in her text message, I'm led to believe that sshe didn't have any intention of calling me in and was in fact just calling me to yell at me.

"I get a call from the fill-in station manager at 9:34am after she sent me a nasty text message asking me "who authorized you to work at the ______ station?".

-- Hopefully your answer was along the lines of: " I was not on the schedule and as RCA's are not on call, I had the opportunity to work elsewhere."
That's almost exactly what I said, but so far EVERYONE I've talked to seems to think this cluster of post offices (in this one city) have their own set of rules that everyone else has to follow, but NOBODY can show me this in writing.

"So after i run a route at my future office, I went to my station to pick up my check and look at the schedule. Fill-in station manager sees me in the parking lot and starts shouting about how our station needed help and takes priority over other stations. "

-- That would be correct. Response should have been: "If the station need help, why didn't you have me on the schedule?"
She adheres to the "no more than 6 consecutive days" policy... which is complete BS because I've been scheduled weeks at a time at this office before... So I'm assuming that's why I wasn't on the schedule.

-- Why don't you have Direct Deposit? That would cut down on appearances in the office.
Honestly I don't trust anyone with my bank account information and the Post Office is the LAST organization I'd ever give that info to

"The schedule has since been changed so I'm working every day but yesterday and Friday, but today they sent me home at 11:45am after running parcels since 6:00am in an attempt to cut down on my overtime." " as far as I know she hasn't asked anyone to come in late to cut down on overtime. "

-- Cutting down on overtime during the Christmas No-Overtime Period is a "time honored" tradition of manglement in some / most post offices. However if you can document you are the only one, that would be grounds for a "disparate" treatment grievance.
I know I can prove it, but I don't think my union steward would do anything about it... Like she'd sit there and say something along the lines of "well, management can cut down on overtime if they need to" and I knnow she wouldn't lift a finger to get me any compensation for it.

"Oh, and I had a lovely little PDI today about working at the other office, and creating a hostile work environment because the supervisor is now saying that I snatched the schedule out of HER hands and went around the office cursing at her, when in reality the conversation I was having had nothing to do with her. "

-- Anyone around to collaborate the action -- one way or the other?
YES. There was an office full of people watching when this happened, and they're all on my side. I could get multiple statements if I needed to.

"My future station manager tells me as I'm leaving that the Postmaster of my office sent out a district-wide email that day just to notify all other offices within driving distance that I'm not allowed to work anywhere else until Jan. 4th "

-- Happen to have a copy of that email? As long as you are not scheduled at your current post office, you can "farm" yourself out where available.
I've seen the email and could easily get a print-out of it.

-- The email could be proof of "hostile environment" for grievance purposes.
That's exactly what I told my area steward, and told her this email alone should be enough to bump up my transfer date but she doesn't want anything to do with it.
Her advice was to "go in with a smile and good attitude everyday until my transfer."

"I go outside and call the Postmaster to see WTF is going on. She cuts me off mid-sentence, literally screams at me about overtime, including "You'll be the last person making any overtime next week, mark my words" and then hangs up."

-- Ask around if anyone overheard that phone call. Could be construed as communicating a threat.
No i was sitting alone in my Jeep because that was the last thing I ever expected.

"I go to make a photocopy of the schedule and one of the supervisors tries to snatch it away from me but I pulled my hand back and continued on my way to the copy machine. "

-- Don't know the policy at your office. At my last one, carriers had to get manglement's permission to use the copier.
They don't really care unless you're trying to photocopy evidence... There's a sticky note on the copier that says "If you're unsure of how to use the copier, please ask." haha

-- Now down to your questions:

1) Is there anything IN WRITING for proper protocol for working at other stations.

- probably nothing per se, but you "belong" to your current post office. If not scheduled, free to work elsewhere. The new wording in the no-yet-in-print 2018-2021 contract, non-scheduled RCA's can be requested by other post offices ( or words to that effect ).

2) Is there anything IN WRITING about the use of profanity on the workroom floor (I was told that we couldn't use it in front of customers)

- read between the lines of ELM's Section 665 - Standards of Conduct as well as MOU #14 of the contract.

- Why use profanity? That would be lowering yourself to manglement's level.

3) Is there anything IN WRITING about about max amount of overtime/consecutive days worked for RCAs during the peak season?

- No to both. Manglement does the scheduling, so......

- However, if RCA's can demonstrate ( likes copies of schedules ) one or more RCA's are getting a lion's share of the OT, "disparate" treatment rears its ugly head.

-- Hopefully things will settle down after you get to your new post office.

Blondie -- [ transfer problems, among other situations ]

 

[Sprocket]

Got an absolute nut case in my office for a PM.

Never carried a day in her life.

Can't wait to get out of there.

 

[Windindaface]

Got an absolute nut case in my office for a PM.

Never carried a day in her life.

Can't wait to get out of there.

Or can't wait for them to be shuffled on after a ship load of grievances which prevents them from being on the workroom floor?

 

[Skierstmoritz]

My future office seems awesome. Everyone is super down to earth and easy to talk to... And they're just generally a likable group of people, unlike the ones I'm currently stuck with.... I can't wait And everyone seems to think my current management is going to give me a letter of removal after today's PDI, but my future station manager said to just grieve it and when my transfer goes through he'll drop all the ongoing discipline.

Good luck on your transfer!, it can change your entire perspective about the job. In my case it was like a new world opened up as an rca and the job became enjoyable.