President Brian Wagner, Executive Vice President Ivan D. Butts, Secretary/Treasurer Chuck Mulidore and Executive Board Chair Tim Ford attended the June 23 consultative meeting via Zoom. Representing the Postal Service were Bruce Nicholson and Henry Bear, Labor Relations Policy Administration.
Agenda Item #1
NAPS received the following concern regarding OHNAs (occupational nurses) working in the field during COVID-19. This position is experiencing an escalated workload due to the COVID-19 pandemic that mandates OHNAs work longer hours and work weeks in support of continued USPS operations. NAPS understands that, in Operations, there are shortages related to employee availability.
This has required OHNAs increasing their workloads with mandated employee and physician contacts to create and process the return-to-work paperwork necessary to address employee availability. Currently, there are no provisions to accommodate OHNAs with any additional pay.
NAPS requested that OHNAs be included in the previously approved list of additional positions eligible for additional pay in the May 20, 2020, letter signed by Vice President of Labor Relations Doug Tulino.
The pay provision was temporarily modified to allow for additional pay for field EAS managers after consideration of a request from NAPS. This provision shouldn’t be modified as part of a monthly consultative meeting.
The pay policy changes essentially recognized the pandemic similar to how additional pay is provided doing the Christmas period. Additional pay is provided in situations where the supervisor is absent and the manager is authorized additional hours directly supervising bargaining-unit employees in mail processing or delivery functions.
The following actions were taken in response to an increase in workload of the OHNA departments during the pandemic:
OHNAs are assigned to district staff and, like all other district staff, are not eligible for additional pay during the Christmas period and, therefore, not recognized in Tulino’s May 20 correspondence.
Agenda Item #2
NAPS requested modification of the May 20, 2020, letter signed by Vice President of Labor Relations Doug Tulino regarding the implementation date of the additional pay authorization period.
NAPS requested the implementation date be retroactive to March 11, 2020, the date on which COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. At a minimum, NAPS requested retroactive implementation to April 8, 2020, when NAPS’ request was made to the USPS.
The pay provision was temporarily modified to allow for additional pay for field EAS managers after consideration of a request from NAPS. This provision shouldn’t be modified as part of a monthly consultative meeting.
The pay modification was prospective because the modified pay rule was not in effect at the time. Also, a decision to apply a pay change after the hours worked, pay provided, etc., would be problematic. Any individual who did not keep daily records of hours to include work performed on that day, such as directly supervising employees, could not request additional pay.
Agenda Item #3
NAPS has been made aware of the resumption of completing 3999s and 1838Cs. NAPS has been told this is at the direction of USPS Headquarters.
NAPS is concerned that, with package volume above peak-season volume, it is extremely difficult—if not nearly impossible—to be running an operation with all this volume and ensuring it gets processed and delivered, while, at the same time, watching a carrier all morning performing an 1838C or on the street all afternoon performing a 3999.
NAPS contends the USPS has taken this action without answering these critical operational questions:
1. At what point in time does management abort a route walk when a carrier is running late due to the number of their parcels?
2. When an office is below its complement levels and pivoting 12 routes or 35% of its office, with multiple carriers sorting mail on other routes to which they are not accustomed, how are 1838Cs and 3999s going to get done?
3. Do managers use multiple 1838Cs for each route on which carriers are sorting or do they place them on Line 22 until they return to their routes?
4. Do managers hold carriers accountable and issue corrective action for not casing to minimum standards on unfamiliar routes?
5. When a carrier reports in and checks their LLV, then swipes to LDC 23 other time for AM parcels, they will see a considerable gap in time. Is this now acceptable to USPS Headquarters?
Also, many offices are receiving drop-shipments from Amazon and UPS throughout the day. NAPS notes that, in addition to receiving package volume above and beyond that of peak season, offices and stations do not have any flexibility of the holiday season temporary staffing help. In addition, offices now are in peak annual leave season.
Performing 1838Cs and 3999s at this time does not give an accurate picture of a route with parcel volume above the norm. The Postal Service does not perform route inspections during peak season because of volume fluctuations. Therefore, why perform 3999s and 1838Cs during current volume fluctuations?
NAPS does not see this action as being cost-effective. The agency will be spending additional money by having the supervisor performing these duties. This information could be irrelevant due to elevated parcel volumes.
NAPS requested that 1838Cs and 3999s not be conducted for the remainder of FY20. The data would be skewed due to COVID-19.
USPS Headquarters suspended all route inspection activities, which included 3999s and 1838Cs, in March 2020. The field was notified on June 6 these activities could resume. Scheduling 1838Cs and 3999s is at a district’s/local office’s discretion.
If a carrier is casing multiple routes in the morning while an 1838C is conducted, the appropriate line item to be used is Line 22 until that carrier returns to the scheduled route and notated on the form.
Supervisors should identify any time-wasting practices, specifically if it’s determined a carrier is not meeting minimal acceptable performance standards rather than just issuing corrective action based solely on not meeting those standards. District Labor Relations should be contacted for advice in these circumstances.
Performing 3999s is a one-day observation based on current volume. Street and office observations are core functions to a successful delivery operation and can be performed throughout the year; 3999s must be performed annually, at a minimum. The current average (March 21- June 12) increase of packages per route/per day is 13 parcels compared to SPLY. This equates to approximately 13 minutes. This increase does not warrant canceling an inspection and, if there is an increase in parcels on the route, the 3999 data gives a fair representation of the route.
Although the use of LDC 23 is not inappropriate in the referenced situation, it is not the most efficient method in delivering parcels to customers.
The 1838C and 3999 are tools that can be used to identify time-wasting practices and address performance. Headquarters City Delivery does not adopt this recommendation to suspend this activity. These activities are needed to address efficiency opportunities.
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