Local Memorandum of Understanding
Between
Drexel Hill - Pilgrim Gardens Post Office (s)
and
Keystone Branch 157
National Association of Letter Carriers
2006 - 2011
Item A
Article 1
Recognition
This Memorandum of Understanding is entered into on November 1, 2000 for the
Drexel Hill - Pilgrim Gardens Post Office(s) between the representatives of the
United States Postal Service and the designated agent of the National
Association of Letter Carriers pursuant to the Local Implementation Provisions
of the 1998 - 2001 National Agreement. This Memorandum of Understanding
constitutes the entire agreement relating to the Local conditions of employment.
Item 1
Wash Up Time
Each Letter Carrier will be granted a reasonable amount of time to wash up,
throughout the day. A Supervisor shall be notified when an additional amount of
wash up time is needed.
Item 2
Regular Work Week
All Full Time Carriers will be on either a fixed or rotating days off as
presently exists (rotating). In the event a change is to be considered it will
be done by mutual consent.
Item 3
Curtailment or Termination of Postal Operations
It is recognized by both parties that on occasion emergency conditions may exist
which would cause management to consider the curtailing of services such as;
weather extremes, civil defense alerts, bomb scares, no heat in the winter, no
lighting or excessive temperatures. In such cases, management will take into
consideration the following factors in order:
A. The safety and health of the employee.
B. The emergency as stated by and acted upon by other governmental authorities.
C. Management will consult with the Union before implementation of any action.
If local conditions warrant the non-delivery of mail or closing of the Office,
those full time or PTF’s (holddowns) will not be charged with annual leave
unless requested by the employee. (Work must be made available). This is
reference to those employees who reported to work.
Item 4
Formulation of Local Leave
1. Annual Leave will be granted in any increments of units, hours, days and
weeks.
2. Annual Leave will be granted throughout the year (leave may be granted during
the period December 8th through December 25th).
3. All requests will be approved or disapproved within seventy-two (72) hours. A
triplicate 3971 will be marked by the supervisor received. The duplicate 3971
will be returned to the Letter Carrier at the end of the seventy-two (72) hour
period, marked approved/disapproved. Where no action has been taken within this
period, the request for Leave will be automatically approved. The employee must
advise management that they are enacting the “Automatic Approved Leave
Provision”.
4. Disapproval of any request for annual leave must be explained to the
employee, in writing, by the disapproving supervisor and stating “Service Needs”
will not be an acceptable explanation.
5. Once annual leave has been approved on Form 3971 by a Supervisor the same may
not be rescinded by any Supervisor except in a serious emergency.
6. Emergency Annual Leave may be granted at any time throughout the year
including December. Emergency Leave is defined as leave which is requested when
unforeseen events necessitate the absence of the employee from their duties. It
does not necessarily include events and activities planned in advance. An
employee who is unable to report for duty because of an emergency, shall notify
the Post Office as soon as possible. Employees requesting such leave will not be
carried AWOL or tardy pending approval.
7. Two (2) hours or Blood Donor Leave will be granted to employees who donate
blood to a non-profit organization during each accounting period. If a
determination is made by the receiving organization that the employee cannot
give blood, he/she will be permitted the necessary travel time form his/her duty
point to the blood donor facility with no loss of time.
A. Management recognizes that special circumstances may give rise to a need for
an extension of this period of leave for blood donation and will consider the
merits of request for such extensions on an individual basis.
8. After all Carriers have made their selection(s) during the various leave
period(s) open day(s)/week(s) will be selected and approved/disapproved based
solely on the percentage(s) (%) applicable during those period(s).
Item 4
Formulation of Local Leave
(continued)
9. Union activity - One (1) Union Official requesting annual leave or leave
without pay to attend a Union activity throughout the year will be given the
same consideration as other leave. It will be without loss of their choice
vacation time and it will not be charged to either Prime Time or Non Prime Time.
10. Exchange of Annual Leave periods will be permitted only after all Carriers
senior to the exchanges in the station have been offered said period. The
exchange must be determined two (2) weeks prior to the beginning date of the
leave. If less than that it will be considered under the cancellation provision.
11. When notified five (5) days in advance cancellations of choice vacation
periods will be posted for five (5) days. If less than five (5) days remain
before the beginning date of the canceled period, the vacation will be posted
for the amount of time remaining. Cancellations of Choice Vacation Periods may
first be bid by Carriers junior to the Carrier who cancels their vacation. If no
junior Carriers bid on the canceled vacation a senior Carrier can bid, in this
instance seniority will prevail.
12. Weekly vacation will be given preference over individual days during the
Choice Vacation Period.
Item 5
Duration of Choice Vacation Period
The Choice Vacation Period will be the second Sunday in May to the first Sunday
in October.
Item 6
Beginning Day of Vacation
Vacations will begin on Sunday and end on Sunday.
Item 7
Selection of Weeks
Carriers who are eligible for three (3) weeks vacation may at their option,
request two (2) selections during the Choice Period in units of either one (1)
or two (2) weeks, the total not to exceed three (3) weeks. (i.e., three (3)
weeks in a row, or two (2) weeks and one (1) week).
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Item 8
Jury Duty, National or State Convention, Military Leave
1. An employee who is called for jury duty during their scheduled choice
vacation period shall be eligible for another period in lieu thereof. During the
choice vacation period, every reasonable effort will be made to work out a
mutually agreeable period.
2. Any employee ordered for military training during their scheduled choice
vacation period shall be eligible for another available period in lieu thereof.
During the choice vacation period, every reasonable effort will be made to work
out a mutually agreeable period.
3. Leave used to attend Conventions or employee organizations will not be
charged to the employees choice vacation period.
Item 9
Number of Employees Off
The number of Carriers granted Annual Leave during the Prime Time Vacation
Period shall be 16% the second Sunday in May until the first Sunday in October
of the established
Carrier Complement at Drexel Hill-Pilgrim Garden Post Office(s) as of February 1
of each year. Any % of .5 or higher will be rounded up to the next higher
number.
Item 10
Official Notices
Management shall notify all Carriers by February 1 of the beginning and ending
dates of the period for making selection during the Choice Vacation Period.
Selection will be from March 1 to March 21.
The method for making Choice Vacation selections will be as follows:
A supervisor will pass a calendar throughout the Carrier workforce on a
seniority basis. Each Carrier will indicated their selection for the Choice
Period on the calendar for weekly selections. After the entire complement has
selected the weekly vacation choices, single day choices will be selected by the
Carriers on a seniority basis to complete the agreed percentage. All leave will
be submitted on a PS Form 3971 to be filled out in duplicate. Leave slips will
be returned to Carriers within five (5) days of the close of the selection
period.
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Item 11
Beginning of New Leave Year
No later than November 1 of each year management will notify all Carrier craft
employees of the beginning of the New Leave Year. A written notice of this will
be posted on all employee Bulletin Boards. This notice will be announced to the
Carriers for three (3) consecutive days.
Item 12
Non Prime Time
On November 30 of each year, the Active Carrier Force will be determined. Annual
Leave will be granted consistent with the following guidelines:
A. Eight percent (8%) of the active Carrier force will be permitted to take annual
leave during the Non-Prime Time Periods. Percentages of or more .5 will be
rounded up to the next highest number.
B. Leave will be approved on a first come, first served basis except where
requests are submitted on the same date at which time seniority will prevail.
On December 1 through December 7 of each year, Carriers will submit 3971's,
Annual Leave Request. This will be for the period January 1 to the beginning of
Prime Time.
On August 1 through August 7 of each year, Carriers will submit 3971's, Annual
Leave Requests. This will be for the period covering the end of Prime Time to
December 31.
All Leave Slips will be returned to the Carriers by December 15 or August 15
except when the 15th falls on a Sunday or Holiday, in this instance they will be
returned the next workday.
During these periods all slips will be considered as being submitted on the same
day.
For the following Non-Prime Time Weeks; Easter Week, Thanksgiving Week,
Christmas Week and New Year Week the percentage will be as follows:
Easter Week 12%
Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday.
Thanksgiving Weekend 12%
Friday and Saturday
Christmas Week 12%
December 26 through January 1 no matter how the days fall.
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Short Term Annual Leave
Short Term Annual Leave outside of Prime Time Selection Period and Regular
scheduled Non Prime Time Selection Periods, March 1 through March 21, August 1
through August 7 and December 1 through December 7 are as follows:
1. Request(s) for annual leave submitted a minimum of five (5) days in advance
of the leave request will be approved/disapproved based on the percentage of
Carriers permitted off during either Non Prime Time Periods or Choice Vacation
Period. Approval/disapproval will be made within seventy-two (72) hours.
2. Leave Request(s) not submitted a minimum of five (5) days in advance will be
approved/disapproved within seventy-two (72) hours.
3. Leave Request(s) submitted on the day preceding the requested leave will be
approved/disapproved as soon as possible or no later than the Carrier(s) end of
tour.
4. Same day Short Term Leave Requests will be approved/disapproved within two
(2) hours of submission.
All Short Term Leave Request(s) will be approved/disapproved on a first come,
first served basis, except where requests are submitted at the same time, at
which time seniority will prevail.
Approval/disapproval for category #1 will be based solely on the allowable
percentage (%) as provided for during the various periods (Non Prime Time
Periods and Prime Time).
No “Automatic Untimely Submission” or “Automatic Service Needs” as a reason(s).
Approval/disapproval for categories #2, #3 and #4 may be based on service needs.
The reason on must be defined as to what service needs, e.g., unscheduled
absences, overtime would be needed to cover this absence.
Item 13
Holiday Scheduling
The following sequence will be followed when scheduling employees to work on a
holiday or designated holiday provided that such scheduling produces a workforce
which meets the operating skill requirements of the holiday or designated
holiday:
A. All Transitional Employees and Part Time Flexible Employees to the maximum extent possible,
regardless of the necessity to pay overtime premiums;
B. All Full Time Regular Employees, who volunteer to work either their holiday
or their non-scheduled day, shall be combined into a single group, ranked in
seniority order and selected and selected to work by this list.
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Item 13
Holiday Scheduling
(continued)
1. During the polling Carriers may volunteer to work for Premium (Overtime) Pay.
If additional scheduling is needed after the Holiday Schedule has been posted,
the volunteers will be selected by seniority.
C. All Full Time Regular Employees who did not volunteer to work shall be
selected by inverse seniority.
D. If additional employees are needed and not filled by section B-1 above, they
will be selected by inverse seniority.
Item 14
Overtime Desired List
The Overtime Desired List will be on an Office wide basis by craft for Drexel
Hill - Pilgrim Gardens Post Office(s).
Item 15
Number of Light Duty Assignments
There will be no restriction as to the number of Light Duty Assignments within
the Letter Carrier Craft depending on the number of hours available for either
temporary or permanent Light Duty.
Assignments will be made to the fullest extent possible and will be consistent
with the National Agreement.
Item 16
Light Duty Which Conflicts
Any Light Duty which conflicts with the Regular Carrier Force will be handled in
accordance with Article 13 of the National Agreement.
Item 17
Identification of Light Duty Assignments
A “Light Duty” Assignment is any assignment within the physical capability of an
employee, who is temporarily or permanently incapable of performing their normal
duties, as a result of illness or injury.
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Item 18
Reassignments and Determining Section
It is agreed that Drexel Hill - Pilgrim Gardens Post Office(s) will be known as
an installation. It is further agreed that when it is necessary to reassign
within this installation, employees who are excess to the needs, Management will
meet with the Union to present the facts. This will be done prior to a final
determination.
Item 19
Parking
Management will allocate employee parking spaces only on those existing spaces
excess to the needs of the Postal Service. The formula to be used to allocate
craft employees parking will be based on the percentage of employees in each
craft as related to the total office complement. Assignment of allocated parking
spaces to individual Carriers will be made by the Union.
Item 20
Union Activities Choice Vacation
See Item 4, #10 Page 4
See Item 8, Page 5
Item 21
Starting Changes of Less Than One (1) Hour & More Than One (1) Hour
When starting times or Full Time Carrier Positions are to be changed the NALC
will be informed of the reasons for the change.
A. If less than one (1) hour, no posting will be required.
B. If more than one (1) hour, the decision to post or not will be determined
after the NALC discusses the change with the Carriers. The NALC will then advise
the Postmaster of the Carrier’s decision.
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Item 21
Regular Working Their Non-Scheduled Day
A Regular Carrier called in on their non-scheduled day will work their own
assignment.
A. The Utility will be bumped off their scheduled assignment.
1. The Utility selects an open assignment on their string.
2. If there is no assignment open on their string, the Utility will bump the
junior PTF holding down one of the assignments on the Utilities string.
3. If there is no PTF working on their string, the Utility will make a selection
of available open assignment(s) Office wide using their seniority.
4. If there is no open assignment(s) to choose from, then the Utility may bump
the junior PTF holding down an assignment or opt to select other work which may
be available to make up the balance of their tour.
B. Where the Utility bumps a PTF off a holddown, Management can reschedule the
PTF as may be needed on that day. However, the PTF will work eight (8) hours.
C. Upon conversion of a PTF to Regular status, a holddown ends.
Item 21
Abolishment of Full Time Position
When a Letter Carrier route or Full Time Duty Assignment other than the Letter
Carrier route(s) or full time duty assignment(s) of the junior employee(s) is
abolished at a delivery unit as a result of, but not limited to, route
adjustments, highways, housing projects, all routes and full time duty
assignments at that unit held by Letter Carriers who are junior to the Carrier(s)
whose route(s) or full time duty assignment(s) was abolished shall be posted for
bid in accordance with the posting procedures in this Article.
Item 21
Representation
The Stewards will be afforded prompt, proper and due recognition by all
supervisory personnel and Management Officials in carrying out their duties,
responsibilities and obligations under this Memorandum of Understanding and the
National Agreement.
The parties of this agreement will meet each quarter, except in the fourth
quarter, the meeting will be held in November along with the Christmas Meeting.
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Item 21
Representation
(continued)
The dates and times of the meetings will be established by mutual agreement.
There will be no more than two (2) members of each craft at any Labor Management
Meeting.
Two (2) additional meetings may be held each year with one (1) member of each
craft on the clock. Dates will be set by mutual consent.
It is agreed that agenda items for discussion at all Labor Management Meetings
will be exchanged by the parties to this agreement at least one (1) full work
day before the scheduled meeting. Items not placed on such agendas will be
discussed at the end of the meeting. If no agendas are exchanged, it will be
understood that the meetings will not be held.
All items will be initialed by Postmaster or designee within seven (7) days. The
Postmaster will provide the Branch President with the minutes of the meeting.
Branch 157 will be consulted prior to the designation of employees to all Local
Committees where applicable by the Postmaster and/or his staff. Letter Carrier
Members of all committees will be designated by the President of Branch 157.
Committee meetings will be held on the clock.
Upon request to the appropriate Supervisor, the Steward may be permitted to
enter into any work location where a problem has been reported involving
personnel policy and practices or any other matter effecting terms or conditions
of employment or an employee or employees he represents, for the purpose of
resolving the problem with the employee or employees and/or the Supervisor or
Supervisors involved.
Such attempts at resolution will be conducted on the clock during the Steward
(or his alternate) regularly scheduled work day.
Stewards and Supervisors will be cooperative to the fullest extent in furthering
the good of the service and the employee’s welfare by keeping employees
currently informed of any changes in policy or procedure by the method of
periodic discussions on the workroom floor. Employees will be on the clock for
the time necessary.
Upon request, Representatives of Branch 157 will have the right to use the Post
Office telephones copier, fax, penalty envelopes and PA system for the purpose
of performing and engaging in Official Union duties and any business related to
the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Local Memorandum of Understanding.
Requests will not be unreasonably denied.
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Item 21
Seniority List
An updated seniority list of all Letter Carriers will be posted on the Employee
Bulletin Boards once every six (6) months.
A copy will be forwarded to the Branch President.
Item 22
Reassignments
For the purposes of seniority, reassignments and posting, all stations, branches
and the main office at Drexel Hill Post Office will be considered one section.
All matters will be handled on an installation wide basis.
Item 22
Holddowns
Management shall submit a list when there are temporary vacant Full Time
Assignments of anticipated duration of five (5) or more days. This list will
show:
A. Route Number
B. Duration of Assignment
C. Will be submitted on a weekly basis to:
1. Full Time Reserve, Unassigned Regular and Part Time Flexible Letter Carriers
by seniority, who indicate their preference by initialing and dating the list.
2. The senior Carrier, who pursuant to the above has selected a craft duty
assignment by exercise of seniority will work that duty assignment for its
duration.
3. During Prime Time, holddowns will be awarded based on seniority on Wednesday
the week prior to the start date of the holddown. If leave is turned back after
the date the holddown is awarded, there will be no reposting of holddown for
that period.
Item 22
PTF Seniority
Part Time Flexible employees may use their seniority to bid for their vacation
period(s) and for available temporary assignments of five (5) or more days.
As successful bidders, they assume the hours of duty and the schedule of work
days of the full time Carrier whose assignment they are covering.
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Item 22
Breaks
On July 21 of each year the Union will determine whether both breaks are on the
street or one is in the Office and the other on the street.
Pursuant to Article XXX of the National Agreement the Articles negotiated at the
Local Level and those Articles brought forth from previous Local Memorandums of
Understanding constitutes the entire Agreement between Branch 157, National
Association of Letter Carriers and the Drexel Hill Post Office.
Dan DeLuca, Postmaster William
McKinney, President
Drexel Hill-Pilgrim Gardens Post Office Keystone Branch 157, NALC
November 1, 2006
November 1, 2006
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