Local Memorandum of Understanding
Between
Fort Washington Post Office
And
Branch 157 National Association of Letter Carriers
2001 - 2006
ITEM A
ARTICLE 1
RECOGNITION
This Memorandum of Understanding is entered into on November 1, 2002 at Fort
Washington Post Office 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 Provision of the 2001 - 2006 National
Agreement. This Memorandum of Understanding constitutes the entire Agreement
relating to the local conditions of employment.
ITEM 1
WASH UP TIME
In the interest of the employees health, all Letter Carriers who are required to
handle dirty sacks and bags, or mail which caused the ink from the printing to
come off will be granted actual time to wash up in the morning, prior to lunch,
and prior to clocking off.
T ITEM 2
REGULAR WORK WEEK
All regular carriers will be on a fixed or rotating work schedule, as presently
exists. Any contemplated changes the Union will be notified and these changes
will be made by mutual agreement.
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 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,
the employee will not be charged with Annual Leave unless requested by the
employee. (Work must be made available.)
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ITEM 4
FORMULATION OF LOCAL LEAVE PROGRAM
1. Annual Leave will be granted in any increments of units, hours, days, and
weeks.
2. Annual Leave will be granted throughout the year.
3. All requests for Annual Leave will be approved or disapproved within 48
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 48 hour
period, marked approved or disapproved. Where no action has been taken within
this period, the request for leave will be automatically approved.
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 will 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 his 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. All applications for LWOP will be handled in accordance with the ELM and the
National Agreement. No automatic AWOL because the employee has no leave.
8. Blood Leave - It is agreed that employees excused from their regular tour of
duty to make donations to the Red Cross or other non-profit Blood Bank will
receive ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE, in accordance with the E.L.M. 519.25.
9. Union Activity - Granting Annual Leave to attend Union activities will be
given every consideration by management. It will be without loss of his choice
vacation time and it will not be charged to either prime or non prime time
complement provided that approval of such leave does not seriously affect the
operational needs of the Installation.
10. The practice of excusing employees from duty on all Religious Holidays and
other special occasions to the fullest extent practicable will be continued.
11. All full time regulars and flexibles will receive a vacation during the
choice period.
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ITEM 4
FORMULATION OF LOCAL LEAVE PROGRAM
(continued)
12. Short term annual leave outside of Prime Time selection period, April 1
through April 15 and regular scheduled Non-Prime Time selection periods, August
1 through August 7 and December 1 through December 7 are as follows:
a. Request(s) for Annual Leave submitted a minimum often (10) days for Prime
Time (five [5] days Non-Prime Time)in advance of the leave request will be
approved/disapproved based on the percentage of carriers permitted off at each
office or section during either the non-prime time periods of choice vacation
period. Approval/disapproval will be made within twenty-four (24) hours.
b. Leave request(s) submitted on the day preceeding the requested leave will be
approved/disapproved as soon as possible or no later than the carrier(s) end of
tour.
c. Same day short tour leave requests will be approved/disapproved within two
(2) hours of submission or as soon as possible.
All Short Term Leave request(s) will be approved 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 [a] 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 reason(s).
Approval/disapproval for categories [b] and [c] may be based on service needs.
The reason must be defined as to what service needs, e.g., unscheduled absences,
overtime would be needed to cover this absence. Once annual leave has been
granted or approved on a Form 3971 by a supervisor, the same may not be
rescinded by any supervisor, except in a serious emergency as declared by the
Vice President, Area Operations.
During Prime Time, weeks take precedence over days.
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ITEM 4
FORMULATION OF LOCAL LEAVE PROGRAM
(continued)
13. Carriers on Military Leave will not be included in the total number of
carriers off during the choice vacation period.
ITEM 4
FORMULATION OF LOCAL LEAVE PROGRAM
EXCHANGE OF VACATION
Exchange of Annual Leave periods will be permitted only after all Carriers
senior to the exchanges in the station have been offered said period.
ITEM 4
FORMULATION OF LOCAL LEAVE PROGRAM
CANCELLATIONS
Cancellation of choice vacation periods will be posted for five (5) days. If
less than five (5) days remain before the beginning date of the cancelled
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 his vacation. If no junior carriers bid on the cancelled
vacation a senior carrier can bid, in this instance seniority will prevail.
ITEM 5
DURATION OF VACATION PERIOD
The prime vacation period will be from:
May 18 - September 14, 2003 May 14 - September 10, 2006
May 16 - September 12, 2004 May 13 - September 9, 2007
May 15 - September 11, 2005 May 18 - September 14, 2008
ITEM 6
BEGINNING DAY OF VACATION
Vacations will start on Sunday and end on Sunday.
ITEM 7
SELECTION OF WEEKS
Employees may at their option select two choices during prime time in units of
either 5 or 10 working days. The total not to exceed the 10 or 15 days. (2 weeks
plus 1 week or 3 in a row.)
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ITEM 8
JURY DUTY, NATIONAL OR STATE CONVENTION
Jury Duty and attendance at a National or State Convention will not be charged
to the choice vacation period.
ITEM 9
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OFF
The number of carriers off each week during prime time vacation will be 18% of
the Station Complement as of February 1 of each year. Percentages of .5 or
higher will be rounded off to the next higher number.
ITEM 10
OFFICIAL NOTICES
Supervisors in cooperation with NALC Steward will announce to the Carriers no
later than January 15, that picking for vacations will be from February 1 thru
February 28 or 29. A notice announcing the vacation period will be posted no
later than January 15. The notice will be placed at the carriers time clock and
the carriers bulletin board.
When the number of Carriers off each week is determined, the supervisor will
make a chart with 1 space for each carrier permitted off, for each week of the
vacation period. Starting on the first day of the picking period, the senior
carrier will select his vacation and the remaining carriers will make selections
in descending seniority. The supervisor will contact each carrier who is IOD,
extended illness, detailed, etc., and no carrier will be permitted to select
until the carrier senior to him has selected. Carriers not prepared to select
when contacted will be bypassed till they are ready to select. One space will be
left open for a period not to exceed 48 hours.
The vacation schedule will be posted on the bulletin board. A duplicate copy of
the employees vacation period will be returned signed by management at the end
of the bidding period, March 1.
No later than November 15th and July 15th of each year Management and the NALC
Steward will make announcements and post notices on the carrier bulletin board
that the non prime time selection periods will begin on December 1 and August 1.
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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 this installation will determine the active carrier
force.
12% of the active carrier complement will be granted leave consistent with the
following guidelines:
A. 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.
B. Leave requests can be submitted at any time up to five (5) days in advance.
Leave will be granted subject to the above provisions provided the allotted
number of carriers are not already off.
C. Percentages of .5 or higher will be rounded off to the next higher number.
D. Same day requests will be approved/disapproved within two (2) hours.
On December 1 thru 7 leave slips will be accepted for the period January 1 thru
to the beginning of prime time. Slips will be returned by December 15.
On August 1 thru 7 leave slips will be accepted for the period from the end of
prime time to December 31. Slips will be returned by August 15.
All leave slips accepted during the periods above will be considered as received
on the same day and seniority will prevail.
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ITEM 13
HOLIDAY SCHEDULING
The following procedures will be followed when selecting carriers to work on
Holidays:
1. Casuals, even if overtime is necessary.
2. Part Time Flexibles, even if overtime is necessary.
3. Full Time Regular Volunteers regardless of whether their on their Holiday or
non-scheduled day by seniority.
4. Full Time Regular Non-Volunteers regardless of whether its their Holiday or
their Non-scheduled day by juniority.
* The scheduling for the holiday does not involve ODL.
ITEM 14
OVERTIME DESIRED LIST
The overtime list will be on an office wide basis, according to craft, for full
time regular letter carriers.
Overtime for part time flexibles will be distributed as equitably as possible.
Letter Carriers will be allowed to remove their names from the Overtime Desired
List once (1) during the quarter. This must be done in writing, and will go into
effect the next working day.
ITEM 15
NUMBER OF LIGHT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS
The number of light duty assignments shall be the same as they have been in the
past, to allow letter carriers who are unable to perform their normal duties
because of illness or injury to be gainfully employed, but shall not conflict
with Article XIII of the National Agreement.
Light Duty assignments shall be the same as they have been in the past. The tour
of light duty shall coincide with the employees present tour of duty where
practicable.
ITEM 16
LIGHT DUTY WHICH CONFLICTS
Any light duty which conflicts with the regular carrier force will be dealt with
in accordance with Article XIII of the National Agreement.
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ITEM 17
IDENTIFICATION OF LIGHT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS
It is agreed that light duty assignments for letter carriers may include, but
are not limited to:
A. Casing and strapping out of a route or routes.
B. Assisting other routes setting up mail.
C. Rewriting or lining out of Form 3982's.
D. Rewriting carrier route books.
E. Maintenance of delivery service equipment.
F. Casing curtailed and/or backlogged mail on other routes.
G. Any other duties which in the future could be deemed as light duty in the
carrier craft.
ITEM 18
REASSIGNMENTS
It is agreed that this Post Office 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
Establishment of parking committee consisting of 2 letter carriers and 2
management personnel. They will meet in an effort as deemed necessary to improve
parking conditions for all letter carriers.
ITEM 20
COVERED IN ITEM 8
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ITEM 21
REPRESENTATION
A copy of posted notices or communications issued by the employer to employees
relating to policy or matters which effect the employees and/or the letter
carrier craft will be furnished to the steward prior to the time of issuance.
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.
The meetings will convene at mutually agreeable time.
There will be no more than two members of each craft at any Labor
Management Meeting. The Union Steward will be on the clock.
Two additional meetings may be held each year with one 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 Managements will be
exchanged by the parties to this agreement at least one full week 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.
Management will record the minutes of Labor Management Meetings and supply Local
Branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers with two (2) copies of the
minutes within five working days.
Branch 157 will be consulted prior to the designation of employees to all local
committees where applicable by the Postmaster an/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.
The President of Branch 157 will be notified at least 24 hours prior to any
pre-employment orientation program for new employees and said President (or his
designee) will be provided ample opportunity to address such new employee or
employees.
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 or
employment of 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.
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ITEM 21
REPRESENTATION
(continued)
Such attempts at resolution will be conducted on the clock during the steward
(or his alternate) regularly scheduled work day.
The steward or alternate of Branch 157 will be consulted by the Postmaster or
his designee, on all discipline concerning members of the Letter Carrier Craft,
when possible.
Stewards and Supervisors will cooperate 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.
Representatives of Branch 157 will have the right to the use of Post Office
telephones 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 with managements permission.
ITEM 21
ROUTE INSPECTION
All Carriers will be notified 2 weeks in advance of route inspections and at
that time will be given a copy of printed instructions and sample forms.
COMFORT AND LUNCH STOPS
When there are no suitable places to take a comfort and/or lunch stop on a
route, a letter carrier will request permission to travel outside his route
where accommodations are available. Such travel will be discussed with the
supervisor so that suitable locations may be designated.
ITEM 21
SOCIAL & RECREATION COMMITTEE
An employee social & recreation committee will be established. Meetings will be
held with the Postmaster or his designee on the clock with a representative of
Branch 157. The meeting will be held when necessary.
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ITEM 21
AIR CONDITIONING
The air conditioning will be maintained and operated from May 15th to October
15th in compliance with Federal Regulations. It will be turned on two (2) hours
prior to the letter carriers reporting to work.
ITEM 2
INSPECTION OF OPF
1. A letter carrier will, upon request, have the right to inspect his Official
Personnel Folder.
2. Upon the employees request the Branch President and/or his designee, may
accompany the employee during the inspection.
3. Employees will be able to obtain copies of any material in their folder, at
their own expense.
ITEM 22
SENIORITY LISTS
An updated seniority list of all letter carriers at this installation will be
posted on employee bulletin boards. The list will be updated once every six
months (January 1 and July 1) or when there is a personnel change, whichever
comes first.
ITEM 22
ASSIGNMENTS
When there is a change of more than one hour in the starting time of a route the
decision to post or not to post will be made after consultation with the Union
and the Carriers involved.
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ITEM 22
POSTING AND BIDDING
A. In instances where several assignments are posted, a letter carrier may bid
for as many assignments as posted stating his preference in the following
manner:
1. First choice, second choice, third choice, etc.
B. Letter Carriers applying for an assignment shall make a sealed bid in writing
to the supervisor in charge of the installation during the period for which the
notice is posted, and opened in the presence of a Union Representative of Branch
157.
C. The senior applicant for a vacant assignment will be placed in the assignment
within 15 days of the closing of bids, unless on leave, except in December, when
the successful bidder will be placed on his new assignment on the first work day
of January.
D. Utility T-6 and reserve (float) letter carrier vacancies will be posted for
bid in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as provided in this
article of this Local Memorandum of Understanding.
E. All full time carrier vacancies will be posted for 10 days.
F. The assignment of a successful bidder will not be posted until
after they assume the new position.
REGULAR CARRIER WORKING HIS NON-SCHEDULED DAY
In the event a regular assigned carrier is requested to work on his
non-scheduled day, he will be assigned to work on his own route. A reserve
carrier (float) is covering one of the routes on the utilities string, he will
be bumped on a daily basis, regardless of it being a holddown. This bumping will
also happen to a part time flexible who may be filling in for a vacancy or a
holddown. Below is listed the exception to the duration clause and the bumping
procedure to be followed:
ARTICLE 41 , SECTION 2 B 5
A. Full time reserve and unassigned carriers who have insufficient work for
eight hours bump part time flexibles on temporary bid assignments.
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ARTICLE 41 , SECTION 2 B 5
(continued)
B. Full time regular carriers who are called in to work their own route on their
non-scheduled day, bump their utility or T-6 carriers, who then bump a reserve,
unassigned or part time flexible carrier holding a temporary bid assignment on
one of the other four routes on the utility or T-6 string. However, there is no
bumping if there is an open route on the string. If nothing is available in the
utility string, he will choose vacant assignments with his seniority.
C. There is not eight hours of work in the delivery unit for a reserve or
unassigned who may bump a part time flexible holding a temporary bid assignment
rather than be reassigned to another delivery unit where there is eight hours of
work.
D. A reserve or unassigned carrier is the successful bidder of a
permanent vacant duty assignment.
E. A part time flexible carrier is converted to a permanent route
vacancy.
F. Reserve and unassigned carriers bid on permanent route vacancies.
Reserve carriers, by virtue of having craft, full time duty assignments, may not
be arbitrarily moved from their permanent or temporary bid assignments.
Unassigned carriers may be assigned to permanent route vacancies after their
temporary bid assignments have ended.
ITEM 22
PART TIME FLEXIBLES
Part time flexible employees may use their seniority to bid for their vacation
period and for available temporary assignments of five 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 is being covered.
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SECTION 3-0
When a letter carrier route or full time assignments, 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 assignments was abolished shall be posted for
bid in accordance with the posting procedure in the article.
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.
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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 constitute the entire Agreement between Branch 157, National
Association of Letter Carriers and the Fort Washington Post Office.
Carl Zingle Jack Geoghegan
Officer In Charge President
Postmaster Branch 157
Fort Washington Post Office NALC
Fort Washington, Pa. Philadelphia, Pa.
November 1, 2002 November 1, 2002
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