Local Memorandum of Understanding
Between
Wynnewood Post Office
and
National Association of Letter Carriers
Keystone Branch 157
2006 - 2011
Item A
Article 1
Recognition
This memorandum of Understanding in entered into on November 1, 2006 at
Wynnewood 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 2006-2011 National
Agreement. This memorandum of Understanding constitutes the entire Agreement
relating to local conditions of employment
Item 1
Wash Up Time
Each Letter Carrier will be granted a total of five (5) minutes of wash up time
throughout the day. A Supervisor may grant additional wash up time as necessary.
Item 2
Work Schedule
All Regular Carriers will be on a fixed or rotation work schedule as presently
exists (rotating). Any contemplated changes the Union will be notified and
changes will be made by mutual agreement.
Item 3
Guidelines For The Curtailment or Termination of Postal Operations
It is recognized by both parties that on occasion emergency conditions may exist
which could cause the Postmaster and Management Officials to consider the
curtailment of services. The Postmaster and Management Officials will rake into
consideration the following factors in order:
A. The safety and health of the employee.
B. The degree of emergency as stated and acted upon responsible government
authorities.
C. The Postmaster and Management Officials will make every effort to review and
discuss with the NALC before implementation of any action.
If local conditions warrant the non-delivery of mail or closing the office, the
employee will not be charged Annual Leave unless requested by the employee.
(Work must be made available.)
Item 4
Article 10
Formulation of Leave
1. Annual Leave will be granted in any increments up to and including units.
2. All requests for annual leave will be approved or disapproved within 24
hours. A triplicate 3971 will be initialed by the Supervisor received. The
duplicate 3971 will be returned to the Letter Carrier at the end of the 24 hour
period indicating approved/disapproved. Where no action has been taken within
this period, the request for leave will be automatically approved.
Item 4
Article 10
Formulation of Leave
(continued)
3. 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.
4. Once Annual Leave has been approved on Form 3971 by a Supervisor, the same
may not be rescinded by any Supervisor.
5. Blood Leave. It is agreed that four (4) hours of Administrative Leave will be
granted when Carriers are approved Blood Leave.
6. Emergency Annual Leave. An exception to the advance approval requirement is
made for emergencies; however, in these situations, the employee must notify
appropriate postal authorities as soon as possible as to the emergency and the
expected duration of the absence. As soon as possible after return to duty,
employees must submit Form 3971 and explain the reason for the emergency to
their supervisor. Supervisors approve or disapprove the leave request. When the
request is disapproved, the absence may be recorded as LWOP or AWOL at the
discretion of the supervisor (see ELM 512.422).
7. Exchange of Annual Leave period(s) will be permitted only after all Carriers
senior to the exchanges have been offered said period.
8. Cancellation of choice vacation period(s) 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 off during the week of cancellation. If no junior Carriers bid on
the canceled vacation, a senior Carrier can bid, in this instance seniority will
prevail.
Item 4
Article 10
Formulation of Leave
(continued)
9. A Leave Book/Calendar will be maintained by management and will be made
accessible to all Carriers.
10. Applications for Leave submitted seven (7) days in advance will be
approved/disapproved based solely on the percentage of Carriers permitted off
during the choice vacation period.
11. Carriers who become ill while on annual leave during the choice vacation
period shall be permitted to have another selection during the choice period,
provided the weeks are available.
12. Any person who does not have 40 hours leave to cover their week will forfeit
same and it will be reposted for bidding by juniority.
13. At the end of the choice vacation period, employees with more hours than the
allotted carry over remaining will be notified.
Item 5
Article 10
Duration of Choice Vacation
The choice vacation period will be from the first full week in May through the
last week in September, which includes September 30th.
Item 6
Article 10
Beginning and Ending Day of Vacation
Vacations will run from Sunday through Sunday.
Item 7
Article 10
Number of Selection Period(s) During Choice Vacation Period
Letter Carriers at their option may request one (1) or two (2) selections during
the Choice Vacation Period in units of either five (5) or ten (10) or fifteen
(15) days; total not to exceed ten (10) or fifteen (15) days on the first
choice, in accordance with leave earned annually.
Item 8
Article 10
Jury Duty, Military Leave, National and State Convention(s)
Military Leave will not count as part of a Carrier’s selection during the choice
period but will count against the office quota for the choice period.
Jury Duty will not be charged to the choice vacation period. Attendance at State
or National Conventions will not be charged to the individuals nor office quota,
up to a maximum of one (1) delegate. After one (1), the total is charged to the
office quota.
Prior to choice selection, the Union will notify management in writing of the
number of delegates and the dates for attendance at State or National
Conventions.
Item 9
Article 10
Number of Carriers Off
The number of employees to receive leave during the choice period will be
determined by a maximum of 14% of the total craft force on the employee rolls as
a February 15. Rounding will be done on the basis of .5 and above.
Item 10
Article 10
Official Notices
Supervisors in cooperation with NALC stewards will announce to the Carriers no
later than January 2nd. That the leave calendar will begin being passed around
on February 1.
Each Carrier will return the calendar the day after it was received. The
Supervisor will contact each Carrier who is on extended illness, etc. and no
Carrier will be permitted to select until the senior Carrier to them has
selected.
The vacation schedule will be posted on the Bulletin Board. A duplicate copy of
the employees 3971 will be returned signed by management at the end of the
bidding period.
The selection process should end no later than March 15th.
Item 11
Beginning Day of New Leave Year
The beginning of the new leave year will be posted on the main bulletin board as
soon as the date is published in the Postal Bulletin.
Item 12
Non Prime Time
1. On November 30 of each year, Wynnewood Post Office will determine the Active
Carrier Force.
2. Ten percent (10%) of the active Carrier complement in Wynnewood will be
granted Annual Leave. Percentages of .5 or higher will be rounded off to the
next highest number. Leave will be granted 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 request(s) can be submitted at any time up to three (3) days in
advance. Leave will be granted subject to the above provisions provided the
allotted number of Carriers are not already off.
C. Leave request(s) not submitted three (3) days in advance will be
approved/disapproved based on operational needs. Disapprovals must be explained
on PS Form 3971. “Service Needs” or “Not Submitted Timely” are not considered
appropriate reasons. The reasons must be defined, e.g. unscheduled absences;
overtime would be needed to cover the absence. Approval/disapproval will be made
within 24 hours or by the end of the tour if said leave is for the next day.
Item 12
Non Prime Time
(continued)
D. Same day Short Term Leave Request(s) will be approved/disapproved as outlined
in “C”. PS Form 3971 will be returned to the Carrier within two (2) hours.
Thanksgiving Week 14%
Friday and Saturday.
Christmas Week 14%
From December 25 through January 1, no matter when it falls.
Easter Week 14%
From the Sunday before Easter to Easter Sunday.
Item 13
Article 11
Holidays
The following sequence will be followed when scheduling employees to work on a
Holiday on Designated Holiday provided that such scheduling produces a work
force which meets the operative skill requirements of the Holiday or Designated
Holiday.
Item 13
Article 11
Holidays
(continued)
A. All Transitional 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 to work by the list.
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 according to craft,
for Full Time Regular Letter Carriers. The Letter Carriers Craft will be
designated as section.
Item 15
Article 13
Light Duty
Management is fully aware of our responsibilities under Article 13 of the
National Agreement and will make every effort to accommodate any employee who is
placed in a light duty status by an approved medical person based on
restrictions by that person, provided it does not affect the efficiency of the
office. Management will make every effort to employ light duty carriers at
Wynnewood.
Item 16
Article 13
Light Duty Which Conflicts
Any Light Duty which conflicts with the regular Carrier force will be handled in
accordance with Article XIII of the National Agreement.
Item 17
Article 13
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 route(s).
B. Casing curtailed and/or backlogged mail on other routes
C. Any other duties which in the future could be deemed as light duty in the
carrier craft, within good business senses.
Item 18
Article 12.5.C.4
Identification of Assignments Reassign Within an Installation
It is agreed that the Wynnewood 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 making a final
determination.
Item 19
Employee Parking
Employees will park in the parking lot of the shopping center. A permit must be
obtained from the owner of the shopping center and a parking permit sticker must
be displayed on the vehicle. USPS assumes no responsibility for the cars parked
on the lot.
Item 20
Union Activities Prior to Choice Vacation Schedule
Union Officials requesting leave to participate in official Union activities
will not have said leave charged against the Union Officer’s vacation periods.
It will, however, be charged against the 10% or 14% overall allotment of leave
to be granted to the work unit where the Officer is stationed.
An employee requesting leave to attend an official Union function held by the
NALC will be granted leave to the maximum extent possible.
Item 21
Article 41
Non-Scheduled Days
In the event a regular assigned Carrier is requested to work on their
non-scheduled day, they will be assigned to work on their own route. If reserve
carrier (float) covering one of the routes on the utilities string, they 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.
B. Full Time Regular Carriers who are called in to work on 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, they will choose vacant assignments with
their 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 route
vacant duty assignment.
E. A Part Time Flexible Carrier is converted to a permanent route vacancies.
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 vacancies after their temporary
bid assignments have ended.
Item 21
Article 41
Starting Changes of Less Than One (1) Hour & More Than One (1) Hour
When starting times of full time Carriers positions are to be changed the NALC
will be informed of the reasons for the change.
A. If one (1) hour or less, 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.
Item 21
Article 17
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.
The meetings will be scheduled by mutual consent.
There will be no more than two (2) members of each craft at any Labor Management
Meeting.
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 Management Meetings
will be exchanged by the parties to this agreement at least one full work day
before the scheduled meeting. Items not placed on such agenda 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 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 their staff. Letter Carrier
members of all committees will be designated by the President of Branch 157.
Committee meetings will be held on the clock.
Item 21
Article 17
Representation
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 of an employee or employees he represents, for the purpose of
resolving the problem with the employee or employees and/or supervisors
involved.
Such attempts at resolution will be conducted on the clock during the steward
(or their 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.
Representatives of Branch 157 will have the right to use the 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. Requests will not be unreasonably denied.
Item 22
Article 41
Posting and Bidding Assignments
A. Notice inviting bids for Letter Carrier Craft assignments and to such other
assignments to which a Letter Carrier is entitled to bid shall be posted on the
official bulletin board for ten (10) days. Copies of the notice shall be given
to the Union. When an absent employee has so requested, in writing, a copy of
any notice inviting bids shall be mailed to the employee.
1. Letter Carriers shall make their bids in writing to the manager in charge by
the end of the work day on the final day. Carriers shall have the right to bid
for all assignments, stating their preference. A steward or other designee of
the Union shall be present when the bids are opened.
Article 41, 3.0
Abolishment of Full Time Duty Assignment
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 project, 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.
Notify Of Temporary Assignments
Management shall notify all temporarily vacant full time craft duty assignments
of anticipated duration of five (5) days or more.
1. Part Time Flexible employees may use their seniority to bid for their
vacation period 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 is being covered.
Item 22
Article 41
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 constitute the entire Agreement between Branch 157, National
Association of Letter Carriers and the Wynnewood Post Office.
Michael Kennedy
William F. McKinney
Postmaster President
Wynnewood Post Office Keystone Branch 157, NALC
November 1, 2006 November 1, 2006