Rough Seas Ahead
In the last few months, I have noticed a lot of old issues resurfacing as well as a few that are brand new. Never have I noticed issues and problems coming at such a high frequency. In my brief time as a Full Time Officer, I have seen a rise of Carrier Assaults, harassment, Management condoning poor delivery methods and the nonstop stream of bad innovation from Washington DC.
I worry the convergence of several unrelated circumstances may leave some of our more venerable members unprepared to deal with the reality of the changes that are likely to lie ahead of us. More than half of the workforce has been hired in the last ten years and the majority of this group has been around for five years or less. The workforce has become complacent because of a solid three years of COVID, in a Mail environment that has been on a steady decline, the parcel volume has been sporadic; with craft and management that are newer and less experienced. All this has been happening while the USPS has started the process of consolidating offices, using GPS and GEO-TAG technology to track the Letter Carriers, Track the mail and adjust our assignments.
Luckily, the one thing that has not changed is the basic perimeters that frame up how we perform our duties. It is my greatest suggestion that our membership get back to basics. First and foremost, performing your AM office duties. All too often I see or hear about Carriers and Managers engaging in the age-old argument about when the Carrier is projected to leave the office for the street. Management uses varying programs to give them an estimate of your leave time; however, there is no program or tool that is better at making these projections than a well-trained Letter Carrier on their Assignment. A way a Carrier can insulate themselves from these senseless arguments about leave times is to develop the skill of taking a linier estimation of the mail volume once most of your Mail is at your case. Section 141.122 of the M-39 states: Where possible, at least 80 percent of the carrier’s mail should be on the case ledge prior to the carrier reporting.
The liner measurement of Mail according to Section 126.12 of the M-39 is 225 pieces per foot for average letter-size, 115 pieces per foot for average flat. The following is just a mathematical exercise and bears no relation to contractual standards; Postal Service "guestimates" that an average foot of mail contains 250 mixed letters or 115 flats. The following figures are based on a route with about an hour of office time and a mail mix of one foot of letters and a foot of flats. The allotment of time for casing to standard is 18 Letter Size per minute, 18 Flat Size per minute plus 70 pieces per minute to “Pull Down” or to Strap Out. So, if hypothetically you had a foot of Letters and a foot of Flats (Mail of other sizes): 250 letters divided by 18 = 13.89 minutes, 115 flats divided by 8 = 14.38 minutes therefore: Strap out time (365 pcs.) = 5.21min total casing time 33.5 minutes.
The 33.5 minutes would be combined with your AM Fixed Office Time (FOT). Your minimum fixed office time is 33 minutes, (43 minutes with office break). Typically, your PM FOT may be about 15 minutes (This varies by station and even by Route at times). In this hypothetical the Office has an AM Office break; 43 Minutes minus 15 minutes would be 28 minutes; plus time taken to case and pull down your route would equal 61.5 Minutes.
Remember the FOT I listed are the minimums that you are permitted. If the actual function takes longer, you are permitted the additional time; however, you must take the time to get credit. If there is something that may take longer than the minimum time allowed, you may want to complete a PS form 3996 Auxiliary Control Form.
Keep in mind that this is just a hypothetical, and the FOT of your Assignment was calculated the last time that your Assignment was through a Route Count and Inspection. The purpose of this article is to educate the membership so that conversations with Management regarding leave times is not subjective and as such less likely to lead to an argument.
If you are issued Discipline for Not Making Office Standards; speak to your local Union representative. No Letter Carrier can be disciplined for simply not making standards. There must be documented, unacceptable conduct that led to the Carrier’s failure to meet office standards (M-39 Section 242.332). M-39 242.332 No carrier shall be disciplined for failure to meet standards, except in cases of unsatisfactory effort which must be based on documented, unacceptable conduct that led to the carrier’s failure to meet office standards.
As far as your Street Time, there is no street standard. In national level settlement M-00304, the parties agreed there is no set pace at which a carrier must walk and no street standard for walking. This language was reinforced in national level settlement M-01769. The relevant language from these two settlements is shown below. M-00304 “In keeping with the principle of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, it is understood that there is no set pace at which a carrier must walk and no street standard for walking.” M-01769 “…there is no set pace at which a carrier must walk and no street standard for walking.”
Make sure you adhere to all safety rules and regulations, take care of the customers, and walk at a pace that you can sustain for a career. God bless all of you that are doing the job.
