To the NRLCA,
Recently, the plan for Amazon Sunday deliveries was put into effect by the USPS. The plan is to have “main” offices as the Hub for these deliveries, not just to that office’s city and rural areas, but also to surrounding areas. This in essence committed “substitute” carriers/RCAs, in that specific office, to deliver amazon parcels to a very large area, on Sundays. Not just during the Christmas Holiday rush, but for the entire year.
While this is certainly a good income generating venture for the Postal Service and could possibly help save us, you, as our Union, failed horribly in protecting RCAs from this badly laid out plan.
Many offices across the nation are extremely shorthanded on RCAs, many already work 6 days per week on a continuing basis. Where is our relief? We have no rights to vacations or days off via leave slips. We have no sick leave. Many in management and in the rural craft have openly told us, we have the right to work sick, work healthy, work nonstop and nothing more.
You failed in previous contracts to afford RCAs any rights except to work. Now you have turned a blind eye to those of us who will be forced to work 7 days a week on a non-stop basis and for other offices, who’s RCAs can sit at home on Sundays.
Yes we are “part time” help, but many have not seen part time, except maybe a few weeks out of the year, usually not even that much.
The Union’s answer to this, “Oh the Post Office will be hiring more RCAs”. Really? That’s laughable, because guess what, RCAs come and go like the wind!
What happens when one of these LLVs breaks down in the “middle of nowhere rural route USA”?? Oh that’s right, it is now the RCA’s responsibility to carry the business card of a towing company, who may or may not answer on Sunday, immediately or even within a few hours. Why? Because, no one else is working on Sunday who can help us and when the LLV is towed, finally, how are we supposed to continue to deliver these packages? We must stay with them, we cannot deviate, we must follow the manifest, but no one is at the office to bring us another LLV and let’s not forget we have a time limit, 16 packages per hour.
Have you ever tried to get a tow truck on a Sunday? Have you bothered to listen to the problems being generated with these manifests that have you cutting through open fields! Or have “Non generated packages”, guess what those are, those are packages that you have to hope to God someone knows where it is or google maps can find!
All marked Amazon Packages must be delivered, no matter what! Yeah, about those dogs, we have to take pictures of them and let’s hope the owner doesn’t swear this dog is the sweetest thing on earth. After that promise, we’ll be cursed by management to deliver it because of course the customer wouldn’t lie, until we are bitten. But who cares, we’re all just “subs” and suddenly it will be our own fault we were bitten.
No premium Sunday pay, you work 6 days a week, you better keep it under 40 hours, or go way over to even come close to reaping a partial benefit for working so hard. But if you’re already working 6 days and Sunday makes 7, it’s impossible to stay under 40 hours, so you’re either going to work a day for free or you’re going to be hung by management, because the District Office is screaming at them for your hours of overtime. Makes sense, right?
Let’s not forget, “Oh you have a family?” “Sorry, you signed up for this and your family doesn’t matter; only the regulars get to have their family and time off.” Personally, I didn’t sign up for 7 days a week.
No insurance that’s worth the paper it’s written on, because hey, we’re just Part Timers.
No vacation time, because hey, we’re just part timers.
No Holiday pay, because hey, we’re just part timers.
No sick leave, because hey, we’re just part timers.
You can work 6-7 days a week with no benefits AT ALL, because HEY You’re just PART TIMERS!
At least RCA make good money for every hour they work…. Be thankful!!!
That’s not an accurate statement
Evaluated until over 40
Dislike
They dropped RCA pay down from $19.45 per hour to $16.26 per hour. Pretty soon McDonald’s will be paying more … And they offer benefits :/
That’s good starting pay, in the spring and summer if you know your route most carriers can get done under evaluation. When mail light you get extra pay daily, but when it get heavy in November and December everyone forgets this.
Easy for a regular full time employee to say who gets days off and benefits, aren’t unions supposed to be protecting us too? Isn’t that what they’re for?
I am so glad to hear someone call them out on all this bullshit! I’m right there with ya!! Been an RCA for 10 years now and I feel your pain!
We can’t get subs hired, or even apply.
I work more hours, harder, AND faster than a regular yet receive NO benefits. Does that bother me? Yes, a little but every 2 weeks my paycheck is the bottom line. I like to consider myself and fellow RCAs as the Navy SEALS of the USPS. It’s all about mentality and attitude. You have to stay strong. This job isn’t easy nor for everyone. The only easy day was yesterday.
What is your hourly pay?
Navy SEALs.. love that! I’m loving my 7 day work weeks! Mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money!
good letter. Asking questions that I have had about this.
Sounds like money when many are in the unemployment line, be grateful.
There are things more important than money
Then let someone who needs it have your job
I do need it. I have no problem working. I’m talking about being overworked. Do you work 7 days a week?
I understand, and regulars like to throw your pay up in your face. Or feel like we have to suffer like they did. Whatever…It doesn’t mean that the system don’t need to change. I love my job, stop making us feel like we should suck it up. It was wrong when it was done to you and it’s still wrong. Shame on you regulars.
and just yesterday, a sub came up to several of us “regulars” and boasted that she made 1500.00 in OT…and she got help! I wouldn’t mind working on Sunday but I’m not allowed. Many regulars would also like to work….
Chris, how sad a reply. Yes, there are starving people in China also! Asking to be treated in a fair way is more than money, it is called respect! I am full time and am also disgusted with the way the USPS treats our part-time rural letter carriers. Chris, how about some respect for our co-workers, or are you part of management?
Thank you Ericka, it needs to change!!
Kristina Marie
Another note I might add is that some RCAs don’t even see 6 days a week. They are grateful for one day or two. If you’re getting the hours how can you complain? This is the job. Accept it or quit. Either way the mail and the USPS will go on with or without you.
It’s like I wrote it myself…
75+ hours a week for subs in my station. Don’t forget we are just subs “if you don’t like it then quit” my favorite quote from regulars and our union Stewart.
Every office is different…..good or bad. Some offices are from the deep bowels of hell and that is an understatement.
I just went regular in April, I spent 10 years in the same situation (not to mention most of that I was a single mother of 2 with LOTS of credit card debt I am just now being able to pay off). Either feast or famine. It is a job, a job you should be proud of and be thankful you have. Yes it is hard (all regulars have been there) so do not act like we are reaping all the benefits and have done nothing to get where we are. Do your time and with any luck you will be in our shoes soon, with paid time off and sick days. When you took this job you knew the requirements and what is expected of you. Hang in there and don’t give up.
We did not know the requirements were to work 6-7 days a week all year or every Sunday. When you took this job, were you told you’d average 60/week? No. What we signed up for was like the army reserve: management told us it was a couple days a week (when our reg is off a day) plus a couple weeks a year (on vacation). This is a DE FACTO full time job for large office subs. There are formula offices that won’t even grieve to get a sub to go PTF because they don’t care about us. But go ahead, let management abuse us. That’s what subs think about it. I love this job, but the conditions I have to work with? Not so much. Full timers throw a fit because they’ve “lost so much”. Well, now, your pensions and future growth (parcels) depend on US. We are pulling the weight while you sit at home with your family. Yes, you earned it. But don’t tell us to stop whining when we need to rant. You did that too, and I bet they didn’t listen then either.
No one EVER said we had to work 7 days! Things have changed alot
Go ahead and rant, you do need to vent. I understand that. I however use to beg my regular for days at times. I was only NOT AVAILABLE 2 days in 10 years. I worked sick puking in the trash can while casing because I could not afford the time off because I did not have sick days either. I even worked 2 routes in one day (several times) because we were short on subs and plus I wanted the hours. I agree that not everything the post office does is NOT FAIR at all, but I had the opportunity to leave and get another job but I didn’t…..I took everything that was thrown my way like a dog begging for scraps and did it with a smile on my face. I still never complained!!! What good is it going to do. Trying to fight the USPS on certain issues is impossible. I still work Saturdays because I DO NOT HAVE A ASSIGNED SUB MYSELF. I work my xdays now and again too. Our office is in dire need of subs but this job is not for everyone. They hire 5 and nobody shows up. Which I am pretty sure is the case with the majority of the offices. As far as the family part you speak of me sitting at home with my family. Yes I get to spend Sundays at home but I am so damn tired from the whole week all I wanna do is sleep. Hasn’t changed in 10 years. I am very well aware more than anyone (how much time I have took away from my family, just to provide for them). I have missed countless games, parties, ceremonies, bake sales, car washes, Girl Scout and Boy Scout camps, band performances…the list goes on. I might be able to have Saturdays off to spend with them by the time my kids are in there 20’s :/ . I am sorry you are going to have to spend a couple hours every Sunday delivering parcels, I truly am. 7 days a week is not going to be easy but it will also not be forever, you will eventually go FT.
Maybe if the post office would take a small step forward and treat subs like actual human beings and worthwhile employees, you could have a sub that would stick around, and Saturdays off with your family. Better treatment of subs will benefit everyone. It isn’t wrong for you or for subs to want to spend time with their families. It IS wrong for the USPS to expect you or anyone else to devote their entire lives to the job.
We have 12 rural routes and only 5 subs (been that way forever), our subs are way over worked. I myself along with 7 other regulars do not have an assigned sub. I have never had one, so it isn’t like I lost one due to mistreating them. And I do treat the subs that work for me on occasion with GREAT RESPECT! I have not forgotten in the 7 months since I went regular how it feels. I think it is outrageous to have to work 7 days and lose that time with your family. I know there are times that are lost forever that I will never get back. What is crazy is that all any of can do is sit back and take it, because the Union will not fight for anything to take a little pressure off the subs. I think after a certain amount of time subs should at the very least receive benefits and earn some time off. That is why we can not even get any to complete the hiring process because the measly amount of work at first and the long line to go FT.
How are they working the subs without paying them? That’s not only grounds for a grievance, it’s illegal.
Its’ a loophole
It’s not that they’re not paying them, it’s that the more you work the less you earn.
“Be thankful for your job”. If that’s all you have to comment, thanks but don’t bother. It’s taken the same way as “if you don’t like it then quit” or “shut up and run some dirt in it”. The pay for new subs isn’t much better than retail or hospitality. I will agree that office conditions vary, but we MUST be heard! If you don’t want to hear about it, don’t read.
I’m regular and my husband is also. It is horrible how they make the subs and city carriers work and they way they are treated for not getting it done by the time upper management thinks they should. There working 6 or 7 days a week. Guess what??? Maybe there freaking tired after work 10 to 12 hour days. So sick of hearing “I paid my dues bull crap.” It’s a living yes, but most did not sign up for combat
Exactly. And when I was an RCA there was none of this idiotic 7 days a week crap. Employment is great…but not at the expense of your home and family.
You are exactly right! Its bad enough even when you are a regular carrier who is on a H route (thanks to a mail count) and get a ton of mail but having subs work 7 days a week and have no time with family or even going to church is just uncalled for!! But PMG doesn’t care or other higher up management because THEY ARE at home on Saturday AND Sunday!!
Yes ken I’m with u I work at a tiny post office on my day off just to help the clerk that the postal system doesn’t care about the carriers in this office work nonstop they will do 3 routes because there is no one to do it that’s stupid no wonder carriers have accidents go crazy and worse kill themselves yes if u don’t like it get another job what a stupid comment
Our postmaster had a private meeting with the rcas in our district without our union present and told us with the mail volume we have today there is no reason why we can’t be down one or two routes in a station a day. We have 50 rural routes and 17 subs. That make sense?
Be grateful you have a job!! We all had to climb ladder!
When count comes around and you route comes back as a j or h, just be thankful you have a job.
Yes, be thankful in all/for all things. But right is right & wrong is wrong. They are over working us, and they get away with it. I would think that our union would put in the contract something stating that if a sub works over 40hrs a week, they should start getting something back in return. Yes, I saw where it said “part time employee”. But how many jobs can you name where the” part time employee” works 40+ every week none stop? We get tired like regulars, we need a refresh time as well. But to now force us “who work 5-6 days a week” to work 7 start is highway robbery. Then to top it off, if you think you are done for the day, management forces you to go back out and help somebody else. Something gotta be done, and please stop with that whole pay your dues stuff, it’s about the weakest argument when dealing with this matter.
Maybe subs need a union.
Unions were created to protect us from these conditions. WTF?
It is feast or famine always has been it never lasts forever. You make more than the private sector would pay you. We all did it I know it sucks the Sundays and holidays but lots of people do it. Nobody is forcing you to keep the job.
Feast or famine, right or wrong. Your right, nobody forcing me I keep this job. What is going on is wrong. If that’s the case, unions should of never been formed.
Union exists for what purpose?
I agree disband all unions and watch the country flourish.
If a private sector employer treated employees like this, the federal government would shut them down. THESE are the kind of working conditions that caused people to band together and unionize. What is wrong with our union???
Well said!
When I was hired we worked like this and it was undersood no benefits….you have to pay your dues like WE regulars did….this is just like the fast food picketers demanding higher wages when they KNEW when hired whT the stipulations were. In any career….you have to WORK for more…its NOT handed to you on a silver platter!
Did you work 7 days a week? Right.
We already do work for more, not asking for something for free just union support that we are paying for, just because you did it doesn’t make it right!!
I don’t think the fast food places were working their employees 60+ hours a week with no days for rest. I doubt that’s the dues you say you paid, either.
Get a clue!
Heather…can you be any more ignorant?
Well said
I don’t understand all the management bashing that comes on nearly every post – smh – YOU are just as responsible for your workplace environment as the management that is in place – if you don’t want to build the Amazon business with YOUR company, go find another company – if you don’t like the hours and the benefits, go find another company. No one is forcing you to work for the USPS. I paid my dues as a sub, as a regular and as a manager – quite frankly put – if you don’t like it leave or do something about it besides bitching and complaining
LoL. And when there are no subs left, then you guys can enjoy all these dues.
I jumped right in with my guys today – I am there on Sunday with them also – if we don’t work together – we fail together
Sorry…being on call and available 24/7 including Sundays wasnt mentioned in the job description or interview so how about you quit your BS….
Everybody write one of these because it is the absolute truth!!!!!
So, pay my dues and become regular? For the record, I never saw on the application where it says “you will be working 7 days a week.” I don’t have a problem with working. So stop with the if you don’t like it, leave it thing. If that’s the case, then (not taking a shot at union) why was the union formed as I asked previously?
If they did not like the working conditions back then. Then they should of told them what some of y’all are telling us. But all we are saying, is if they gonna force us to work like this, then something gotta give. Back to the drawing board for all.
I would love to do something about it, plan on doing something too. Even if I become regular or not.
everything is true but you just wasted the ink from your pen because nothing will be done
AMEN!!!!
hey lynn subs get no benefits can’t you read
Regulars who are saying quit must be in big offices with plenty of subs. You might wanna be more understanding and encouraging. It is tough, or have you forgotten. I’m a part timer, and I’m paying my dues. I love my job, but sometimes it is a huge sacrifice, and I’ll never tell anyone that they should quit. Hang in there.
I have only been a regular for one year but when I was a sub I worked 7 days a week delivering Express Mail on Sundays out of some offices. Working Sundays is not a new thing, took me 17 years to no longer work whenever called. I missed so many things while my son was growing up, and had no choice. It’s part of being an RCA….
But was it right? Should you have had to miss so many things to serve the postal service? What would it have hurt to provide you, a hard working employee, with benefits fitting your basically full time hours?
Not saying it’s right. Just the way it has been as long as I have worked there. Have had many chances to work elsewhere, but have always stayed. Love the job, just not the politics. Speaking from my experience, employees have never came first, and don’t see that ever changing. 🙂
I have been with the post office 24 yrs, 12 as rca and 12 as regular now maybe it is different where I come from but in those 24 yrs I dont recall us every having to work 7 days a week so yes the rca have to pay their dues but I didnt do 7 days and I doubt if very many other regulars did. I am sure most are very grateful for the job but one has the right to rest and see their family so I for one say a great big THANK YOU to all the rca’s out there and I hope the find a solution to this craziness you are involved in.
Heather Milburn this sounds about right.
I wish some of our RCA’s worked as hard as most of the ones posting here. Ours continually request (and receive) time off. If they don’t get the answer they want from one supervisor, they go whining to another until they get their way. It’s the same ones all the time.
So an RCA is not ever supposed to tske a day off or have a family commitment on a saturday once in a while?? R u serious?
Every year at national I put forth resolutions to help rcas. Some pass some don’t. But then in labor negotiations nothing happens. I feel your pain. The rural carriers are the red headed step child of the post office. The rcas are the gingers.
Very good letter and it addresses some Sunday delivery problems that management and the union have failed to address.
They are also failing about 20 of us whom have been working full time on routes which the carrier has been injured and unable to return to work. District has failed to craft phantom routes for these carriers and post the route for bid to the senior RCA’s. I have been working full time on my route for 3 yrs now. Filling aggrevience was a joke because our union has done nothing to make our district manager take care of this matter. 15 yrs of service and paying union dues and what good has it gotten the 20 of us who should be career carriers long before now. Ridiculous!!!
Waaa I have too many hours and I make too much money. The exact reason the populas thinks we are overpaid pansies who should go away. Develop a work ethic or quit, nobody forces you to work there. I specifically remember when I was hired they said you have to be available at all times and you don’t get any benefits.
You are an idiot!
No one said that they weren’t thankful for the job. This working on Sunday’s has just about put me over the edge. Every Saturday of our life is bad enough. Yes, we knew about Saturday coming in, but not Sunday.
Agree about Sunday and if regular carrier’s weren’t so whiney and treat rca’s better maybe more would stay around longer cause I pick up mail behind regular carrier’s after them but yet they think they are perfect. Sunday suck, line of travel sucks especially if internet is down !
Working as PTF cannot get more then 3 days a week, R CA asking for a Sunday off after working 56 hours in a week supervisor said no, I couldn’t work for her because I’m career employee. RCA’s truly overworked with no union support, hang in there be safe
Some of these regulars need to be thankful for subs and treat them better, maybe if they were appreciated and had more union support that they are paying dues for, they might just stick around!
Just because we think we are worth more does not mean we aren’t thankful! Why do you think unions were started in the first place? Not so those people could just “suck it up”, it was for protection against things like this. What is so wrong with wanting equality? We work just as hard or even harder than some regulars!
I do not think the pay should have went down for new hires!!
those regulars saying “if you don’t like it quit I paid my dues too” are proving the writer’s point with amazing accuracy. Respect is earned not required due to your status. those regulars backing us up, you have my respect and Thank You. For the RCAs here, click the link for the full letter and email or snail mail it to your union steward stand behind the writer.
I agree stand up for what is right ! Im regular and agree subs are not treated fairly. Regulars are getting screwed also some just dont realize the difference in a 42k and 48k which most routes should be paid now . long hours less pay
It’s a new post office. Hang in there. I’m a regular. But I was an RCA for 8 years. And I wish I had y’all’s problem back then. We were basically starved for not having enough work! Now, I’m about to complete my 29 years of service. Still get my leave requests denied often. Still get written up if I decide to call in sick. Recently, I have worked with a key and scanner that don’t even work right–as many of us do. So, what do I do? I deal with it. Whatever the problem, I accept it and find a way to get through the day (And hope for a better day).
I am using my car for the route. I have to make at least two trips everyday. The post office is broke! So, I don’t even care if I go over 50 miles to get paid extra for EMA. I don’t need or want to complain too much to managegment. Everyone can cry. I choose to be among the ones who don’t and deal with it.
I see in coming months, the PO and the Union will have to find an option to utilize regular carriers to help out on Sunday and even daily and get paid OT for doing it. But even then, we will get more complaints from both regulars and RCA’s. So, hang in there. And hope for the best. 30 years will fly by! 🙂
I treat my RCA very well. I also know he doesn’t belong to me. I dislike carriers who think they own their RCA. I hate it that you all have to work so hard. I hate it that now you have to work on Sunday. I think we are all stressed at this time of year. I hear people saying, I did not sign on for Sundays. Well, I’ve been with this company, yes we work for a company, for 25 years. Those of you that have been with USPS that long have started doing many things we “didn’t sign on for” it’s all a part of company change, to keep us afloat and working. I didn’t sign on for edit book work, scanners, package pickups, especially package pickups. I’m supposed to deliver the mail, not pick up packages I have no where to put. Some, not all RCAs bitch about working but just let management call someone out of the matrix to fill in and the first thing they do is file a grievance. Either you want to work or you don’t. I begged to work as an RCA and did for almost 9 years. I worked 6 days a week and would have gladly worked 7. I needed the money. Now I work in a “formula office” no more Xdays earned for me. Only 2 regulars in our office get Saturday as their day off. This was at one time totally against our contract. Yes people things are changing for us as regulars too, it’s not just for RCAs.
Things are changing… You’re saying accept and embrace the bad changes while berating RCAs for wanting some good changes. If companies can change with the times, then good changes can happen, also. They won’t unless someone speaks up for it, though. It isn’t wrong to want better.
Yes we make money in overtime BUT after 60 hours it puts us in a higher tax bracket and we really make the same for 75 as we do for 60. My clerk made $64 a hour Sunday! 64! I made 16.26! How is that fair? I am the only sub for 8 routes and God forbid you deliver a piece of standard wrong! Try having 8 routes in your head and not knowing what route your delivering until you get to work! I understand that you regulars started in the trenches too but sometimes it seems like you forget how hard it is. Just remember on Sundays, Thanksgiving and Christmas how lucky you are to be with your families while we are delivering packages and not getting any break. They wonder why we break down and quit, a lot of people can’t handle 7 days a week without a day off for months. And I was told IF I ever do get a day off that I have to put in a slip or I’m on call?! So I can’t even get a day to go to the Dr? I see lots of us having strokes. Oh and the Union?! What is that? I’ve left message after message with no response for weeks about a particular issue. Why even bother with dues? Oh I know because they’re supposed to have my back but seems like all they have is my money.
But you get benefits and paid time off. We do the same job and then some….
Kerri- preach it!
Just wait until you see what your retirement is, then you will really be sick! Just remember, they don’t care what you say or think…they just look at numbers. Most in management have never delivered a piece of mail except from their mailbox to the desk!
I’ve had my last 3 subs from day 1 until they made regular. 6, 7 & 4 years. I treat my subs well and others try to get them to switch to other routes, but because I don’t abuse or bully them, they stay on my route.
I guess what I don’t understand is this “entitlement mentality”. You were not promised health care when you were hired, but now you think if the union can’t make the PO pay for it for you, then they’ve failed you. You think making you work Sundays is unreasonable. Believe it or not many of us regulars worked Sundays & Holidays delivering Express mail when we were subs. We also worked 40-60 hour weeks, sometimes more.
It’s not that we aren’t empathetic to your plight, but we’ve been there, done that. Everything that is being stated…we’ve been there! As for subs doing “everything” regulars do…I’m not so sure about that. When was the last time you spent 30 minutes going over the edit book, or arguing with management about count issues, etc.
If you’re as unhappy as the writer of this article because you’re not getting things you weren’t promised when you were hired…as my ole PM always told us, “Walmart & McDonald’s are always hiring”. That’s how I was treated as a sub, and 28 years later I’m reaping the rewards of my stubbornness.
Did you appreciate how you were done? I’m sure you didn’t. I also have a regular who treats me awesome, I love him to death. My biggest issue is that this is not what we were told, 18 hours at most is what I was told. While I appreciate the fact I have my job, I don’t appreciate the disrespectful attitudes, and the fact we are looked upon as lesser humans. With more work we should get something in return. You had subs stick with you and work with you because you treated them fairly and like they mattered. You just proved the most valid point here.
But to answer your questions, yes I have sat over an edit book for 30 or more minutes and didn’t get paid for it but was told to do it because the regular was on vacation and district was screaming for it, I luckily had a great post master that taught me as I did it. I even showed a regular how to do the edit book, mind you a 10 year vet that had no clue what needed to be done.
Yes I was on my route in my previous office for mail count and helped my regular argue out the times and numbers, his route went up when they were trying to bring it down.
The regulars I am on the matrix for, I would bend over backwards, because they treat me good. Others in my office, I wouldn’t spit on if they were burning.
The point is. we are paying union dues and want the support, That is what unions are for, I don’t care that what you did as a sub. So you’re saying that the people who started unions should have just quit and found another job if they didn’t like the way things were going? The union should not be divided!! I like my job for the most part and yes Trish, I have as a sub gone over the edit book and dealt with mail count issues when my regular is off because I do care about my job and I never turn down work either! This is a good way to break up the union! Maybe us subs need to get a hold of Teamsters and form our own union with them!
Someone in my office found out how to do it, but the NRLCA has to release us.
Oh? Very interesting!
Why are regular carriers so threatened by RCAs asking for better representation?
?? I don’t know but I have the same question
Many of the things stated in this letter to the union aren’t supposed to be happening. Has the writer gone to their steward, their district rep? If these have failed then union representation in this area is weak. Subs from the hub and spoke offices are all supposed to have access to those Sunday hours. Sunday is supposed to be voluntary. At our last state meeting(MA)the district rep stated no RCAs were contacting him with issues, yet all I see our complaints. I asked my PM about the sorting system failing to sort the packages. He said the system can be overrided and all supervisors will be trained to do so. There is supposed to be a supervisor on duty. There are huge issues stated in this letter, because the things mentioned are not policy and should not be perceived as business as usual. As far as benefits, the post office will have to conform to the ACA next year and provide benefits to those employees working 30 hours or more. I should think it would be obvious what that means for RCAs who are only guaranteed 1 day a week. RCAs need to be part of the solution. This isn’t it.
In our office we have 34 routes 12 subs one about to go out on maternity leave, our area runs a large rural area the connecting cities we will be running are nothing to sneeze at either. 11 subs will be forced if they don’t volunteer. It’s a fact.
Our PM is the one working on Sunday, even a sup can’t leave to help us if we break down, we were told in a stand up that the PM will check with a local towing company that we would have to call and use our gas cards to pay for.
At a union meeting this was the same answer give but a bit less info.
In essence they really didn’t have any answers just bits and pieces hoping subs and Postmaster could connect the dots for them
I am in an office with 49 regular routes and 1 aux and we have 6 rca’s(12 %). It is terrible and they are treated terrible. We have more 204-bs and coverage for the mail handler craft than we have subs. We are mandated as regulars to work our day off and I as the local steward am told management knows how to run the office.One more thing for all those complaining about the union,I also know the percentage of member/. non member. Maybe if more joined and shared the expense of having a union more would get done. Maybe if there were less mid to upper level management,less people wanting a free ride and a way to shed the ones who are bad for our system, we could move forward and survive as a business.
Working 65-75 hours a week and haven’t had a Sunday off in 7 weeks! 136 hours in a two week period. Yes the check is nice. But we have no life. I don’t feel like this process was thought through very well. Why didn’t they hire any one?? Yes you guys worked Sunday’s for express mails. But we are working 8-10 hours on Sunday’s. All we are saying is this isn’t safe. We are tired and then they wonder why our accidents have increased from last year!!
On a related note, look further out at all the one and two route offices with perpetual relief vacancies. Adjacent to the concerns relief express here and elsewhere, look at the concerns of those K and J route carriers that are effectively grossly overburdened H routes, and often ‘in trouble’ with 2080 through absolutely no fault of their own because relief is never available to assign to the route. A lot of offices can’t reach a minimum threshold of adequate applicants to perform an interview, let alone select, offer, hire, train, evaluate, and consider retaining anyone for those positions.
The relief positions (especially on the rural side) are ok, and perhaps in some ways better than it ever was for that category of workers in terms of ‘ enforcible rights’. However, other things have changed, too, especially with regard to risk and responsibility which negates much if any gains made through negotiations. The net effect is arguably a step or two backward. If not for the love of the job itself, and the people, the small club of dedicated relief carriers we enjoy and depend on would be even more exclusive.
If the employer expects a commitment and degree of service and accountability greater than a traditional or typical part time job would entail from their future relief, they need to follow suit, and provide comparative recognition/pay/benis. The pay may currently be better than fast food or pizza delivery typically provides, but the jobs are apples and frogs apart. Aside from potentially both being either being green or involving driving, any similarity ends abruptly.
I barley get 15 hour paychecks because my ref switched to a j route and I’m past 10 weeks so only get paided for the route which is 7.3… Should I be able to file a grievance because lack of hours and forced to find a new job that pays the bills?
I’ve been delving amazon Sunday’s for 3 years for USPS. We don’t have to take any pictures, never once heard of this 16 packages an hour deal and not every package has to be delivered. People bring back packages every single Sunday. This is what happens when you force RCAs to deliver packages in different cities let alone different F’n counties where you’re clueless to the route, dogs or any other hazards like I’ve been made to do. I will not sit there and keep turning around to find an address if it’s not clearly marked on the house or box. Half the time the scanner tells you to turn into the middle of a field. The only good thing is the ya topped making us take priority packages on Sunday’s which they used to do every week until amazon started delivering most of their own shit. Either way the Union has failed RCAs over and over. It’s be a lot easier to keep RCAs if we were respected but we’re not. USPS does everything they can to not pay you for your hard work.