On August 23, 2022, the NRLCA filed a Step 4 grievance regarding the Postal Service’s refusal to cease working regular rural carriers on routes other than their assigned routes and on Sundays.
Step 4 Grievance Filed on USPS Working Regular Letter Carriers on Sundays and on Routes Other Than Their Assigned Routes
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I’m struggling to make sense of this.
Requiring regular carriers to work other routes or on Sundays–huge no-no, has been since the beginning of time, 100% on board. Crystal clear, it’s a slam dunk grievance anytime it does happen.
But the NRLCA and USPS signed several MOUs, including one that became active in early August 2022 and runs through February 2023, that permitted regular rural carriers to *volunteer* to run other routes or to do Sunday parcels. To reiterate, the NRLCA union and the USPS came to an understanding about this and both agreed regular rural carriers volunteering was acceptable. Now with this Step Four grievance, the NRLCA is saying it’s never acceptable for regular rural carriers to volunteer to work other routes or run parcels.
So which is it? I’m a bit concerned because I’ve volunteered to do Sundays under the current MOU and been (well) paid overtime for my trouble. Now this Step Four says both I and management are in violation of the contract. So which is it?
Running other routes or on Sundays is supposed to be voluntary; they shouldn’t make you run anything besides your own route if you do not the OT.
The issue in the greivance is that some offices are FORCING regular carriers to carry other routes and work Sundays. The MOU clearly states that this can be done VOLUNTARILY only.