Episode 68: The love affair. Effectively grieving management changing our start times.

This episode focuses on the grievance process regarding management's practice of changing start times. Corey emphasizes the importance of a "searing, zealous, torrid love affair" for letter carriers among union representatives to effectively represent their needs. He laments the perceived failure of some union representatives to adequately address workers' concerns, citing instances where grievances were not filed or resolved, leading to negative outcomes for employees. He discusses a recent case involving a carrier's removal and the subsequent lack of union support, highlighting the critical need for representatives to actively file and pursue grievances. The episode then transitions into a detailed explanation of how to grieve start-time changes. Corey provides a template grievance, outlining the required elements, including an issue statement referencing Article 5 and Section 122 of the M-39 handbook and Article 19 of the national agreement. He also stresses the importance of supporting documentation, like carrier statements and management communication, and using arbitration decisions as instructive models for formulating grievances. He highlights the significance of the arbitrator's requirement that management demonstrate justification for any schedule change. The episode concludes with a summary of several arbitration case precedents, emphasizing the 80% mail-availability criterion as a key element in contesting start-time modifications and the arbitrator's interpretation of management's responsibilities in maintaining fair schedules. Corey repeatedly encourages listeners to utilize readily available resources like templates, arbitration decisions, and support from their union representatives to successfully challenge these management actions. c-33356 c-34444 c-23986 c-29717 http://www.fromatoarbitration.com/