For those worried about the count......

[ctrr03]

Just heard today from the ASS who was at the state convention yesterday.

The postal service just offered a deal to the NRLCA.   If you drop EVERY CARRIER by 2 hours, we won't have a count.    Duh.   Believe it or not, our union REJECTED this kind offer.   Duh.   Now if it were me, I would have made a deal for that....  just need a couple conditions.

(1) move all carriers to level 6 (and give benefits same as city guys.
(2) all subs would  become ptf's
(3)Pay cuts for management:
   (1) all PO Headquarters...give back $15,000
   (2) all district/state level...give back $1 0,000
   (3) all PO level mgrs give back $5,000.

(4) get rid of all the dead weight in management.   Do we really need all those thumb twiddlers in National or even all those supervisors at the local level?
(5) This 2 hour pay reduction would have to be for ALL crafts, not just rurals.
(6) ANY manager caught cheating during count would AUTOMATICALLY be removed from that count, the count null and void for that carrier and that carrier's route go up in evaluation by 2 hours.  The manager would be immediately fired due to fraud.
(7) Oh yeah, I want something in WRITING that says the count gauge is accurate and in agreement between NRLCA and USPS.  (now THIS one is real and I am sending it to both Potter and NRLCA due to being screwed by mgmt on last count).  Had the steward done his job, that would have been an easy win


Now, all that would well be worth a 2 hour pay reduction.  LOL   Guess it's easy to see why I"m not in a position to negotiate with the USPS/NRLCA.    LOL

[Postaltexan]

I love your conditions girl... 

Their offer tells me they are not so sure we will ALL lose with the coming count....

On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 5:25 PM, ctrr03 (via Nabble) - No Reply <[hidden email]> wrote:

Just heard today from the ASS who was at the state convention yesterday.

The postal service just offered a deal to the NRLCA.   If you drop EVERY CARRIER by 2 hours, we won't have a count.    Duh.   Believe it or not, our union REJECTED this kind offer.   Duh.   Now if it were me, I would have made a deal for that....  just need a couple conditions.

(1) move all carriers to level 6 (and give benefits same as city guys.
(2) all subs would  become ptf's
(3)Pay cuts for management:
   (1) all PO Headquarters...give back $15,000
   (2) all district/state level...give back $1 0,000
   (3) all PO level mgrs give back $5,000.

(4) get rid of all the dead weight in management.   Do we really need all those thumb twiddlers in National or even all those supervisors at the local level?
(5) This 2 hour pay reduction would have to be for ALL crafts, not just rurals.
(6) ANY manager caught cheating during count would AUTOMATICALLY be removed from that count, the count null and void for that carrier and that carrier's route go up in evaluation by 2 hours.  The manager would be immediately fired due to fraud.
(7) Oh yeah, I want something in WRITING that says the count gauge is accurate and in agreement between NRLCA and USPS.  (now THIS one is real and I am sending it to both Potter and NRLCA due to being screwed by mgmt on last count).  Had the steward done his job, that would have been an easy win


Now, all that would well be worth a 2 hour pay reduction.  LOL   Guess it's easy to see why I"m not in a position to negotiate with the USPS/NRLCA.    LOL

[ctrr03]

This made a great discussion today.   Remember that this is a 4 week count this time and that ususally favors the carrier.    Their offer makes me believe the PO wont' be able to screw us as much as they want, so they made the offer.

What REALLY does surprise me is that the NRLCA didn't jump on it.  LOL   From what was said they just laughed in the PO's face.  Hopefully these guys will be willing to stand up to the PO and get us somewhere instead of giving in all the time.   But then again, had they agreed to this, I think federal  labor charges would have been filed due to non-representation.   Or perhaps, the NRLCA was afraid that if we all lost those two hours without getting anything in return, they would have been out the door so fast they wouldn't know what hit them, especially in the pocket.

[Michael]

I agree. I am planning on counting. A 4 week count should do me good. I will be interested to see how far management is will to go to get the carriers not to count. They will probaby throw every excuse at us in the book.

[...]

volume for most offices has been down ,with the exception of the election but with the fall of dhl , this could be interesting , dhl is how they screwed us last count they didnt drop but on pallet all of count after count 2 pallets a day,but they also make dhl call the post office and schedule deliveries,hopefully these companies using dhl will discover the post office, speculation also is part of the fall of dhl , is the fact that they were going to be forced to pay back pay and benefit to contract workers, bankrupt no pay out

[bill]

I would not be so eager to be counted in Feb.  I was counted last sept and had 80 less parcels than I had last feb and I feel that it was due to both the loss of dhl and the economy and its gotten worse.  The economy is not going to all of a sudden be better by Feb and businesses are going to use what advertising budget they have left for christmas mailings and people are going to use any extra money they have for christmas s  I dont think people will be spending/ ordering packages much after the holidays and companies wont be spending money they dont have on mailings to try to sell something to people who cant afford to buy anything i think it will be a light feb and i think i will be opted in back to your case nv17

[tim]

BUT, that was a two week count, don't worry, a four week count is much different. Count, Count, count!!!

[Underdog]

Wow...they REJECTED it? LAUGHED in their faces...I am ALMOST impressed!

I like your idea...that might actually be worth the two hours!

I've been dreading the count...still am...but now I'm wondering if they're going to make us all count after all...interestink!

[*SUPERsub*]

dang ctrro3...i will say it again..I LOVE the way you think! I think if my regular asks me..im gonna say count this time..I dont think we will lose a thing...our volume is way up...dont know why..if its like they say it is some places....ive seen more signature confirmations in the last 2 months..than in the last 3 years.

I think they are worried that EVERYONE will come into another count looking for a fight...and willing to push for every second of time they can. And i think with the talk of cutting jobs and excessing clerks and handlers and stuff..they just might have a harder time "hiding or sliding" mail out the back. Definately something to think on....

[ctrr03]

OK....think about this.    The PO says that our count is fair.   So...why is the NRLCA allowing us to work over what our evaluations are?   Remember, the PO said that the evaluated system is NOT an incentive system to go home early.  Well, it SURE is NOT a PO incentive system to stay and clean up that excess mail that just happened to pop out of the woodwork...especially since we're all hearing "VOLUME IS DOWN" speeches left and right.

So.....in my opinion, none of us should be doing any more mail than what we did at count.   All this excess mail should be paid at an overtime rate.   Thus, we are all working for free...with the NRLCA's blessings.

If the PO wants to say the count is fair and that our low evaluation is accurate....FINE WITH ME.   However, don't give me any more mail volume than what you gave me during the count unless you want to pay me for it.     Just where is the NRLCA in all of this?   Maybe I should email and ask.

Oh...and for anyone interested.  Ronnie Stutts told me that there is nothing in writing between the PO and the NRLCA stating that the count gauge is accurate.....so, to me, that just states that apparently, the PO has the NRLCA's blessings to say the gauge isn't right at their whim.   According to Ronnie, an inch is an inch.   But then, an inch is NOT an inch if it doesn't favor the PO.   What other interesting things will we find out at the next count?  ........   ya think by then, a "letter" that measures 7 inches will still be a letter if the PO feels like saying it is?

Let the counts begin....it should be a lot of fun.   Remember though, packages are going up before the count too, so that might hamper us.   However, isn't ALL rates going up in May?   Might be enough to tick off a few mailers when they find out they have to pay 5% more to mail their garbage.

[ctrr03]

Thanks SS.    You know, I would LOVE to know WHERE this volume is down.  Sure not at MY office.   I got slammed today with like 24 buckets of flats and 8 trays of DPS, not to mention over a tray of sorted letters.   Hmmmm,  I never had that much mail during count.   Wonder which rock it was hiding under?   Oh wait...must have been in all those trucks that were parked under viaducts with those unmarked trailers.  Or maybe it's those unmarked trailers parked out in plain site in Walmart parking lots.

Maybe we all need to have some trucker alerts.   If you know anyone that is a trucker, ask them to let you know where they see postal trucks parked.

I do remember one count where we went into the plant and found STACKS of mail    Guess what, heads  rolled, but.....it was ALL processed during that count period.   I think that was the LAST good count we had.

[wormburner]

During this past special count period in Sept. '08, the private carriers left parcels as normal the days preceeding and following the count.  During the 12 days of count, they did not leave any, zero.  The volume measurements on my route for November 15 through 22, last week, are practically identical to the volume received same dates for 2007.  For 2008, we are down 1 inch on flats, down 6 inches on letters, up 8 parcels and up a set of boxholder/saturation mailing.  I have followed my measurements all year, each time I compare them with 2007, they are practically identical.  Pretty good for the PO, last year a 48K, this year a 46J with the same workload.          

[trish]

There may be  a few things that will help during the next count. I have been getting ALOT more certified letters and DC's. As long as the foreclosures continue, and as soon as the "government bail out home loans" start, the certified letters  will stay up. The USPS gives free DC's if you print your postage online, so those are up also. I didn't lose any time last count, but I have alot of miles and all my boxes are curbside. I also pick up about 2-3 parcels every day.    I'll count, but it won't save.them the money they spent to count me.. Que sera sera

[brck4]

YOU realize of course, you say PO hq  give back only $15,000 ??   You realize, or maybe not, that last year the PMG  only received a salary increase of $75,000 per year, on top of his already high salary ?  And a couple of under vice presidents, also received about $20 to $40,000 per year increases??  I realize 2 hours is a whole lot better, than if I wanted to be realistic and say I could lose 6 hours and a whole lot more, and still work 6 days per week.  Are they making the offer to insure no mail count?  Are they trying to see if the union will buy into a wholesale contract?  Not everyone went up last count, not everyone stayed the same, but most probably lost 2 to 4 hours anyway.  So, 2 hours sounds nice.  And one boxholder has already been eliminated, so automatically it will be down just for that.  Maybe they don't want to lose another grievance (But $130 per year wasn't enough for that screw up). Should have cost them more, because we traded about $500 to $750 for $130 lump sum.  So, does the union have an alternate proposal??  That's what we should have.  And what do they lose if we go to 5 days??  not us, but them??  

[gjtrisa]

 

In a message dated 12/04/08 19:52:08 Mountain Standard Time, [hidden email] writes:

And what do they lose if we go to 5 days??  not us, but them??  

 

They will have to adopt some sort of standard change because we will never meet the current delivery standards.  They will need to hire additional employees so they will incur additional benefits cost since we will be carrying the same mail in 5 days and the routes will need to be smaller to be able to handle the Mondays each week and not pay penalty each week.  Transportation may be affected because they will need to transport a larger load on the 5 days we deliver.  Each AO will need a larger truck to handle the daily volume.  They will need to increase the mail processing capacity or time to be able to handle the small amount of mail that is left over from Saturday and is not collected and processed on Monday.  I am sure they will try to add some kind of casual employee to handle the Monday volume but the APWU and NALC all shut the door on casuals and the APWU does not have PTF's in the plants with more than 250 man years.

 

This is a start to the question you posed.

 

 

[trish]

PT,  I wish you were in a position to negotiate with the USPS. I was hoping with the new additions to the National Board we would see something different, but again I am disappointed.

[yukon]

your message speaks volumes!  i could not of said it better myself..  

[Postaltexan]

thanks for the vote of confidence, but I dont know that I would do much good...
I would just get mad...and probably blow my top... and be banned from negotiations...

A lot of good that would do...lol