RCA that has an auxilliary route

[ms.wilcox]

my question is i do a route everyday which is rte4, 6 days, but this is the issue..  the supervisor let the carrier of rte 2 be off for 3 days when he doesn't have a sub as of now to work his route when he needs to be off. the supervisor want to split my (route4) in half for me and another rca to do and put me on rte 2 too. that means i have to do his hours (7 to 4:30) plus my route. I donot think they should split my route, I am not the one who is taking off i believe they should have split his route, tell me how do this work for and auxiliary carrier....and yes i am also a rca.

[Wave]

So you are the assigned carrier to an Auxillary route?
You work on that route 6 days a week?

If this is true then they are obligated to allow you to work your Aux route.  If they don't let you work it, then you can grieve it and get paid the full evaluation on top of the other route you worked.

[....]

first off if your an aux carrier 6 days a week they cannot make you do any other routes unless its an emergency , an emergency is something that arises they had no prior knowledge of. if your 5-1 it would then have to involve your reg route before they can make you do it . being as they were scheduling for this in advance then its not an emergency . if you agree to work the other route split and there is no one else to grieve it , then i dont see a problem, but if theres another sub in the office even if they dont know the route they could file and get paid for all the work you did.

[ms. wilcox]

it was no emergency, he wanted to be off for a party or something and had no help on his end, meaning his sub quit and he had no fill in.  so they (management) split my auxilliary route in half for three days.  I had to do his route and half of my auxilliary route.  I didn't agree to it but it came from upper management.  I didn't know they could split and auxilliary route.
the person who is in charge for two weeks was going to make me do my (auxilliary route) and the person who wanted to be off route but i guess she couldn't do that....so she split my route which i am assigned to do  6 days week  in half. i want to know if i am there to work my route why they couldn't split his route and me and the other rca split it.  and can it be grieve because it was unfair, and wouldn't want this to happen again in the next week or in the future.

[Wave]

Article 30.2.G.1.c

c. If the employee elects to serve the auxiliary
route six days per week, the employee will not
serve on any other auxiliary route or as a leave
replacement on any regular route.

They can not split your Aux route if you are available to work it!
You can only work other routes in emergency situations.
You are entitled to work your Aux route!
File a grievance.

[Wave]

They should be splitting the full-time route, not your aux route.

[....]

not to mention they also cost you s/l and a/l u would of gained from working the aux , the actually had no right to make you work the other route even if they split it , it s not an emergency , and any other full time carrier in the office could grieve they should of worked because of the rdwl. you can file a grievance ask for your sl and al to be credited to you, in the future keep in mind an emergency is not something they know about in advance

[....]

i would also like to point out if your 5/1 they can move you to your primary relief route  and then split the aux route or let you do both if your not over 12 hrs a day . if your 6 days on the aux only thats when the emergency rule takes effect, or if they want u to work something other then your primary relief route. this 6 day and 5/1 option was put it to prevent these kind of situation s from happening there were cases where some aux rt carriers never actually got to work their routes because of management s inability to schedule correctly . it s not your fault management hasnt hired in someone for this route , or made arrangement to get another sub trained their . dont let them take advantage of you . even a sub who is not trained on the route should be working before you,

[newtothis]

There is a step 4 on this matter. They can ask you to assist on another route AFTER you have completed your AUX route.

[Casca]

Ok so I we have this coming up this week.

2 regular routes, 1 Aux (me)

Regular 1 is on leave all week and has a sub.
Regular 2 is on leave thurs, fri, sat, and has no sub. (regular 2 took the saturday off to guarantee the day off)

PM wants me to carry Regular 2's route and someone else from outside to carry my aux.

I don't really have a problem with doing it this way, but what exactly is the worst thing that can happen to me?  If it's only lose a little bit of leave, I can deal with that versus more money.  Truthfully I don't want to carry my route then carry the other route.  And if all I'd be doing is losing a little bit of leave (a very little bit at 1hr for 20) it's worth it to me to carry the regular route a few days.

[Wave]

What's the worst thing that can happen?
You are allowing them to walk all over our contract.  That's the worst thing.
The other RCA should be getting the hours they are giving you on the other route.


If you want, you could file a grievance before two weeks is up, and get paid for free your Aux route hours on top of the other routes hours.  I'm sure next time they will follow the contract if you do that.  

[Casca]

Wave wrote:

What's the worst thing that can happen?
You are allowing them to walk all over our contract.  That's the worst thing.
The other RCA should be getting the hours they are giving you on the other route.


If you want, you could file a grievance before two weeks is up, and get paid for free your Aux route hours on top of the other routes hours.  I'm sure next time they will follow the contract if you do that.  

We only have 2 RCA's.  Me on the AUX and a brand new RCA who barely knows the route she's on, and has not been trained on the route that needs carried.  She is already carrying her assigned route because her regular is on vacation all week.  Basically she can't carry the other route for 2 reasons:  1: not trained on it, and  2: she's already not getting back in until 5pm.

The route that needs carried does not have a sub.  Someone has to carry it.  All the other offices in the area are short subs also.  Having them carry my AUX is about the only way to get one to come here and do it.  The best scenario to keep the joke of a contract from being stepped on is I will carry my AUX, then carry the other route when I get back in.

[bjcldfrk]

Rural carriers are our own worse enmies.  If the postmaster approved the leave knowing that your short on subs let him/her suffer the results-they carry the route!!  It is their problem.  Rural carriers always try to "fix the problem" and not let management do their job.  Well Management made this problem by approving leave.  The contract is only a joke when you do not follow it.  If management can get outside help and the outside help agrees to work with no training, let them.  The RCA wants the hours.  If there is time to train one day -then train.  We make the contract a job by not following it because it does not suite us.  Let management manage and if they do it wrong it falls on them.  

[Wave]

Yeah, I understand the situation.  We have the exact same thing here, but like Becky said MGMT should be forced to do its job and follow our legally binding contract.  Otherwise our contract is a joke, and they will treat it like a joke on some other issue in the future.  They should split that route without a sub and have you carry part of it, and someone else carry the other part.  This isn't technically an emergency, but your Postmaster has made it one.  You could conceivably get 12 hours all those days, the contract will be followed, you will get your leave that is rightfully yours, and you will teach the Postmaster a lesson in doing his/her job.  But it's all up to you.

[Casca]

This is a mess all the way around.  Both regulars hinted about grievances if they were not allowed off.  Regular #1 because he has a sub, regular #2 because leave was approved back in June when that route still had a sub.  Since then another sub was hired, but quit before he even started training on the route.

I discussed this some more with the PM this afternoon.  I'm going to carry both and take the money and run.