Interviewing Postal Inspectors, Obtaining Their ... - NALC Branch 908
Interviewing Postal Inspectors, Obtaining Their ... - NALC Branch 908
Interviewing Postal Inspectors, Obtaining Their ... - NALC Branch 908
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<strong>NALC</strong> Arbitration Advocate Page 6<br />
Volume 2, Issue 2 May 1998<br />
but is not limited to, the <strong>Postal</strong><br />
Service Manual and the F-21,<br />
Timekeeper's Instructions.<br />
Furthermore, the new <strong>NALC</strong>-<br />
USPS Joint Contact Administration<br />
Manual makes Article 19's meaning<br />
even more explicit:<br />
Handbooks and Manuals: Article<br />
19 provides that those<br />
postal Handbook and Manual<br />
provisions directly relating to<br />
wages, hours, or working conditions<br />
are enforceable as<br />
though they were part of the<br />
National Agreement. Changes<br />
to Handbook and Manual provisions<br />
directly relating to<br />
wages, hours, or working conditions<br />
may be made by management<br />
at the national level<br />
and may not be inconsistent<br />
with the National Agreement.<br />
A challenge that such changes<br />
are inconsistent with the National<br />
Agreement or are not<br />
fair, reasonable, or equitable<br />
may be made only by the<br />
<strong>NALC</strong> at the national level.<br />
(Emphasis added.)<br />
*#65 0X 76<br />
Although this language seems clear,<br />
problems sometimes occur because<br />
the <strong>Postal</strong> Service has published so<br />
many handbooks and manuals that<br />
few people are familiar with all of<br />
them. There are literally hundreds<br />
of thousands of pages of published<br />
handbooks, manuals, directives, instructions<br />
and guidelines on postal<br />
library shelves.<br />
Article 19 does not encompass<br />
every single one of these handbooks,<br />
manuals and other documents—even<br />
where one purports to<br />
deal with wages, hours or working<br />
conditions. Which ones are, and<br />
are not, covered by Article 19<br />
First, only national-level USPS<br />
publications may be covered by Article<br />
19. So all of the local policies,<br />
Area directives, District guidelines<br />
and so forth are excluded.<br />
Second, the national parties<br />
have long agreed that certain handbooks<br />
and manuals are covered by<br />
Article 19. Here are the ones most<br />
commonly cited:<br />
ASM<br />
ELM Employee and Labor Relations<br />
Manual<br />
F-15 Travel and Relocation<br />
F-21 Time and Attendance<br />
F-22 PSDS Time and Attendance<br />
EL-301 Guidelines for Processing<br />
Personnel Actions<br />
EL-311 Personnel Operations<br />
M-39 Management of Delivery<br />
Services<br />
M-41 City Delivery Carriers Duties<br />
and Responsibilities<br />
Administrative Support<br />
Manual<br />
DMM Domestic Mail Manual<br />
DMMT Domestic Mail Manual<br />
Transition Book<br />
POM<br />
<strong>Postal</strong> Operations Manual<br />
Some publications are not covered,<br />
however. Problems can arise<br />
when management seeks to enforce<br />
one of those non-covered documents,<br />
and <strong>NALC</strong> argues that the<br />
purported “handbook” conflicts<br />
with the National Agreement, or<br />
simply has no standing as a contractual<br />
document. For instance,<br />
National Arbitrator Howard<br />
Gamser ruled in C-00937<br />
(December 27, 1982) that the EL-<br />
501, Supervisor’s Guide to Attendance<br />
Improvement, was not “a handbook<br />
having the force and effect of .. a<br />
document issued pursuant to Article<br />
19.”<br />
Here is a short list of the most<br />
frequently encountered postal<br />
“handbooks” not covered by Article<br />
19 (there are others, of course):<br />
EL-501 Supervisor’s Guide to At-<br />
tendance Improvement<br />
EL-921 Supervisor’s Guide to Handling<br />
Grievances<br />
EL-401 Supervisor’s Guide to<br />
Scheduling and Premium<br />
Pay<br />
&8+%'<br />
By citing the proper authorities,<br />
an <strong>NALC</strong> advocate can prevail<br />
against the daunting combination<br />
of misleading management arguments<br />
and clueless Arbitrator Newbies.<br />
First, advocates should cite<br />
the Joint Contract Administration<br />
Manual language clarifying the<br />
meaning of Article 19. Second, for<br />
help with specific handbooks or<br />
manuals advocates should consult<br />
the Index and Summary of the<br />
<strong>NALC</strong> Materials Reference System<br />
(M.R.S.). The M.R.S. is indexed by<br />
subject, by contract article and by<br />
handbook or manual provision. So<br />
it is easy to locate long lists of<br />
national-level settlements in which<br />
the national parties have expressly<br />
agreed to enforce particular handbooks<br />
and manuals through Article<br />
19 as though they were part of the<br />
National Agreement. The M.R.S.<br />
also contains numerous national<br />
and regional-level arbitration cases<br />
in the same vein.<br />
Although this issue usually<br />
arises when <strong>NALC</strong> seeks to enforce<br />
a handbook or manual provision,<br />
sometimes USPS attempts to introduce<br />
or enforce a document which<br />
has no contractual standing under<br />
Article 19. To argue that a particular<br />
management document is not<br />
covered by Article 19, advocates<br />
should use the Gamser case above.<br />
When questions arise concerning<br />
the status of a particular USPS<br />
headquarters publication, advocates<br />
should consult with the National<br />
Business Agent and, if necessary,<br />
the headquarters Contract<br />
Administration Unit.<br />
…