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Letter Carriers
Management
WARNING!
Please be advised that I have been contacted by an outside source to find out if curtailed and delayed mail is being reported properly ... and if the colored-coded tags are being switched in any of our offices.
This is really something I don’t want to get involved in so I send this general information out for all to read. I didn’t make this up and I will do what I have to do so don’t put me in that position.
I will not reveal to anyone who has contacted me; but, I strongly suggest that you heed my warning. Don’t do anything you are not suppose to do or can be construed to be questionable.
If you choose not to heed my warning, that is your prerogative. Do as you wish.
Just remember, you will be the one justifying why you did what you did.
If this posting does not apply to you ... or to your office ... all the better, continue to do what is right.
I provide you with the following information:
First and Second-Class Mail is to be cased and delivered everyday regardless if it comes over in the afternoon (the night before) or in the morning.
First and Second-Class mail brought over after the carriers leave for the road is to be delivered the following day.
Bulk Business Mail (BBM) that comes over in the afternoon (the night before) should be tagged with a color-coded tag indicating when the mail came over to the carrier’s case and what day of the week that that mail should be delivered by.
All BBM mail that is brought over must be tagged with a color-coded tag.
Management is not to change the color-coded tags on the mail that is at your case ... nor are they to direct an employee (carrier, clerk, mailhandler, etc) to change the color-coded tags.
On rare occasions, color-coded tags may be changed provided that the reason for the change is to correct something that was done wrong; such as, a mailhandler who mistakenly puts the wrong tag on the mail.
Mistakes do happen. There must be a valid and justifiable reason to change the color-coded tags.
Changing color-coded tags to change the delivery date that the mail is to be delivered by, to change what should be recorded as delayed mail to now curtailed mail, or to delay mail is wrong, plain and simple.
To deceive or to delay mail is a very serious offense. You can be removed from your job for falsifying the mail count, not reporting delayed mail, or for delaying the mail in general. This applies to both the craft as well as to the managerial staff.
Most of our employees are decent, hard-working people who want to do their job to best of their ability.
Unfortunately, every so often, we come across someone who is less than honest. In an organization our size, it is inevitable. We do the best we can to remove those individuals from the Postal Service.
So that we all know the rules, and if I am wrong with any of what I state, by all means, let me know.
I have no problem with informing our letter carriers of what is right or correcting something that I believed was correct and is wrong.
Management may curtail mail. Management may not delay mail ... at least without good cause.
Management may curtail BBM mail up until the day that it says on the color-coded tag. Once that day of the week that is indicated on the color-coded tag arrives, this mail is no longer considered Bulk Business Mail. This BBM mail now becomes “preferential mail” ... and has the same time value ... and is to be treated ... as if it were 1st Class Mail.
If this mail is not delivered on the day indicated on the color-coded tag, the mail now becomes, in essence, delayed mail and it should be reported as such.
BBM mail that comes over in the morning mixed with 1st and 2nd Class mail is considered to be “preferential mail” and is to be cased and delivered that day. This is true even if there is only one (1) piece of 1st or 2nd Class mail co-mingled with BBM mail, letters or flats.
Management is not to curtail or delay co-mingled mail.
Management is not to sort through or direct employees to sort through co-mingled mail and separate the BBM mail from the 1st and 2nd-Class mail ... and neither should you.
Do not take it upon yourself to separate mail or curtail mail so that you can get out on time, or be back by 5:00 pm, or for any other reason you may think is appropriate or justified.
As a letter carrier, you are not to make those decisions.
Supervisors decide what to curtail or delay.
If you take it upon yourself to curtail or delay mail without authorization, you might have to justify why you did what you did – that you took it upon yourself to delay mail – a removable offense.
Whenever you are unable to deliver all the mail that is at your case and you are instructed by a supervisor to leave mail behind, I suggest that you fill out a PS Form 1571 Undelivered Mail Report indicating the type of mail and the amount of mail that is not being delivered for that day.
You are supposed to do fill out a 1571 whenever you do not take out all of the mail that is at your case on any given day.
To guide you in filling out the 1571 - Undelivered Mail Report, I provide you with the following:
“Preferential” column of the PS Form 1571
(entered in either footage or in pieces)
- · 1st and 2nd Class Mail that is not delivered,
- · BBM mail that is co-mingled with 1st and/or 2nd Class Mail and is not delivered,
- · BBM mail that has reached its date on the color-coded tag and is not delivered
- “Other” column of the PS Form 1571
(entered in either footage or in pieces)
- · BBM mail that is not co-mingled with 1st and/or 2nd Class Mail and is not delivered,
- · BBM mail that has not reached its date on the color-coded tag and is not delivered.
You should have your 1571 signed by your supervisor ... and you should request a copy for your records.
If you are directed by a supervisor to sort through this mail and leave it behind, ask to see a shop steward.
If you are denied a shop steward at that time, follow the instructions of your supervisor. Fill out a PS Form 1571, have it signed by your supervisor, and retain a copy for your records. Ask your supervisor when will you be permitted to see a shop steward?
Management must permit you to see a shop steward within two (2) hours of your request or no later than the end of your tour of duty. If you don’t get to see a shop steward by the end of that day, this is a grievance.
If management fails to provide you with a 1571, this is a grievance.
If management fails to sign the 1571, this is a grievance.
If management fails to provide you with a copy of the signed 1571, this is a grievance.
If management sorts through and/or separates your mail, this is a grievance.
If management sorts through and/or separates a fellow carrier’s mail ... or sorts through and/or separates the mail that is on an assignment that is being pivoted or split up, this is a grievance.
Enough with the grievances; we all know what we are supposed to do.
I have done my best to educate you ... and to warn you.
Joseph R. Palmerson, President
NALC Branch 2128 Toms River
November 14, 2009
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