ONEIDAARTICLE 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS
1.1 UNION-MANAGEMENT COOPERATION
A. This Local Memorandum may be amended with the mutual consent of the Postmaster, the Local President and the Labor Relations Representative.
B. The Area Vice-President shall be consulted prior to permanent changes in employee staffing and scheduling.
C. The Union shall automatically be provided with copies of:
1. an updated seniority roster, and notice of all changes;
2. all notices of light and limited duty;
3. all letters of warning, suspension and removal;
4. all letters of sick leave restriction and rescission of restriction;
5. all notices of audit discrepancies and letters of demand.
1.2 CURTAILMENT OF OPERATIONS
A. The Safety Office shall be notified of all circumstances which cause the evacuation or closing of the post office. The Area Vice-President, or other available union officer, shall be notified immediately of all other situations which could reasonably be expected to endanger employees.
B. All possible means shall be used to notify affected employees of the curtailment of postal operations.
C. Employees stranded at work shall be given every reasonable consideration by the employer as to needs and comforts.
D. Procedures for emergency evacuation due to fires or bomb threats shall be conspicuously posted.
E. In determining an employee's ability to report for work, consideration shall be given to governmental directives, the operating status of comparable industries, and general conditions.
1.3 WASH-UP POLICY
All employees shall be allowed reasonable wash-up time in accordance with established practice and Article 8.9 of the National Agreement.
1.4 PARKING
All reasonable efforts will be made to initiate or maintain free parking for all employees. All parking shall be on a first-come, first-served basis except spaces reserved for USPS owned vehicles, Rural route vehicles, and slots assigned to management.
1.5 SECTIONS
The Clerk and Maintenance crafts shall each comprise a section for all purposes.
ARTICLE 2: ANNUAL LEAVE
2.1 GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR ANNUAL LEAVE
A. Vacation rosters shall be broken into Monday through Sunday weeks.
B. To the maximum extent possible, no employee shall be involuntarily scheduled to work on non-scheduled days which are adjacent to their scheduled vacation; part-time flexible employees shall be non-scheduled on the Sunday before their vacation week(s).
C. Part-time employees shall not be required to use more annual leave for a choice vacation week that they would normally have worked in that week, but may, at their option, use up to forty hours of annual leave per vacation week.
2.2 CHOICE VACATIONS
A. The choice vacation period shall be from February 1 to October 31.
B. There shall be one vacation slot in each week for each craft.
C. Starting on November 1, employees shall, in order of seniority, be allowed to select full weeks of vacation up to the number of weeks allowed under Article 10.3D of the National Agreement; employees may, at their option, make one continuous selection or two non-consecutive selections.
D. Immediately following the first rotation, the vacation roster shall be rotated a second time and employees, by seniority, allowed to take up to four additional full weeks, subject to accrued or foreseeable leave balance.
E. No employee shall hold up the vacation roster for more than two working days on either rotation; employees who lose their place in rotation shall be entitled to regain the roster when ready to make their selection, but shall not be entitled to bump junior employees who have made selections in the interim.
F. On those day(s) in which as many craft employees as there are vacation slots are not scheduled off on leave, all requests for annual leave shall be approved to the maximum extent possible.
G. Employees who are called for court service during their scheduled vacation may, at their option, cancel that week and make another selection from the remaining available weeks.
2.3 INCIDENTAL REQUESTS
A. An updated vacation schedule shall be conspicuously posted throughout the year.
B. Incidental requests for annual leave shall be made on PS Form 3971, and, wherever feasible, be personally delivered to the employee's immediate supervisor.
C. Except in circumstances of extreme need, incidental requests for annual leave shall be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.
D. On those day(s) in which as many craft employees as there are vacation slots are not scheduled off on leave, all requests for annual leave shall be approved to the maximum extent possible.
E. Incidental annual leave requests shall be approved or disapproved:
1. within one hour, if leave is requested for the same day on which submitted;
2. by the employee's end tour, if requested for the following day;
3. by the employee's next day end tour, if requested two or more days in advance;
F. Disapproved 3971's shall be maintained showing the date and time submitted, and, should leave become available, it shall be granted in the order it was requested.
2.4 CANCELLING CHOICE VACATIONS
A. In those weeks in which all slots are filled,an employee shall not be allowed to work on any day of their choice vacation week.
B. Employees who cancel a vacation selection shall provide written notice to their immediate supervisor at least ten calendar days prior to the start of such vacation.
C. Vacation selections of employees who leave the installation shall be treated as cancelled.
D. The employer may cancel an employee's scheduled vacation due to insufficient annual leave by providing written notice to the employee at least ten calendar days prior to the start of the vacation; normally, insufficient annual leave shall be defined as one day less than the leave needed to cover the vacation week.
E. All cancelled choice vacation selections shall be recanvassed, by seniority, to those employees who haven't had an opportunity to select them.
ARTICLE 3: SCHEDULING
3.1 REGULAR SCHEDULES
A. All regular positions shall have fixed non-scheduled days.
B. To the maximum extent practicable within operational needs, all regular positions shall have consecutive non-scheduled days.
3.2 POSTING AND BIDDING
A. All job postings shall be posted for a minimum of ten calendar days, unless canvassed; postings of awards shall be made within two business days of the close of posting.
B. The Local Presidentand/or Area Vice President shall be provided with copies of all job postings and awards, including canvassings and PTF conversions.
C. Wherever practicable, bidding within a unit shall be accomplished by canvassing eligible employees in order of seniority; canvassing shall consist of circulating a written description of the vacant position, with spaces for employees to sign indicating that they are accepting or declining the position.
D. Successful bidders or applicants, including PTFs being converted to regular, shall be assigned or detailed to their new positions on the Saturday following award; assignment may be delayed with the consent of the Steward or Area Vice-President.
E. Bid positions shall be reposted if:
1. the non-scheduled days are changed;
2. the reporting time on any day is changed by more than two hours;
3. the duties are changed by more than 50%;
4. measurement of all such changes shall be cumulative, based on the position as last awarded.
3.3 OVERTIME SCHEDULING
A. The overtime desired lists shall be conspicuously posted, and a copy provided to the Steward or Area Vice-President.
B. Except in unforeseeable circumstances, employees shall be:
1. notified forty-eight hours in advance of working a non-scheduled day;
2. notified one hour in advance of working each hour over eight hours, including notification of the general anticipated duration of the overtime;
3. given an opportunity to notify their families, make calls for transportation, etc.
C. Prior to using mandatory overtime, management will make reasonable efforts to solicit volunteers with the necessary skills from the overtime mandatory list.
3.4 HOLIDAY SCHEDULING
Employees shall be scheduled for holidays, subject to necessary skills, in the following order:
1. Casuals;
2. Part-time Flexibles;
3. Volunteers whose holiday it is by seniority;
4. Overtime desirees whose non-scheduled day it is, by rotation of the list;
5. Volunteers for overtime, other than desirees, by seniority;
6. Mandatorily scheduling employees for overtime, by rotation of the list;
7. Mandatorily scheduling employees for designated holiday, by juniority.
ARTICLE 4: LIGHT DUTY
4.1 LIGHT DUTY ASSIGNMENTS
A. For the purposes of this article, Light Duty shall be defined as those assignments provided to employees who are not able to perform the full normal duties due to non-OWCP-compensable injuries or illnesses. Light duty is provided in accordance with Article 13 of the National Agreement, and all requests for and denials of light duty shall be in writing.
B. For the purposes of this article, Limited Duty shall be defined exactly as is Light Duty, except that due to OWCP-compensable injuries or illnesses.
C. Except where operationally impossible, all light/limited duty assignments shall maintain the employee’s bid or other assigned hours and non-scheduled days.
D. All possible light/limited duty work within an employee’s craft shall be exhausted before work is assigned in another craft, and no employee from outside the APWU’s bargaining units shall be assigned light or limited duty to the detriment of an APWU bid position or part-time employee’s normally scheduled hours.
4.2 NOTIFICATION
A. Should management be unable to identify work to satisfy a light duty request, the Area Vice-President shall be notified and provided with copies of or access to all documents and information used to evaluate the request, and shall have seventy-two hours following full provision of access in which to propose a light duty assignment and discuss it with the deciding official before the request is denied.
B. The Area Vice-President shall be notified prior to assigning any employee outside their bid or other assigned hours and non-scheduled days, and shall be provided with copies of or access to all documents and information used to determine the operational impossibility of assignment within the employee’s normal schedule.
C. The Area Vice-President shall be notifited prior to assigning any employee from outside the APWU’s bargaining units to work within such units, and shall be provided with copies of or access to all documents and information used to determine the unavailability of work within their own craft or occupational group.
D. The Union shall be provided with copies of light/limited duty assignment letters for all APWU bargaining unit employees and all other employees assigned to any duties normally performed by APWU bargaining unit personnel.
E. Management shall provide the Union with a copy of the accepted job offer for those employees who are designated as permanently disabled and are referred to the Postal Service by OWCP within the scope of the guidelines set forth by the Department of Labor and USPS.
4.3 IDENTIFYING ASSIGNMENTS
Light duty assignments should include, but are not necessarily limited to:
A. Distribution of letters and flats;
B. Miscellaneous clerical duties (such as postage due and business reply mail, handling and distributing accountable mail, box rental forms, second notices, individual verification of UBBM, letter repairs, answering phones, claims and inquiries, etc.);
C. Delivering express and special delivery mail;
D. Custodial duties within the employee’s limitations.
