Labor Day special

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Hello, brothers, sisters and friends, and

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welcome to the you are the
current resident podcast.

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This is the official podcast of the

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National Association of Letter Carriers,
the union that represents 280,000 active

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and retired city letter carriers employed
by the United States Post digital service.

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I'm Ed Morgan, and sitting next to me, as

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always, is our national
President, Brian Renfroe.

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Hey, Brian.
How are you?

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Eddie, doing great.

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Good to be back with you
for another episode.

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And we've got an exciting topic today, but

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before we get into that, are the Phillies
still ten and a half games back?

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They'll be ten and a
half the whole season.

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We'll stick with that.
I like it.

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As long as we make the
playoffs, we're good.

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All right, so today we're going to be

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talking about the United States Postal
Services Delivering for America plan.

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That's a great name.
Wonder where they stole that from.

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And S and DCs.

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I sat down earlier this week and came up

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with some questions that our members might
have had if I didn't ask your question.

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You can always reach out through
our Ask Them Mailbag segment.

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Submit your questions to us by email at

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social@nalc.org. So can you talk
us through the overall USPS.

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Delivering for America plan?
Yeah, and you're right.

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They got the name right.

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That's a phrase that we've used for

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several years now and actually had a
campaign back in 2020 when there was a lot

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of COVID relief legislation on the table
that we called Delivering for America.

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But anyway, back to the plan.

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Let me start with a little bit of history

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and where this plan comes from, and then
we'll get into every detail of it, but

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we'll get into the details that are
relevant to what we do every day and the

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things that we're seeing
around the country.

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So back in 2020, when the current
Postmaster General, Lewis DeJoy, took

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office, he began working with
the Board of Governors.

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And at that time, the chair of the Board

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of Governors was a governor, a good friend
of ours, a guy by the name of Ron Bloom.

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His term has since ended, so
he's no longer a governor.

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But they worked together to develop a plan

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that would play out over
the next ten years or so.

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And the purpose of that plan was to put

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the Postal Service on a sustainable
financial path to protect service and even

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expand, in a lot of cases, the service
that we provide to our customers.

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So
we are not in a place where I'm going to

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say that we have agreed with
100% of every bit of that plan.

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But it was refreshing in a general sense

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compared to what we had seen really for
the last decade plus, where that was

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leadership at the Postal Service that
really wanted to try to cut their way into

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sustainability by reducing service and
further slowing down the mail and all

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sorts of things that just
never made any sense.

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So the plan was a work in progress
for a while but then was released.

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They call it the Delivering for America

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plan and there are pieces of the
plan that have already happened.

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One piece, maybe most notably is a

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legislative piece where
we working with the Postal Service as well

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as the other stakeholders were able to
work with members of Congress and the

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White House to pass really monumental
legislation that reformed the Postal

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Service called the Postal
Reform Act of 2021.

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That bill was signed into law in
2022 and it did three main things.

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Number one, it repealed a mandate that had

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been in place since 2006 for the Postal
Service to pre fund future retiree health

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benefits that was costing them anywhere
from five to $6 billion a year.

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And it's an obligation that no other
company in America, public or private had.

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It also, at a higher rate, integrated

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Medicare with retiree,
healthcare for Postal Retirees.

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If you go back a few episodes ago, we

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talked about that Medicare
integration in detail.

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So you can listen to that if
you're curious about that.

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And it also made six day delivery a
permanent part of the law and those key

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components of that legislation
are part of this plan.

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So that was a really good way to start it.

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As far as what I think we'll really dive
into today are what the portions of the

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plan that we are seeing and that has to do
with realigning and modifying and

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modernizing, hopefully the Postal
Services processing and delivery network.

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And I'll start kind of in a general sense

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and then, Eddie, I'm sure as we go
forward we'll get into more details.

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But basically
there's a recognition that our model of

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processing and delivering mail
was created in a time where the vast, vast

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majority of the mail that we handled
and delivered were letters and flats.

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And over time the mix of mail has changed.

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I mean, all letter carriers know we
deliver way more parcels than we used to.

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We handle fewer letters and flats,
particularly in the office.

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For us on office time, we don't case that
much mail anymore compared to years past.

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So you have a network that was built to

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handle letters and flats when we're
now handling far, far more parcels.

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So from a processing perspective, it is

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modernizing to meet the demands of the
mail mix that we see now and then as we'll

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get into in depth here in a few minutes on
the delivery side, trying to ensure that

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we can be in a place where, from a
delivery perspective, we're able to get

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mail to carriers early and be able to
provide the service that we need to

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provide out there with
the modern mix of mail.

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So that's the piece that
I think we'll focus on.

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There were other pieces of the plan that
have already happened, one of which I'll

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point out that's notable
that we did not support.

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And that was a modification to service
standards in certain geographic areas.

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So in the past we had a two to three day
standard on first class mail going coast

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to coast that was modified,
I guess almost two years ago now, to be

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increased from three to four
days as opposed to two to three.

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And the Postal service's reasoning for

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doing that was that they simply were
unable to make the two to three day

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standard if we go back to
COVID looking in 2020.

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During that peak season, we had a lot of
difficulty with delays in the mail and

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some of that was due to
capacity on airlines.

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So the reason for this change was that
they were able to take all first class

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mail off of planes
and move it to ground transportation.

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So even a letter going from the northeast

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to Southern California now travels by
ground transportation and their reasoning

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behind it was, look, we have a two to
three day standard we can't make because

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we're trying to put this mail on
planes that don't have the capacity.

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So we'll move it to the ground and as
opposed to having a two to three day

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standard at taking a week to get there,
we'll have a three to four day standard

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and it will actually make
it in three to four days.

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And I have to say that

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in retrospect, while we have never and
will never support slowing the mail down

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from the standard,
they have made that standard since it's

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been made, they changed it to
a three to four day standard.

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So the performance there has been much
better since that change went into play.

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So that's one of the early
changes that we did not support.

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Really what we'll get into today is what

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they're doing on the
delivery side of the house.

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What affects us some movement of carriers.

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That it's not really a matter of
whether we support it or not.

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It's more a matter of how we're able to
enforce our collective bargaining

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agreement and ensure that as they take
these type actions that we make it the

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best we possibly can for the letter, cares
that are impacted by it and obviously,

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ultimately, the service that
we provide to our customers.

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So I'm sure we'll get a little more in

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depth on the S and DC side
of the house here shortly.

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Were we consulted with this plan?

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Yeah, we were involved from a very
early stage in conversations.

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In fact, there's a lot of pieces of the

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plan that at some point or another were
in, let's call it draft form or even maybe

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conceptual that we
thought were a bad idea.

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We voiced that and those things
ultimately did not make it into the plan.

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So yes, we've been very involved
in this from the beginning.

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It's something that I give them a lot of
credit for their communication with us.

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There were things that were in some ways

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left over from previous leadership at the
Postal Service that were just bad ideas.

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And that mostly included service cuts and
stuff like that, reducing retail locations

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and closing post offices
and things like that.

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I think through that communication we

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expressed the real problems with a lot of
those things and ultimately we're able to

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keep those things from
becoming a part of the plan.

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When I say keep them from becoming a part

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of the plan, it's just more about
communication and the understanding that

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the folks over in leadership at the postal
service gained through conversations with

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us that not do things in a plan that
would end up harming.

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If indeed the goal was what they stated to

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modernize and provide that service
anything that would negatively impact our

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ability to do that, we were able to talk
through and get a lot of that removed.

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So the plan itself in its current
state is there was no surprises to us.

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There are things that we had communicated
about all along and been preparing for.

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So yeah, we were definitely involved and

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I have to give them
a good deal of credit compared to maybe

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what we've seen over at LaFonte Plaza in
years past, that there was very open lines

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of communication and the same is
know as we see this implemented.

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Can you explain what an S DC is?
Yeah.

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So this is the piece of the plan that we

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are seeing and dealing with more
than anything else on a daily basis.

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So SNDC stands for Sorting
and delivery centers.

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And the concept
just to explain in a general sense, and

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then we'll get into a
little bit more detail.

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If you take a city the way the Postal

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Services Processing and Delivery network
is set up, you will have multiple mail

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processing facilities and then
dozens, if not more delivery units.

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And in each of those delivery units you

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would have from each processing location
you have these truck routes.

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In some cases those are
postal employees running trucks.

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In a lot of cases, they're
contractors that are transporting mail

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from processing locations
to delivery units.

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They may stop at a number of delivery

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units along the way, and then also in the
evening and at night, they're bringing

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mail back from the delivery units
to the processing locations.

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In general, what they are doing is
reducing the number of processing

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locations but expanding
the capacity to process.

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So let's say, for example, you have in a

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particular metropolitan area
seven mail processing locations.

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They may reduce that to two or three
locations, but actually increase the

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capacity to process because
they're in much larger locations.

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On the delivery side of things, they have

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identified places to create these sorting
and Delivery Centers, or S and DCs.

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And what they do with an S and DC is move
a number of different delivery units.

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And there's certain criteria
that they get into.

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And
I'm sure we'll get into that a little more

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in a minute, but they move certain
delivery units into these S DCS.

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So you've got a whole bunch
of carriers in one location.

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And what that does is reduce the amount of
transportation of mail, be it by postal

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employees or contractors, in a lot of
cases between the mail processing

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facilities or locations
and delivery units.

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Now you've just got a whole bunch of mail
going to one place in an S and DC and then

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the transportation is essentially
transferred from whatever the

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transportation route was
onto the carrier's route.

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So in most cases, once a delivery unit

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moves to an S DC, a carrier is going to
leave there and have to travel some

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distance to get out to
begin their first delivery.

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By reducing that transportation and moving
it on to carrier routes,

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combined with increasing the capacity to
process mail,

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the vision here is to create a more stable
network with a larger capacity that

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has fewer variables in terms of the
things that affect us every day.

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So we all know we've been at work in the
morning, in the office and a truck's late

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or one little thing gets out of kilter and
all of a sudden we're waiting on our mail

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and everything's behind and we
all know how that cycle goes.

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And the idea here is to grow that

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capacity, but then also to decrease the
possibility for that happening to have

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more consistent processing and
transportation, which ultimately,

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hopefully results in more
consistent delivery.

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So a sorting and delivery center is a
location where they have moved multiple

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delivery units into a single location
where mail will be transported from the

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processing facility and
distributed to the carriers.

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How are they deciding where
these things are going to go?

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Yeah, there's a lot of different factors.

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They try to one for example, is they try
to keep them within a

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30 minutes transportation from
where the routes originally were.

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If you look at a big map

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in pretty much every metropolitan area in
the country, they've identified locations

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where they can
within 30 minutes maximize the number of

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delivery units they can
get into one S and DC.

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And there's other things that we look at.

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Some of the services we want to expand in

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the future, such as same day delivery and
some of the local connect and some of the

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other services that we
really want to see grow.

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There's some market analysis that they use

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in terms of where potential revenue
and mail volume could come from.

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That's all a piece of it too, but for the
most part it's kind of plotting on a map

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00:15:52,330 --> 00:15:59,060
with criteria based on obviously where the
mail processing locations are as well.

227
00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:05,100
So some of it's due to availability of
facilities and sometimes that's existing

228
00:16:05,130 --> 00:16:11,900
postal facilities, in some cases they
go lease or buy other facilities.

229
00:16:11,930 --> 00:16:15,000
So there's a number of different
factors that play into it.

230
00:16:15,030 --> 00:16:19,300
But there's been a lot of communication
about how they make those decisions here

231
00:16:19,330 --> 00:16:24,300
over the last really, I guess
year and a half or so now.

232
00:16:24,330 --> 00:16:27,260
How many are they going to do?

233
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,020
There's a little bit of an
evolution that takes place here.

234
00:16:30,050 --> 00:16:32,820
But right now over the course of this ten

235
00:16:32,850 --> 00:16:37,380
year plan, which has, I guess a little
over eight years

236
00:16:37,410 --> 00:16:43,540
left, they are looking at somewhere in
the neighborhood of 400 of these Sndcs.

237
00:16:43,570 --> 00:16:47,380
We are not close to having 400 of them.

238
00:16:47,410 --> 00:16:51,860
We're just with, I think a couple
of dozen or so out there now.

239
00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:57,200
But we've definitely every few months
we've got several more that are scheduled

240
00:16:57,230 --> 00:17:02,960
to come online and later on today we'll
get more in detail about what we do as far

241
00:17:02,990 --> 00:17:08,530
as NALC internally to try to prepare and
gain information and anticipate issues

242
00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,770
that may come up
and address those ahead of time.

243
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,770
Are they contractually
allowed to move us like this?

244
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:20,090
Yeah.
So there is no contractual prohibition

245
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:24,500
really on the Postal Service
moving anybody anywhere.

246
00:17:24,530 --> 00:17:30,090
When it comes to things, we have to
remember is they own these facilities and

247
00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:36,090
the Postal service has their route
and have over time,

248
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:41,140
relocated work locations and move
routes and things like that.

249
00:17:41,170 --> 00:17:45,740
I think where the contractual piece comes
in this is very important for us is based

250
00:17:45,770 --> 00:17:50,940
on the nature or the fact
circumstances of a particular move.

251
00:17:50,970 --> 00:17:53,980
We have contractual provisions that apply.

252
00:17:54,010 --> 00:17:56,380
The majority of that is going to be found

253
00:17:56,410 --> 00:18:01,000
in Article Twelve of our
collective bargaining agreement.

254
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:07,600
In Article Twelve,
section One C, one, Two and three, there's

255
00:18:07,630 --> 00:18:12,770
a number of different scenarios that are
covered there that if that is a scenario

256
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,900
that they choose to move a location
that fits into one of those scenarios.

257
00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:19,860
There's lots of provisions there that do

258
00:18:19,890 --> 00:18:24,250
things like protect seniority
and stuff like that.

259
00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:26,570
This particular case,

260
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:31,740
these S and DCs are a little different and
they're similar to something we've dealt

261
00:18:31,770 --> 00:18:37,010
with for over a decade now called Delivery
Unit Optimization, where they are moving

262
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,140
all the carriers from
one location to another.

263
00:18:40,170 --> 00:18:42,770
But the post office where they move them

264
00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:47,050
from, what we call the losing
installation remains open.

265
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,570
So that's not something that is clearly

266
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:51,810
covered by Article
Twelve of our agreement.

267
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:57,180
So we negotiated back, signed back in
January of this year, a couple of

268
00:18:57,210 --> 00:19:00,500
different memorandums of
understanding that cover that.

269
00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,240
I think those M numbers, if you want to

270
00:19:02,270 --> 00:19:08,570
look in our materials reference system
on the website, are M 1990 and M 1991.

271
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,660
That covers some specifics that the postal

272
00:19:11,690 --> 00:19:16,740
Service has to follow whenever they
move folks into these locations.

273
00:19:16,770 --> 00:19:19,700
I read the Postal Record
article about the plan.

274
00:19:19,730 --> 00:19:23,660
Can you explain the gaining and
losing installation language?

275
00:19:23,690 --> 00:19:31,180
Yeah, so the losing installation is where
the assignments are being moved from and

276
00:19:31,210 --> 00:19:35,330
the gaining installation will be
that sorting and Delivery center.

277
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:40,810
So in M 1990, which is an MoU that we
negotiated and signed back in January of

278
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:45,330
this year, there's a lot of different
rules that are laid out there.

279
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,180
In fact, there's 13 different items in

280
00:19:48,210 --> 00:19:52,740
that agreement that talks
about what will happen.

281
00:19:52,770 --> 00:19:58,460
It talks about how seniority and bid
assignments, how we deal with those.

282
00:19:58,490 --> 00:20:04,500
It gets into what happens to hold downs
and temporary higher level assignments

283
00:20:04,530 --> 00:20:09,770
under Article 25, section Four, it gets
into what happens with annual leave

284
00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,980
request and what happens
with route adjustments.

285
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:14,840
Obviously, when you move routes, you're

286
00:20:14,870 --> 00:20:19,090
moving them to a place, and in a lot of
cases we're adding travel time to them.

287
00:20:19,120 --> 00:20:23,500
So these agreements cover
how we deal with that in the short term

288
00:20:23,530 --> 00:20:26,570
and then eventually how we
evaluate and adjust those routes.

289
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,860
So there's a lot of different if you read

290
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,770
that Postal Record article, we
covered a number of these things.

291
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,290
We'll get into it a little more in depth

292
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:39,770
of how we deal with each specific location
differently a little bit later on.

293
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:42,740
But
the gaining is going to be the

294
00:20:42,770 --> 00:20:46,980
installation that's created
where the S and DC is.

295
00:20:47,010 --> 00:20:52,140
Typically that's going to be moved into an
existing installation, and then the losing

296
00:20:52,170 --> 00:20:55,860
installation will be where
the routes move from.

297
00:20:55,890 --> 00:21:01,700
And throughout that agreement in M 1990,
you'll see those two terms used a lot that

298
00:21:01,730 --> 00:21:04,740
reference both installations
that are involved.

299
00:21:04,770 --> 00:21:06,010
I love my Steward.

300
00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,770
Are they going to come with me?
Yeah.

301
00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,660
Part of moving into these S and DCs and

302
00:21:10,690 --> 00:21:14,740
part of the agreement I just talked
about is that all carriers move.

303
00:21:14,770 --> 00:21:16,530
So all routes move.

304
00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,900
There's no moving some and not others.

305
00:21:19,930 --> 00:21:23,660
So that makes this different than

306
00:21:23,690 --> 00:21:28,420
some movement we see pursuant to Article
Twelve, in some cases we see movement

307
00:21:28,450 --> 00:21:33,860
that's not necessitated by the Postal
Service wanting to move people.

308
00:21:33,890 --> 00:21:38,180
Sometimes it can be necessitated by having

309
00:21:38,210 --> 00:21:42,290
too many people in one location,
what we call an excess of employees.

310
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,090
And in that case it's seniority based and

311
00:21:45,120 --> 00:21:47,700
there is something for stewards
called super seniority.

312
00:21:47,730 --> 00:21:51,860
But in the case of movement with
an S DC, all the carriers go.

313
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:53,840
So everybody that's there with you and all

314
00:21:53,870 --> 00:21:58,380
those routes will move to
the SNDC if you're involved.

315
00:21:58,410 --> 00:22:01,740
What happens to my seniority
list and my seniority?

316
00:22:01,770 --> 00:22:05,740
Everybody maintains their seniority
when you are moved.

317
00:22:05,770 --> 00:22:08,260
That's one of the specific things that we

318
00:22:08,290 --> 00:22:13,620
covered in the agreement that we
negotiated is everybody retains their

319
00:22:13,650 --> 00:22:17,330
craft, installation seniority
and their bid assignment.

320
00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:19,700
So you stay on your route

321
00:22:19,730 --> 00:22:24,740
and for the purposes of the way you accrue
seniority, this is covered, I believe, in

322
00:22:24,770 --> 00:22:31,000
Article 41, section Two, B Seven,
you're considered to have gained all that

323
00:22:31,030 --> 00:22:37,380
seniority in the gain against the
where you are in the S and DC.

324
00:22:37,410 --> 00:22:40,180
What happens with the
overtime equability list?

325
00:22:40,210 --> 00:22:44,380
Is it just for the people I came
over with or the whole new building?

326
00:22:44,410 --> 00:22:47,260
The short answer is that depends.

327
00:22:47,290 --> 00:22:49,810
It can be the entire building that's going

328
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,780
to be subject to
whether your local Memorandum of

329
00:22:54,810 --> 00:23:00,480
Understanding divides that
installation by section.

330
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:07,180
When you move into a location, many times
you'll have multiple local memorandums of

331
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,560
understanding from each of the
places that are moving in.

332
00:23:09,590 --> 00:23:16,570
And there's a process that's laid out in
that Moum 1991 that talks about that.

333
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,900
So it depends,

334
00:23:18,930 --> 00:23:24,180
it depends on what those Lmous say and
ultimately depends on what language.

335
00:23:24,210 --> 00:23:28,330
Once we reconcile those Lmous through a
process that we have and we'll get into

336
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:31,920
that a little bit more in a
little while, do I have to.

337
00:23:31,950 --> 00:23:36,050
Work overtime in an
unfamiliar zip code or route?

338
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,660
Question is kind of similar to
the question about overtime.

339
00:23:39,690 --> 00:23:42,460
Equitability.
The answer is maybe.

340
00:23:42,490 --> 00:23:44,540
So these are combined into one

341
00:23:44,570 --> 00:23:47,500
installation once we
move into an S and DC.

342
00:23:47,530 --> 00:23:54,180
So absent language, otherwise in an Lmou,
if you're on the overtime desired list,

343
00:23:54,210 --> 00:23:58,920
then you would be considered available
for all the routes there.

344
00:23:58,950 --> 00:24:04,330
But again, that's subject to
what the Lmou, how it divides.

345
00:24:04,360 --> 00:24:07,780
If it divides in item 18, that

346
00:24:07,810 --> 00:24:11,540
installation by section, how
is this good for my route?

347
00:24:11,570 --> 00:24:14,620
Well, what we found and the ones that we

348
00:24:14,650 --> 00:24:20,420
have had implemented so far
know, most routes gain travel time.

349
00:24:20,450 --> 00:24:23,380
So you're gaining travel time from the new

350
00:24:23,410 --> 00:24:28,810
S DC to your first delivery and then from
your last delivery back to the S DC.

351
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:33,330
And then once we evaluate the routes and
get them adjusted, for the most part we're

352
00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:37,940
trading delivery, know, for
just simple travel time.

353
00:24:37,970 --> 00:24:40,460
And for most folks that is a positive

354
00:24:40,490 --> 00:24:46,050
thing that we're just riding in a vehicle
for a few and it ranges from anywhere to,

355
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:52,740
could be just a few minutes, up to 2030
minutes or so a day in each direction.

356
00:24:52,770 --> 00:24:56,500
It just depends on the geographics
of a particular location.

357
00:24:56,530 --> 00:25:01,380
So the feedback and the response from most

358
00:25:01,410 --> 00:25:06,660
folks has been positive in that regard
that trading off some delivery time for

359
00:25:06,690 --> 00:25:11,540
travel time is definitely a little
easier and better for the carrier.

360
00:25:11,570 --> 00:25:13,330
What happens with my branches?

361
00:25:13,360 --> 00:25:14,700
Lmou?

362
00:25:14,730 --> 00:25:21,570
Yeah, so the agreement I mentioned in the
Mrs, it's M 1991, it includes a process

363
00:25:21,600 --> 00:25:29,280
where if you have multiple installations
that are involved, basically

364
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:35,660
the parties get together and try to
resolve any differences in the Lmou.

365
00:25:35,690 --> 00:25:41,860
So if you have multiple Lmous from the
losing installations that are combined and

366
00:25:41,890 --> 00:25:45,940
there are differences there,
I think it's important to know this is

367
00:25:45,970 --> 00:25:51,380
separate and apart from normal Article
30 local implementation that we have.

368
00:25:51,410 --> 00:25:53,500
After we get a new collective bargaining

369
00:25:53,530 --> 00:26:01,460
agreement, those issues are talked about
by the representatives at the local level.

370
00:26:01,490 --> 00:26:03,900
Those would be obviously the branch

371
00:26:03,930 --> 00:26:06,940
presidents that are involved
in the installation head.

372
00:26:06,970 --> 00:26:11,260
And then there's a resolution process
for any issues that are not resolved.

373
00:26:11,290 --> 00:26:16,380
They go up to
the national business agent and they also

374
00:26:16,410 --> 00:26:20,220
go up to the postal services
field labor relations folks.

375
00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:21,900
And then if they can't resolve something,

376
00:26:21,930 --> 00:26:28,330
it'll come here to the national level for
resolution of the ones we've had moved.

377
00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:30,740
I can tell you that

378
00:26:30,770 --> 00:26:36,780
we have not had any issues unresolved
yet that we've not been able to fix.

379
00:26:36,810 --> 00:26:39,540
So we've been able to do that.

380
00:26:39,570 --> 00:26:42,380
One thing to note, and I don't foresee

381
00:26:42,410 --> 00:26:47,220
this happening anytime soon, but
anything's possible in the event once this

382
00:26:47,250 --> 00:26:52,460
process is done, in the event, at some
point in the future, these

383
00:26:52,490 --> 00:26:57,420
locations in an S DC are returned
to their original location.

384
00:26:57,450 --> 00:26:59,980
Then the original

385
00:27:00,010 --> 00:27:05,020
know is basically reinstated as if
it had never been changed.

386
00:27:05,050 --> 00:27:08,860
So
that's the process,

387
00:27:08,890 --> 00:27:13,570
and it's just to resolve any
differences that may conflict.

388
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,040
If we're not in an S DC yet, are we going

389
00:27:16,070 --> 00:27:18,980
to have to change some language
when our Lmou opens up?

390
00:27:19,010 --> 00:27:28,460
No, there'll be no requirement for Know.

391
00:27:28,490 --> 00:27:30,900
If you have not been moved to an S and DC,

392
00:27:30,930 --> 00:27:35,980
then there's nothing that would
require you to open your Lmou.

393
00:27:36,010 --> 00:27:37,900
I mean, obviously, through the normal

394
00:27:37,930 --> 00:27:41,780
Article 30 local implementation
process, you could do that.

395
00:27:41,810 --> 00:27:44,570
And I'm sure at whatever point local

396
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:49,420
implementation happens, which will be here
in the next few months, at some point,

397
00:27:49,450 --> 00:27:53,660
those locations that we know were
scheduled to move into an S DC.

398
00:27:53,690 --> 00:27:58,120
We'll definitely keep that in mind, and
we'll get into a little more detail in a

399
00:27:58,150 --> 00:28:02,420
few minutes about what our internal
process is and the things that we look at.

400
00:28:02,450 --> 00:28:06,740
So I guess it's possible that we may,
during that local implementation period,

401
00:28:06,770 --> 00:28:11,290
if we know we have things that are
inevitable where we're going to move and

402
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,570
we're able to resolve some
things, then we may do that.

403
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,570
But there's nothing that will require you

404
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:24,090
to make any changes unless
you are involved in an S DC.

405
00:28:24,120 --> 00:28:28,050
And there are differences in the Lmous of

406
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:33,660
the routes from the Losing installations,
Lmous that are moved into the Sndcs.

407
00:28:33,690 --> 00:28:36,620
If there are differences, yes,
you have to resolve that.

408
00:28:36,650 --> 00:28:40,460
But
there's no requirement that anything else

409
00:28:40,490 --> 00:28:43,810
be changed during normal
local implementation.

410
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,180
So the last few questions were
talking a little bit know branch.

411
00:28:47,210 --> 00:28:50,460
So here's, let's get back to
their rank and file carrier.

412
00:28:50,490 --> 00:28:54,570
Where do my customers pick up their mail
or parcel when I have to leave a notice?

413
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,940
Yeah.
So what happens in the s DCs?

414
00:28:57,970 --> 00:29:00,660
Remember that when the carriers move

415
00:29:00,690 --> 00:29:06,810
the location you move from the losing
installation, that Post office stays open.

416
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,980
So if there's a window
there, it's still open.

417
00:29:11,010 --> 00:29:13,460
So what we do is, at the end of the day,

418
00:29:13,490 --> 00:29:17,620
whatever you would bring back, be that a
piece of mail, something you left notice

419
00:29:17,650 --> 00:29:20,860
for and accountable, whatever
the case may be a parcel.

420
00:29:20,890 --> 00:29:23,660
You bring it back to the S DC,

421
00:29:23,690 --> 00:29:27,980
and then the following
morning, one of the carriers.

422
00:29:28,010 --> 00:29:32,810
And sometimes it's the carrier who's
the post office is on their route.

423
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,420
Sometimes it may be another carrier.

424
00:29:35,450 --> 00:29:41,420
That stuff will be given to that
carrier to drop off at the Post Office.

425
00:29:41,450 --> 00:29:45,330
So it doesn't change where a
customer has to go get their mail.

426
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:49,570
So if you have an accountable piece
of mail, you leave a notice for it.

427
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:52,900
That customer is going to go to the
same place that they've always gone to.

428
00:29:52,930 --> 00:29:56,020
So that was one of the big pieces of this,

429
00:29:56,050 --> 00:30:01,570
that while moving us these S and DCs, we
definitely didn't want to inconvenience

430
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:06,740
customers by having them
travel further to get their stuff.

431
00:30:06,770 --> 00:30:13,540
So from their perspective, it'll all be at
that same location where it's always been.

432
00:30:13,570 --> 00:30:16,700
How does that notify mail piece get there?

433
00:30:16,730 --> 00:30:20,290
Yeah, one of the carriers the next morning

434
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,680
will take everything for that particular
station or finance units, really what it

435
00:30:24,710 --> 00:30:28,380
is at that point,
and bring it out and drop it off.

436
00:30:28,410 --> 00:30:30,760
So anything that was notice was left for

437
00:30:30,790 --> 00:30:37,380
the day before, then that customer will
be able to go there and pick it up.

438
00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:39,050
All right, well, we have a special guest

439
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,860
going to come in and Brad, do
you want to introduce him?

440
00:30:41,890 --> 00:30:44,220
So we've been talking about S DCS today,

441
00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:51,860
and I'd like for us to spend a little bit
of time to let you all know what we NALC

442
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,460
here at the national level and we'll get
into also what we do at the regional level

443
00:30:55,490 --> 00:31:00,810
and the branch level do in
preparation for each of these S DCS.

444
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:04,960
And here to help me with that, who does a

445
00:31:04,990 --> 00:31:09,140
lot of work in that regard, is one
of our letter carrier staffers.

446
00:31:09,170 --> 00:31:13,900
He is special assistant to
the president, Doug Late.

447
00:31:13,930 --> 00:31:16,420
So Doug, welcome.
Thank you, Brian.

448
00:31:16,450 --> 00:31:17,420
Appreciate it.

449
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,220
Before we get into this stuff, why don't
you just tell us briefly a little bit

450
00:31:21,250 --> 00:31:24,380
about yourself and where you're
from and all that stuff.

451
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,740
I know, but I think they'd
be interested to know.

452
00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:27,220
Sure.

453
00:31:27,250 --> 00:31:31,380
So I'm a letter carrier out of
Branch 43 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

454
00:31:31,410 --> 00:31:34,660
I've been with the Postal
Service since 1996.

455
00:31:34,690 --> 00:31:39,380
Started as a clerk, decided I didn't want
to be inside all day when it was 95

456
00:31:39,410 --> 00:31:42,500
degrees or 2ft of snow on
the ground in Cincinnati.

457
00:31:42,530 --> 00:31:45,570
So in 1998 I switched over to carrying.

458
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,220
Coming up on my 25th year.

459
00:31:47,250 --> 00:31:50,810
So October 10 of this
year will be 25 years.

460
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,740
Worked as a union activist in
Branch 43 for a long time.

461
00:31:54,770 --> 00:31:57,090
Became Vice President
of my branch in 2011.

462
00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,960
And then in 2017, I came up here to

463
00:32:00,970 --> 00:32:03,220
headquarters as an
assistant to the President.

464
00:32:03,250 --> 00:32:05,260
Working in City Delivery.
Yeah.

465
00:32:05,290 --> 00:32:09,500
And Doug's done a great job and he
worked in City Delivery for a few years.

466
00:32:09,530 --> 00:32:14,760
And for the last,
I guess about a year now, he's worked a

467
00:32:14,790 --> 00:32:20,420
lot with me and a couple others there
on a number of different projects.

468
00:32:20,450 --> 00:32:25,180
And one of Doug's main things is dealing
with the sorting and delivery center.

469
00:32:25,210 --> 00:32:31,860
So we get notice from the Postal Service
and communication that know, hey, in such

470
00:32:31,890 --> 00:32:38,180
and such month we intend to move these
places into this newly established S DC.

471
00:32:38,210 --> 00:32:40,810
And from that point forward, we start a

472
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:45,900
process of communication with the branch
and through the regional offices

473
00:32:45,930 --> 00:32:49,040
to really just try to gather
all the information we.

474
00:32:49,070 --> 00:32:50,330
Can possibly gather.

475
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:56,080
And once we gather all that information,
we try to anticipate any issues that may

476
00:32:56,110 --> 00:33:00,900
be specific to that location
and try to resolve those issues.

477
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:02,540
But, Doug, why don't we start there?

478
00:33:02,570 --> 00:33:07,860
And once we get that notification and we
know that these places are going to move

479
00:33:07,890 --> 00:33:12,660
to this new s and DC, why don't you just
talk us through a little bit of what you

480
00:33:12,690 --> 00:33:17,380
do, working with each of the NBA offices
and reaching out to the branches in terms

481
00:33:17,410 --> 00:33:22,810
of gathering that information and trying
to identify issues that we may have.

482
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:23,570
Absolutely.

483
00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:28,980
So we meet with the Postal Service every
other week on the S DC initiative.

484
00:33:29,010 --> 00:33:31,440
We get the list of the potential sites

485
00:33:31,470 --> 00:33:35,700
that are going to be implemented, and we
have three implementation dates per year

486
00:33:35,730 --> 00:33:39,420
one in February, 1 in June,
and one in September.

487
00:33:39,450 --> 00:33:43,090
After we get that list, we then take these

488
00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:47,660
losing installations and determine
if there's an impact to our craft.

489
00:33:47,690 --> 00:33:51,660
To do that, we look and see how many city
carriers and how many routes actually

490
00:33:51,690 --> 00:33:56,330
exist in the S DC and in
the losing installation.

491
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,940
Some of these offices
have no impact to us.

492
00:33:59,970 --> 00:34:03,660
For example, our first office, the Athens

493
00:34:03,690 --> 00:34:08,960
S DC, there were city carriers already
working in the building, and all of the

494
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,340
city carriers that were there before
implementation still worked there.

495
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:13,900
No city carriers were moved in.

496
00:34:13,930 --> 00:34:15,260
It was all rural.

497
00:34:15,290 --> 00:34:17,260
So after we've determined that there is

498
00:34:17,290 --> 00:34:21,780
going to be an impact, meaning there are
going to be city carriers moved into an S

499
00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:27,500
DC, what we do is we reach out to each
NBA and we start asking for information.

500
00:34:27,530 --> 00:34:31,500
We want to verify that what we've been
told by the Postal Service is correct.

501
00:34:31,530 --> 00:34:35,980
We want to know the number of routes
that exist in the losing office.

502
00:34:36,010 --> 00:34:40,650
We want to know the number of routes that
exist in the S DC, and we want to know the

503
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:44,900
branches that represent each one, because
we like to have as much communication as

504
00:34:44,930 --> 00:34:49,420
possible with both the business
agents offices and the branches.

505
00:34:49,450 --> 00:34:51,690
So what that means is once we've gathered

506
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:55,880
all of that information, determined how
many offices are going to be moved into

507
00:34:55,910 --> 00:35:01,240
the SNDC, how many city carrier routes are
going to move, we set up meetings with the

508
00:35:01,270 --> 00:35:06,210
business agents offices and the regions,
or the regions and the branches, so we can

509
00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:08,820
sit down and explain to
them what's going on.

510
00:35:08,850 --> 00:35:13,300
There are right now three
models in the S and DC.

511
00:35:13,330 --> 00:35:15,500
There is a model where all of the routes

512
00:35:15,530 --> 00:35:20,940
in an installation are moved from the
losing installation into the S and DC.

513
00:35:20,970 --> 00:35:23,820
That is the process that's covered under M

514
00:35:23,850 --> 00:35:27,940
1990 and M 1991, which I think
you talked about earlier.

515
00:35:27,970 --> 00:35:33,980
The second process is where they move
delivery units within an installation.

516
00:35:34,010 --> 00:35:39,960
For example, in Topeka, Kansas, in June of
this year, they implemented NEDC, and the

517
00:35:39,990 --> 00:35:43,380
only offices that were
moved were delivery units.

518
00:35:43,410 --> 00:35:45,540
Within the topeka installation.

519
00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,580
That's something which is not really
covered by the National Agreement.

520
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,340
The Postal Service has the right to move

521
00:35:50,370 --> 00:35:52,580
their delivery units
within an installation.

522
00:35:52,610 --> 00:35:54,600
There's no impact to seniority bid

523
00:35:54,630 --> 00:35:59,980
assignments lmous, because they all work
in the same installation before and after

524
00:36:00,010 --> 00:36:04,940
the establishment of the S DC, there's
really nothing that needs to be done other

525
00:36:04,970 --> 00:36:08,780
than explaining to the carriers
what's going to happen.

526
00:36:08,810 --> 00:36:13,100
The third situation is a little bit more
unique, and that's where they take one

527
00:36:13,130 --> 00:36:19,860
delivery unit from an installation and
move it into the jurisdiction of an S DC.

528
00:36:19,890 --> 00:36:22,460
For example, back in June of this year,

529
00:36:22,490 --> 00:36:28,200
the Hanover Park, Illinois SNDC was
established, and one delivery unit from

530
00:36:28,230 --> 00:36:34,820
the Elgin, Illinois installation was
moved out of Elgin into Hanover Park.

531
00:36:34,850 --> 00:36:37,820
So once we've determined the S DC

532
00:36:37,850 --> 00:36:43,940
locations, the losing installations, and
whether there's an impact to the craft, we

533
00:36:43,970 --> 00:36:46,540
determine how those
carriers are being moved.

534
00:36:46,570 --> 00:36:50,690
So we want to sit down and talk to the
branches and explain to them this is the

535
00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:55,940
process that covers this movement, just to
make sure they understand all the rules.

536
00:36:55,970 --> 00:37:01,340
Whether it's under M 1990 and 1991,
whether it's under Article Twelve, which

537
00:37:01,370 --> 00:37:05,520
is the circumstance like in Hanover Park,
Illinois, or whether it's just the

538
00:37:05,550 --> 00:37:08,580
movement of delivery units
within installation.

539
00:37:08,610 --> 00:37:10,130
Yeah.

540
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:14,340
As you might imagine, just based on
everything Doug just talked about, when

541
00:37:14,370 --> 00:37:19,420
you've got now we're up to,
what are we, 20 something?

542
00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:23,060
We're at twelve right now, but we have
more offices coming online the beginning.

543
00:37:23,090 --> 00:37:26,460
Of September that we know
are sort of in process.

544
00:37:26,490 --> 00:37:32,260
And then in each of those you have
anywhere from it may just be two or three

545
00:37:32,290 --> 00:37:38,020
installations that are moving in, or
you may have up to an unlimited number.

546
00:37:38,050 --> 00:37:42,420
So there's quite a bit of work
that goes in there.

547
00:37:42,450 --> 00:37:47,580
So we try to do that, and then Doug
communicates with the Postal Service.

548
00:37:47,610 --> 00:37:52,540
As far as issues that we see, Doug, I want
to touch on a couple of other things that

549
00:37:52,570 --> 00:37:57,650
we have to deal with, and that is
sometimes we only have like a single

550
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:01,940
branch involved here where places
from one single branch move in.

551
00:38:01,970 --> 00:38:03,900
And in that case,

552
00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:06,900
it's pretty straightforward as
far as the representation piece.

553
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:08,620
But then other times we have multiple

554
00:38:08,650 --> 00:38:13,340
branches and part of the
information that we gather.

555
00:38:13,370 --> 00:38:15,620
And then when that's the case, ultimately

556
00:38:15,650 --> 00:38:22,340
I have to make a decision as to what the
representation there will look like.

557
00:38:22,370 --> 00:38:25,900
And that's something, I think, early on in

558
00:38:25,930 --> 00:38:28,780
this process, that we start
to gather information.

559
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:30,420
I know you have a lot of communication

560
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:34,210
with the branches that are potentially
involved, and we try to figure out the

561
00:38:34,240 --> 00:38:38,170
best thing to do when it comes
to representation, too right.

562
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:43,340
So as I said earlier, we sit down and talk
to the branches with the regional offices.

563
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,740
It's a little bit easier when we're
talking about one branch that represents

564
00:38:46,770 --> 00:38:51,580
all of the carriers that are moving
into the S DC as well as the SNDC.

565
00:38:51,610 --> 00:38:55,170
It gets a little more complicated
when we have multiple branches.

566
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,540
The example I gave about Hanover Park,

567
00:38:57,570 --> 00:39:02,200
Illinois, there were two branches involved
one that represented the carriers in the

568
00:39:02,230 --> 00:39:07,620
delivery unit from Elgin and one that
represented the carriers in Hanover Park.

569
00:39:07,650 --> 00:39:09,940
We've had other circumstances, such as in

570
00:39:09,970 --> 00:39:14,500
Bryan, Texas, where there's been multiple
branches, utica, New York, which has had

571
00:39:14,530 --> 00:39:18,940
three branches now that
coexist within the S DC.

572
00:39:18,970 --> 00:39:20,980
So we have to explain

573
00:39:21,010 --> 00:39:25,580
all of this to every branch so they
understand how this is going to work.

574
00:39:25,610 --> 00:39:27,840
They understand the Lmou issues that they

575
00:39:27,870 --> 00:39:31,580
need to discuss,
which involves more than just one person,

576
00:39:31,610 --> 00:39:35,900
one branch president talking
to the postmaster of the SNDC.

577
00:39:35,930 --> 00:39:40,210
We need to make sure they understand
everything that's going to happen and how

578
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:43,130
their branch is going to be
impacted by this change.

579
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,210
Yeah.
And it kind of goes back to the whole

580
00:39:46,240 --> 00:39:49,620
principle that we've used since the
beginning of this, is

581
00:39:49,650 --> 00:39:54,500
there are things that each of these have
in common, but they all are also unique

582
00:39:54,530 --> 00:39:57,580
based on a number of
different circumstances.

583
00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:58,580
They can be anything.

584
00:39:58,610 --> 00:40:03,780
Sometimes it's geography
where we have locations that move, and you

585
00:40:03,810 --> 00:40:08,260
have challenges created
by the amount of travel that they have

586
00:40:08,290 --> 00:40:13,440
from the new SNDC or
the routes that are available to them as

587
00:40:13,470 --> 00:40:16,620
far as traveling to and
from their first delivery.

588
00:40:16,650 --> 00:40:22,960
Another piece I wanted to hit on that
definitely everyone that's moved into one

589
00:40:22,990 --> 00:40:30,060
of these S and DCs will be impacted by,
and that is the process in M 1990 for

590
00:40:30,090 --> 00:40:34,540
evaluating and adjusting the
routes because they're impacted.

591
00:40:34,570 --> 00:40:37,380
And there's kind of a little interim thing

592
00:40:37,410 --> 00:40:42,280
that we do initially, and then ultimately
there's a route adjustment piece that

593
00:40:42,310 --> 00:40:45,650
happens post actual
movement into the location.

594
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,820
So why don't you describe kind of what

595
00:40:48,850 --> 00:40:53,780
that process looks like, both initially
what we do in advance and then what

596
00:40:53,810 --> 00:40:58,060
happens a few weeks after we
move into those locations.

597
00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:00,860
Right.
So one of the big things that we discussed

598
00:41:00,890 --> 00:41:07,020
both internally and with the Postal
Service is how do we make any sort of

599
00:41:07,050 --> 00:41:11,580
arrangements for the fact that these
carriers are going to have potentially

600
00:41:11,610 --> 00:41:15,380
more travel time when
they move into the S DC.

601
00:41:15,410 --> 00:41:19,780
And what we're talking about is when
you're at your original delivery unit, you

602
00:41:19,810 --> 00:41:24,020
may have had a certain amount of time to
get from your office to your first

603
00:41:24,050 --> 00:41:27,780
delivery point, and then from
your last delivery point back.

604
00:41:27,810 --> 00:41:33,060
Once that route moves to the S DC, there
could be an additional travel time.

605
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:34,900
So you're going to have more time to get

606
00:41:34,930 --> 00:41:38,420
from the S and DC to your first
delivery and more time to drive back.

607
00:41:38,450 --> 00:41:40,840
At the end of the day, what we tried to do

608
00:41:40,870 --> 00:41:46,170
is come up with a way, and I think we did
it in m 1990 is for the national parties

609
00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:49,020
who are involved in the joint
route adjustment process.

610
00:41:49,050 --> 00:41:54,260
To sit down and estimate the time that
it's going to take that carrier to get to

611
00:41:54,290 --> 00:41:58,380
their first delivery and then back
once they've finished their route.

612
00:41:58,410 --> 00:42:02,060
Keep in mind, this is only an
estimate, it is not an exact.

613
00:42:02,090 --> 00:42:04,340
There's no way to get the exact numbers

614
00:42:04,370 --> 00:42:07,650
until somebody actually
drives it on a regular basis.

615
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:12,300
But we wanted to make it clear to both
local management and the letter carrier

616
00:42:12,330 --> 00:42:17,620
serving the route that we all acknowledge
that there's been an impact to your route.

617
00:42:17,650 --> 00:42:21,260
We know there's more travel
time on a daily basis.

618
00:42:21,290 --> 00:42:25,940
So that route, which may have been 8 hours
before it moved, could potentially be

619
00:42:25,970 --> 00:42:29,380
eight and a half, 845,
whatever that number is.

620
00:42:29,410 --> 00:42:34,020
So that was the first part of it that we
did before the movement of the S and DC.

621
00:42:34,050 --> 00:42:37,540
So before about 30 days before

622
00:42:37,570 --> 00:42:42,060
the routes actually move, the postmaster
and the branch president or their

623
00:42:42,090 --> 00:42:47,680
designees will sit down and explain to
every carrier on their route, this is what

624
00:42:47,710 --> 00:42:52,500
the national parties have agreed, this is
the new estimated time for your route.

625
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,980
Yeah.
And the idea is just simply to

626
00:42:56,010 --> 00:43:01,690
there's a fine line, I guess, between sort
of projecting what it'll look like, but in

627
00:43:01,720 --> 00:43:07,020
this case, we're not really projecting
well, we're not projecting delivery time.

628
00:43:07,050 --> 00:43:09,620
We can come reasonably close to figuring

629
00:43:09,650 --> 00:43:12,940
out how long it takes to travel
from one point to another.

630
00:43:12,970 --> 00:43:17,860
So the idea is that there be a recognition

631
00:43:17,890 --> 00:43:22,940
among everybody, local management as well
as the carriers, of what that change is.

632
00:43:22,970 --> 00:43:26,100
And then we use our joint route adjustment

633
00:43:26,130 --> 00:43:31,740
process, once they're implemented,
to evaluate and adjust them.

634
00:43:31,770 --> 00:43:34,900
So if you're in one of these new s DCs.

635
00:43:34,930 --> 00:43:40,060
Chances are you probably have seen Doug,
because I think he's visited all of them

636
00:43:40,090 --> 00:43:42,540
as we go forward, he'll
continue to do that.

637
00:43:42,570 --> 00:43:45,210
And a number of our other staff here at

638
00:43:45,240 --> 00:43:51,340
headquarters, as well as several of the
officers, and definitely folks from your

639
00:43:51,370 --> 00:43:54,580
national business agents
office will be out there.

640
00:43:54,610 --> 00:44:01,140
The important thing for us is just to do
everything we can to ensure that we have

641
00:44:01,170 --> 00:44:07,380
the right amount of communication, that we
gain the information that we need to do

642
00:44:07,410 --> 00:44:09,940
what's best for each one
of these individual sites.

643
00:44:09,970 --> 00:44:12,100
And ultimately, when it comes to the

644
00:44:12,130 --> 00:44:17,500
representation side, any decision that we
make here, and I'm speaking for myself

645
00:44:17,530 --> 00:44:23,060
here, we're going to make the decision
that's in the best interest of the members

646
00:44:23,090 --> 00:44:26,860
that are impacted there
and their representation.

647
00:44:26,890 --> 00:44:29,660
So, Doug, is there anything else related

648
00:44:29,690 --> 00:44:35,620
to S DCS that you think could be
useful for the listeners to think?

649
00:44:35,650 --> 00:44:39,940
You know, as Brian mentioned, I do get
out and I travel to all these S DCS.

650
00:44:39,970 --> 00:44:42,660
There's a lot of construction going on in

651
00:44:42,690 --> 00:44:46,900
these facilities because once they're
done, they all look the same, they have

652
00:44:46,930 --> 00:44:51,620
the same color scheme, they all have
new cases, which is a blue case.

653
00:44:51,650 --> 00:44:56,340
And I'll tell you, as I said, I've
been in the postal service since 1996.

654
00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:58,280
November of last year was the first time

655
00:44:58,310 --> 00:45:01,380
I'd ever seen a case that
was less than 30 years old.

656
00:45:01,410 --> 00:45:05,140
So they are doing some
things that are nice.

657
00:45:05,170 --> 00:45:11,780
They are remodeling all of the bathrooms,
new fixtures they're putting in, new water

658
00:45:11,810 --> 00:45:15,980
fountains that have water
bottle fillers and filters.

659
00:45:16,010 --> 00:45:20,780
Every office is getting an ice machine,
not just the offices that may work in the

660
00:45:20,810 --> 00:45:27,420
more hot and humid or those places that
have a little bit hotter temperatures.

661
00:45:27,450 --> 00:45:32,820
So I think we need to be cognizant of
the fact that nobody likes the change.

662
00:45:32,850 --> 00:45:34,860
People like to stay where they're at.

663
00:45:34,890 --> 00:45:38,380
But at the end of the day, these
facilities do look a lot nicer.

664
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:39,860
Some of them are being cleaned for the

665
00:45:39,890 --> 00:45:44,100
first time in years,
which is always a positive.

666
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:47,920
And I think the reason we really want to
get out and see these offices is, as I

667
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:51,140
mentioned at the very beginning, that we
do meet with the postal service every two

668
00:45:51,170 --> 00:45:54,660
weeks, and they tell us the
status of these offices.

669
00:45:54,690 --> 00:45:58,820
And Brian, from the very beginning, has
made the decision that we're going to get

670
00:45:58,850 --> 00:46:03,060
out there and we're going to see if
what we're being told is accurate.

671
00:46:03,090 --> 00:46:05,280
And it really does open your eyes when you

672
00:46:05,310 --> 00:46:09,680
get into these offices, instead of just
looking at a single picture in a

673
00:46:09,710 --> 00:46:14,540
PowerPoint presentation to see what the
issues are so that we can address those

674
00:46:14,570 --> 00:46:18,210
with the postal service and get
them fixed as quickly as possible.

675
00:46:18,240 --> 00:46:21,260
Yeah, I know this will shock everyone

676
00:46:21,290 --> 00:46:26,020
that's listening, but early on in
particular, we found a lot of places where

677
00:46:26,050 --> 00:46:31,460
they'd show us some beautiful picture and
we'd go out there and the bathrooms

678
00:46:31,490 --> 00:46:33,700
weren't working or
whatever the case may be.

679
00:46:33,730 --> 00:46:36,180
And hopefully that's gotten

680
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,800
I think that's probably gotten a little
bit better, but that just kind of

681
00:46:39,800 --> 00:46:41,820
highlights the importance
of the communication.

682
00:46:41,850 --> 00:46:48,660
When we've had this communication, and
those issues have been raised by our folks

683
00:46:48,690 --> 00:46:54,780
locally or at the regional level,
we have had very good success in terms of

684
00:46:54,810 --> 00:46:58,860
getting those things addressed up here,
the S and DCs.

685
00:46:58,890 --> 00:47:04,080
As Doug mentioned, any movement, we are
kind of creatures of habit, and we don't

686
00:47:04,110 --> 00:47:08,380
like change, but there are positives, and
he mentioned several of them that come

687
00:47:08,410 --> 00:47:13,020
along with this in terms of the amenities,
and it just

688
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:16,780
may take, in a lot of cases, a little
bit longer to get there for some people.

689
00:47:16,810 --> 00:47:21,300
But usually when it comes to the building
itself, once all the construction and that

690
00:47:21,330 --> 00:47:25,420
stuff's completed, they are
definitely better places to work.

691
00:47:25,450 --> 00:47:27,700
Well, Doug, thanks so much for joining us.

692
00:47:27,730 --> 00:47:30,340
We appreciate all the work
you're doing out there.

693
00:47:30,370 --> 00:47:31,460
S and DCs.

694
00:47:31,490 --> 00:47:33,580
And for those of you that are involved in

695
00:47:33,610 --> 00:47:38,780
S and DCs in the near future, there's a
good chance that you'll get to meet them.

696
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:40,640
So thanks for joining us.
All right, thank you.