ARBITRATOR BLOCH RULES THAT THE POSTAL SERVICE’S 2010 TIME STUDY VIOLATED ARTICLE 34
The Postal Service violated Article 34.2 of the parties’ National Agreement when it conducted its 2010 time and work study involving video camera recordings and observations of over 400 rural routes without the Association’s participation. That is the finding of the parties’ National Arbitrator, Richard Bloch, who, in a clear and concise award, recognized Article 34’s central goal of establishing fair work standards through mutual, “transparent procedures.” The case arose from a national-level grievance and unfair labor practice charge filed by the Association after the Postal Service announced that it would be observing and recording rural carriers on their routes in an effort to reduce numerous time standards during the 2010 contract negotiations or subsequent interest arbitration. Arbitrator Bloch rejected the Postal Service’s argument that Article 34.2 only applies when the Postal Service wants to change standards during the term of the National Agreement and does not apply when it seeks changes during collective bargaining or interest arbitration. He held:
Without question, and beyond any dispute in this case is the fact that work measurement systems are profoundly important to [the] parties. They are frequently central to the negotiated process by which compensation is determined for rural carriers and they are at times the subject of complex and vigorous debate and dispute. Article 34 stands as recognition by the parties that the process of implementing these studies is best served by a mechanism that involves joint input, communication, and oversight. Recognizing there may be the need to modify standards during the term of the contract, thus adopting changes that would be otherwise unavailable unilaterally, the parties included, in Article 34, a mid-term dispute resolution mechanism. This was a reasonable and necessary response to their potential needs. The core and character of the Article, then, concerns the quest for fairness, reasonableness and equity in the conduct of the studies. To this end, … the parties here agreed to a series of notice and oversight obligations… These checks and balances … cannot be read as somehow dependent on when proposals for new standards are to be proffered. For this reason, the conclusion is that the study at issue, conducted during the term of the existing contract, was subject to the various participation requirements of Article 34.
This decision will ensure that the Postal Service engages in a participatory process for conducting time studies in the future, and the parties will soon be discussing the immediate issue of how this Award will impact the ongoing interest arbitration proceedings.
National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association.
