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Revised Grievance - Arbitration Procedure
One of the more significant changes made to the National Agreement during the latest negotiations affected Article 15, Grievance-Arbitration Procedure. All the parties agreed that the present system was hopelessly bogged down and that the rate of new grievances working their way through the system would completely paralyze the process altogether. Things were so bad the G.A.O. became involved and demanded that the postal service address and correct the processes that rendered the grievance system ineffective and one that created one of the most adversarial relationships between craft and management in the country.
One of the more revered tenets of American jurisprudence is; Justice delayed is justice denied. It didn't take long for the parties to conclude that Step Three of the grievance procedure was the bottleneck that was causing the most problems and needed to be dealt with immediately. The choices were; both organizations would hire more staff to try and either settle these grievances or failing that, push them further along through the system. The other choice was to abolish Step Three of the grievance procedure altogether. The choice was made to do away with Step Three and come up with an alternate plan to try and make both parties settle at the lowest step of the grievance procedure and failing that, expedite the matters directly to Arbitration. So REGAP was born. This is a bold new initiative and will be done on an experimental basis that will last the length of this contract.
Local 318 was among the Locals chosen to participate in REGAP. We are very prepared to begin implementation and are optimistic that the new process will work. Our Stewards have already received the finest training given in preparing grievances for arbitration. When we have completed our Step Two meetings with management, our cases are ready to go to arbitration. Going to Step Three has been a big waste of time for our Local for some time now and this is a most welcome change for us in Local 318.
On Friday, July 23rd, Stewards Jack Pickett, Phil Klem, Greg Hartzell, Tres Coulter, and I traveled to the JAX BMC along with Cliff Hope, Bob Clothier, and Dave Sahle for Orientation on the REGAP procedures. There were many other Stewards and Supervisors from the North Florida district present. Also present were Local President Ray Walls and Treasurer Bill Kuhle. Bill Flynn, Mgr. of the Contact Administration Dept. of the NPMHU, conducted the meeting along with Frank Jacquette, Labor Relations Specialist for the USPS. Other representatives from the NPMHU National Office who were present at the meeting were Dick Collins - Assistant to the President, Dallas Jones - Contract Rep, and T.J. Branch - Contract Rep.
The goal of REGAP is to increase responsibility of the local parties to:
There will be no more excuses for not holding timely Step 2 meetings. President Walls emphatically told all reps that there would be no time limit extensions of more than five days unless circumstances are such that more time would be necessary. Still, any extension of more than five days must be personally approved by him. Another provision requires management to make timely Step 2 decisions. If a decision is not rendered in time, the grievance is to be forwarded to Local HQ and will be appealed to Regional level arbitration. Other pertinent changes to Art. 15 allow the Union 21 days to appeal an adverse decision at Step 2 to Regional level arbitration instead of taking 15 days to appeal to Step 3, and management must now at least acknowledge that they have received a copy of our Corrections and Additions to the grievance file.
Shortly, all Locals will receive a Contract Interpretation Manual (CIM). It is hoped that the CIM will help the parties reach resolutions regarding issues about which we are in agreement and that we will be able to apply the provisions of our National Agreement in a more consistent manner. The positions of the parties set forth in the CIM will be binding to all parties at the local level and regional levels and in the processing of grievances through steps 1 and 2. In addition, the positions of the parties set forth in the CIM are binding on the Arbitrator, in accordance with the provisions of Art. 15.4A6, in any regional case in which the CIM is introduced. In other words, the off the wall interpretations of contract language made by both sides will no longer be allowed to interfere with the smooth movement of legitimate grievances through the system.
I came away from the meeting optimistic that this could work. But I know that it takes two to Tango. Unless both labor and management take grievance resolution to heart and make an effort to make REGAP work, we'll just have let another golden opportunity to improve the process slip away. You have my promise that I will do all I can to make it work. Whether our Management team feels the same remains to be seen.
I am posting on our Bulletin Board the training material we received at the meeting. Please read it. If you have any questions about REGAP, come see me and I will answer all your questions.
Bob Schmidt
Branch Representative
