Gag Orders
Vicki Says:
October 27th, 2005 at 6:07 pm e
It is the policy and direction of the National Board that non stewards are not to provide or dispense advice or opinion regarding any contractual or labor relations matter.
Further, certified stewards at any level are not to provide or dispense advice or opinion regarding any contractual or labor relations matter beyond the jurisdiction of their certification and assigned responsibilities. For example, a local steward in Office A will not involve himself or herself in any labor relations issues in Office B.
4 Responses to 'Gag Orders'
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on October 29th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
OK, they do have a point. Wait a minute before you skewer me…
There is a structure or hierarchy that exists so that people don’t get bombarded from all sides with knee-jerk opinions and advice that may or may not be appropriate to a given situation, especially one in an office where the local steward is privy to all sides of an issue as well as the contractual language that may cover said issue. Here online, we get one side of an issue and selected facts that the person with the issue doles out as they see fit, so whomever is giving the advice is making the assumption that the person needing the advice has fully disclosed the situation without bias or prejudice and taking a leap of faith that the person with the issue deserves your trust.
If we then give an opinion or advice on how to approach that specific issue with that specific carrier we are not in a position to understand all of the ramifications and the advice can be lopsided or not appropriate once all of the facts of the matter are revealed.
We have a legal structure and stewards are every bit as important as a lawyer in civilian cases of law. If an issue is worthy of consideration, is should be treated seriously and it should be addressed firstly by the certified local steward. If the local steward has help from second guessers who may or may not know the contract language you may undermine his actions to remedy the situation. It is his job to research the issue, seek advice from his union officers, and advise the carrier if this is a legitimate issue.
Advice is dangerous where the veil of the Internet keeps you from knowing all sides of an issue.
Contractual references are good starting points for a person in distress, but why isn’t that person getting the help from the local steward, or for that matter the area or state steward? Is it the low level of expertise, or is it the lack of knowledge, or presumption of the person with the issue? That person could have read the contract wrong, or read the wrong section of the contract or misinterpreted the contract or just had some wishful thinking or agenda without knowing enough to make an informed judgment.
Many carriers don’t want to take the trouble to write up an 8191. They want the steward to be their White Knight and rush into the Postmasters Office wielding the sword of justice with contract in hand, confronting him without understanding the ramifications of their actions.
The failure of the union is often the failure of the carrier in gathering the information needed, and writing up the 8191 with references to why they think there is a legitimate issue at hand worth confronting the Postmaster. The carriers often expect the steward to be a walking answerman, with plenty of time to stand and answer questions, after giving limited information and drawing assumptions from their own interpretation of the contract. The Steward is still expected to perform his office duties as a carrier and many carriers act impulsively with questions without considering the impact on the stewards time as a carrier.
That said, information needs to be available to the carrier. The union will say, then they should be active in the unit meetings and members of the union, supporting the efforts of the union. What is a union without participation? You may not like those that are elected, but at least there is a structure and those who are elected are usually the most active and do the most organizing and the most reading and have somewhat of a reputation of confronting management. Those that elect the officers depend on those officers and feel that those officers are representing their interests, right or wrong.
on January 26th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Where Are You? Where is the negotiation to determine a fair period for a mail count? Did you notice that not only is it scheduled during a slow period of one of the slowest months of the year but that it also is during our scheduled school vacation period. That means that unless we want some ambitiously inept clerk or sub to give us the zinger, we can’t spend some “Quality of Life” with our family! Nice job negotiating! Don’t forget to remind me to encourage non-members to join this fine organization.
on January 26th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
Oh bye the way…….Maybe a different union in place can do better, sure can’t do much worse!
on February 16th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
I go to my post office 6 days a week. (RCA on an aux route) The LAST thing I want to do is go to a union meeting an hour and a half away (gas is $2.13/gal today) on the seventh day and spend the afternoon sitting in a chair. However, in order to be more informed about my job and what my rights are, I am going to have to make this effort. There seems to be no other way. The local steward is over worked and he does not need my silly questions during his dinner hour. I work in a small office, and I can safely say that NONE of the regulars have been to a union meeting in the time that I have worked there. The fact that we are so uninformed allows our PM to have free reign, making his own decisions regardless of the carrier’s contract. Shame on us.