The Demo Site

Jerry Pyfer, of NALC Branch 245 wrote on article in Feb. 09 that seems to have baring on some recent issues that were brought up about comfort stops and breaks. Many letter carriers give up their breaks for one reason or another.

The following is taken from the NALC Branch 245 Newsletter:

"Management is predicting the mail volume will continue to fall off as time goes by. This whole review process is an ongoing process. It will probably last the remainder of the current contract. The same review will be repeated in the autumn of 2009 using the accumulated information of the months of May and September 2009. I will remain the Branch representative for IRAP at the New Towne Station as long as President Kelly Pruka feels you are getting proper representation from me. Between New Towne and Kilburn Station’s workload on this process, Belinda Anderson and John Abate represent Kilburn.

Here then are a few things you need to be mindful of. One thing that I heard
more than once during the consultations was the fact that some letter carriers did not take any breaks at all. These carriers just wanted to get it done and get out of there. The problem is that in doing so makes your route appear nearly an hour short and it will show-up in our review of the route information. There are several types of breaks. Lunch breaks are 30 minute breaks during which you are technically off the clock. That is why when you take your lunch, you have an eight and a half hour day. Some offices allow letter carriers to take a “No Lunch”. If you elect to take a “No Lunch”, make sure this fact is notated in your daily report by the supervisor.

Two 10-minute break periods are allowed for you to break away, refresh and
then go again. These breaks are on the clock and will not add or detract from your eight -hour day. However, if you work through these breaks you have shortened your route by 20 minutes. I don’t know of any authorizations to work through these breaks as some do with the lunch break. Management couldn’t care less if you work through the 10-minute breaks because they gain on your productivity by making your work day appear 20 minutes less. When we look at your route’s information next fall, you will appear to be able to take a 20 minute route addition. For those carriers that took a 10-minute break during office time, we made notations on the evaluation work sheet which gave you 43 minutes Fixed Office Time.

Personal needs time is neither an authorized nor unauthorized break. The M-39 puts it this way, “Reasonable comfort stops will not be denied.” I believe the term today is Personal Needs. A manager cannot suggest nor deny reasonable comfort stops. This covers bathroom needs as well as other bodily needs such as but not limited to; removing a pebble from your shoe, tying a shoelace, blowing your nose, changing clothing to meet changing weather conditions, etc. There are limits as to what can be considered reasonable comfort stops, so please don’t over do it just to extend your route. If the manager has a problem with your personal needs let your steward know.

Since John Abate and Belinda have been monitoring Kilburn Station’s progress, during this process, I will defer to them on that station’s progress."