The NALC Executive Council, during weeklong meetings May 24-28, decided unanimously to present to the National Convention in Honolulu, Hawaii for debate and consideration, a proposal to revamp the route inspection process.

NALC President William H. Young discusses route inspection proposal with Executive Council at meeting in Reno, Nevada. At his side are Executive Vice President Jim Williams, center, and Vice President Gary Mullins, right.

The current system results in daily confrontations between letter carriers and front-line supervisors and is dysfunctional. The Council proposed a new route inspection process that includes union involvement and moves away from the problems of the current process.

The Council noted that the current route inspection procedure is perceived by both letter carriers and management as being unfair. Carriers believe that management withholds mail during the process, makes unfair pencil adjustments and manipulates the process. Many managers believe that the carrier regulates his or her performance during the week of inspection.

While many details need to be discussed and agreed to, the proposal currently under consideration involves the following general characteristics:

	A mechanism for selecting routes to be adjusted and determining a recent representative period to base a carrier's office and street performance.
	A process to adjust the route using the regular carrier's average office and street time.
	No pencil adjustments.
	Improvements to and an evaluation of the computer systems to generate mail volume and other carrier data.

While there have been many efforts in the past to revisit the current route inspection and work measurement systems, they have failed for a number of reasons, including management's insistence upon proceeding unilaterally.

This new concept has been designed to be faithful to NALC's historic insistence upon the following key principles:

	Routes must be adjusted to 40 hours.
	Hourly pay / 8 hour days / 40 hour work weeks.
	Individual effort and performance – no "time-engineered" or other artificial "standards."
	Legitimate volume count.
	Protection against "gaming" the system.
	A significant role for union participation in the process.

President Young informed the Executive Council that this proposal would not be presented to management prior to consideration at the Honolulu convention and a careful vetting of the many details and issues it would present.

Listening to presentation at Council meeting in left photo are (l-r) National Business Agents Judy Willoughby, Barry Weiner and Paul Price. In right photo, following discussion closely are (l-r) NBA George Mignosi, Dir. of Safety & Health Al Ferranto, Asst. Secretary-Treasurer Myra Warren and Dir. of City Delivery Fred Rolando.

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Postal reform took another major step forward June 2 when the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee voted 17-0 to approve a bipartisan bill proposed by Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and send it toward the Senate floor.

The speedy action on the Collins-Carper measure (S. 2468) raises the possibility the entire Senate could act on postal reform before the end of the current 108th Congress. Like its counterpart in the House (H.R. 4341), the Senate bill is called the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act.

The full House is expected to consider H.R. 4341 before the Independence Day congressional recess begins in the last week of June. The House Government Reform Committee approved the bill, 40-0, on May 12.

NALC President William H. Young said momentum for postal reform is heartening, but said caution remains our watchword.

"Both the House and Senate versions are thick with technical detail and – as always – the bills are subject to changes during debate on the floor of the Senate or House, or in a conference committee to work out conflicts between the two chambers," Young said. "That is the time when a rapid response from our e-Activists will be most valuable."

NALC's legislative team will continue to closely review the legislative language and monitor the progress of the legislation in both chambers.

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The AFL-CIO is launching a Voice@Work Campaign with a Week of Action June 28-July 4 during which union members are being urged to push for restoration of workers' freedom to form unions.

Focus of the effort is passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, co-authored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA). The bills (S. 1925) and (H.R. 3619) would require companies to recognize unions when a majority of employees sign authorization cards, and require mediation and binding arbitration if an initial contract agreement is not reached within a year.

Union members are asked to contact Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), the Democrat presidential candidate, to thank him for his support of the legislation, and to contact President Bush to urge him to join in backing the legislation. Further information can be obtained on the AFL-CIO website: www.aflcio.org/voiceatwork.

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