Repairs Times Not a Basis for Discipline

(06/29/09) Although Arbitrator Shyam Das officially denied an APWU grievance protesting the Postal Service’s Preventative Maintenance Inspection Program recently, his ruling was a victory for the APWU nonetheless.

At the hearing, the APWU asserted that Estimated Repair Times (ERTs) included in the program constituted “work-and-time standards,” in violation of Article 34 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Postal managers disputed the union’s claims and testified that employees would not be subject to discipline solely for exceeding the ERTs. They also testified that employees were not required to document why they exceeded estimated repair times.

While Arbitrator Das rejected the union’s argument that the Preventive Maintenance program constituted a change in wages, hours and conditions of employment, he stated unequivocally that management “cannot… cite failure to perform work within an ERT — whether once, twice or multiple times — as a basis for discipline.”