Classes of Mail

We skip Article 6, which is about layoffs. The short version is that we're protected from layoffs. Article 7 is much more relevant, and much longer. Today, we get through all of Article 7.1, which covers the CCA category of employees.

I open the show by explaining WHEN outgoing mail gets its postmark dates. It's handled by a machine called the Advanced Facer Canceler System. Then I get into how that machine actually works. Finally, I answer a question from the mailbag about Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (like the UPS Store), and what we're supposed to do with their mail. This episode kind of gets into the weeds, and that's exactly where Classes of Mail likes to be!

Today we power through FOUR articles of the JCAM. Article 2 is about accommodations for deaf employees, and I share a funny anecdote from the Carrier Academy. Article 3 is about management's rights (and their obligations). Article 4 is about the impending robot uprising. Article 5 is about unilateral changes and past practices.

Michael asked me if he could come into the studio and say what's really on his mind, without me holding him back. This episode is the result.

Season 6 is here! I'll be reading the entire JCAM from cover to cover, this time with much better audio quality and fewer accents. Today I read from Article 1, which empowers the NALC to represent carriers, and covers cross-craft work by supervisors and 204B's.

This was supposed to be an episode about route inspections, but my passions got the better of me, and I wound up doing a whole episode about how the machines work down at the plant. I find it incredibly interesting.

This episode is intended for regular carriers, not stewards. Michael and I talk about the inspection process, and address a lot of the fears carriers have surrounding the actual day of inspection,

"You can't use the master's tools to tear down the master's house." C Moline is an all-time favorite podcast guest. Today, she talks about how our grievance process is inherently broken, and why it can't fix the daily injustices our carriers face. Instead, C talks about a handful of tools that everyday carriers can use to protect their rights and stop abuse in its tracks.

There is some fantastic information in here about the criteria management is supposed to use when issuing discipline.

Adam Crosby has added his voice to the growing ranks of postal podcasts. His core message is that our union needs to do a better job of representing its table two carriers. In this wide-ranging discussion, we talk about the Post Office's use of the Amazon model of hiring, they systemic mistreatment of CCAs, and the disappointing lack of empathy shown by carriers on table one.