From PR Reader: "someone needs to diligently look into what happened to the mail and parcels and standard mail during the 2 week count!!! There are thousands of rural carriers across this country that lost thousands of dollars and now have to work a 6 day work week.  But as of today the mail volume and parcel volume has increased by 100 percent.  Where did they hold this all???  Oh and our P.O. master general just got a raise in January and then the stamp is going up in may???  What is going on in the United States Post Office? I thought it was federal regulated??? We are all scared of losing our homes and lively hood! How are we going to afford delivering the mail in our own cars with gas costing $3.50 a gallon and we are all getting salary cuts across the nation?"

National grievance filed on 2008 rural mail count

National Rural Letter Carriers Association
1630 Duke St.
Alexandria, VA 22314-3467

March 20, 2008

Mr. William Daigneault
Manager, Contract Administration (NRLCA)
United States Postal Service
Room 9126
475 L'Enfant Plaza, S. W.
Washington, D. C. 20260

Dear Mr. Daigneault:

Pursuant to Article 15, Section 4(D), of the parties' National Agreement, the Association submits this National Level grievance on the following dispute.

During the February 23 — March 7, 2008, National Mail Count, the Postal Service failed to ensure an even flow of mail on rural routes as required by Article 30, Section 1.A, Article 19 and Section 534 of Handbook P0-603, to the detriment and disadvantage of all bargaining unit employees. Rural routes experienced an unprecedented and substantial drop in the normal volume of rural route mail during the 2008 NMC for several reasons, including but not limited to, the Postal Service's failure to provide rural routes with dated and other mailings during the 12 working days of the count. The Association expressly reserves the right to modify and/or amend this grievance as additional facts are discovered through additional investigation and responses to information requests.

The Association's remedial request includes, but is not limited to, a substitution of the 2008 NMC volume-related columns with the volumes recorded in the same columns for the last mail count for each rural route or, at the regular rural carrier's sole discretion, the complete and total nullification of any counts or results of any portion of the 2008 NMC. In addition, an appropriate remedy must be fashioned for any rural route that was counted for the first time during the 2008 NMC. All bargaining unit employees shall likewise be made whole in any and all respects, including the provision of interest at the Federal Judgment Rate on any monetary payments. The Association expressly reserves the right to modify and/or amend its remedial request and to seek additional remedies if warranted by disclosure of additional facts not presently known.

Please contact my office to determine the earliest possible date to discuss this very important issue.

Sincerely,

Donnie Pitts, President