Springfield Update, Feb 2026
Hello, dear reader, and welcome to the February edition of “What are grievances like in the area?”
We’ll keep it short and bittersweet here, so let’s jump into it.
Parking Lots Unplowed
The snowstorm that blew in brought 6.7 inches of snow according to weather.gov. Most of us were able to get in to work miraculously, but we came in to snow and ice covering our parking lots for days. Management tells us we’re not supposed to deliver to icy porches or any mailboxes that haven’t been cleared due to the safety concern, but expect us to work on the slippery ice right in our own parking lot.
Your local stewards took several pictures of the ice piled up around vehicles, at driveway entrances, and across the open spaces of parking lots and are filing grievances on the lack of attention we got for our safety in the workplace. Having a double standard for when it’s okay to work on the ice isn’t okay; we shouldn’t be required to work in unsafe conditions. Period.
Act of God (Snow Days)
Some of us were unable to report in to work due to the snow, and it wasn’t an insignificant amount. Several people had to call out and use their hard-earned annual leave for weather events beyond their control. This is exactly why we have “Act of God” provisions outlined in our Employee Labor-Relations Manual (ELM) handbook.
Inside the ELM it is outlined that carriers should use reasonable diligence to report to work, not unreasonable diligence, during inclement weather. The Union’s position is that risking life and limb to get to work and potentially introduce a financial burden all for some snow is not reasonable. Management is going to fight us tooth and nail on this, but your local President is grieving this city-wide and will hopefully get our annual leave back we were forced to use for snow.
Attendance Discipline
Attendance discipline is being issued for the snow days, of course. Weaponizing the leave programs against us while a snow storm is upon us is exactly what we could expect from leadership in the post office. Your local stewards are preparing for a deluge of discipline being issued. If you get pulled into an investigative interview remember to ask these questions:
“What does ‘regular in attendance’ mean?” and;
“Why do we have leave administration programs if we’re not allowed to use them?”
Remember, attendance discipline is the most difficult grievance we have, I kid you not. Any person that works in the grievance handling process will confirm this. It’s better to show up whenever you can and only use your leave when you have no other option.
Return to Work Checklists
If you are ever presented a “Return to Work Checklist” to sign, request a steward immediately. These papers are locally developed forms, and Management has previously agreed they would not use locally generated forms when we grieved it the first time.
Additionally, if your supervisor discusses your attendance with you on the workroom floor, that is a job discussion that is to be held in private. That is the subject of a separate grievance.
The Union is aware this is happening at stations in Springfield and is currently grieving it on your behalf.
Those are the big ticket items that aren’t smaller, more personal issues. I hope this was informative and lets you know what your stewards are up to. Thank you very much for all of your statements, notifications, and requests for steward time so we can enforce the contract together. Union strong!