u/DudeMcFierce

I work in a small office, 5 city routes and an aux, a total of 10 city carriers between regulars and PTFs. I have been in the office for almost 4 years, and at no point during that have we had a steward. Whenever we have an issue we have to reach out to a union rep and have them come by our office.

As a result, management has been pushing all kinds of violations (and getting away with it). They case up our aux route, the rural aux route, and any route with a sub they don't feel confident in. They schedule PTFs to nearby offices. They pressure city PTFs to provide help to the rural side. They are consistently telling people to move to our aux route to cover up management casing and such, or telling PTFs to move to our "expresses" route to go deliver rural packages. And this is just off the top of my head.

I've been considering going out for our vacant steward position, but I have concerns. We have a problem employee who for whatever reason cannot finish his route 2-3 days every week. We have a PTF who has consistently been an attendance issue since he got past probation. Obviously other issues, but these are the two glaring ones that are keeping the spot vacant. Work/Life balance is supremely important to me, and I am concerned that dealing with issues such as these will cut into my personal time with my family.

I apologize for the novel, but this is not a decision I want to make rushed or emotionally. I appreciate any insight.

For almost 4 years I have consistently had the same day off every week. I had a handshake deal with a previous supervisor (our office only has one and a PM), and the three supervisors we have had since then have respected it, including our current one.

Recently we had a service talk where we were told City PTFs would be required to carry rural packages, and if we called the union they would start enforcing rules they had let slide. Obviously I reached out to our local rep (our office is small and doesn't have it's own steward).

Despite the fact that for almost 4 years i've had the same day off every week 90-95% of the time, the following two schedules I was scheduled for that day. I understand that I am not guaranteed the same day off every week, however this feels targeted and retaliatory.

My question is, what is my next step? Should I go to my union rep? Should I go to my supervisor and try and resolve it first? Since I am not guaranteed a specific day, should I just roll over and take it?