Group, the attached document came from the Michigan Paper. We really need to get statements from our members. We must expose the truth and protect bargaining unit work. They have reverted 76 clerk craft positions and several maintenance bids from the DSM P&DC. Writing grievances does not get the supervisor or manager in trouble; it exposes the significance of those reversions, the truth and the fact that the work still exists. Reporting violations helps the union bring back jobs which in turn helps all of us! Please read and put up on union boards, breakroom tables and help spread the word. We need to get our members to GET IN AND GET ACTIVE!!!!

UNITY,

Mike Bates President DMI APWU LOCAL 44 515 265-7371

The Truth Matters

By Eric Chornoby, Executive Secretary

Over the past few years, I have helped Stewards and Officers in Michigan deal with Management and win Grievances. Whether it was my time as acting President of the Michigan Postal Workers Union in 2024, or conducting Steward Training for the Iron Mountain Area Local this year, I have seen the same concerns among APWU Members – Management gets away with murder. The only way to stop Management is by telling the Truth.

The Grievance Procedure

The Grievance Procedure is intimidating. And seems antiquated in the age of instant gratification. We expect immediate results, but Grievances seem slow. The truth is our Grievance Procedure is one of the faster Grievance – Arbitration Procedures in the world of Labor Unions. Even with that fact, one of the biggest complaints I hear is that issues are not being resolved when Grievances are filed.

The strength of the APWU and our Grievance Procedure is our ability to attain all information and investigate on the clock. As a Union Steward I can interview Management, interview employees, review clock rings, etc. Even spending hours upon hours on a Grievance, your Steward sometimes loses. The question is why, and what can you do to ensure that when Management violates our Contract they are held accountable.

The key to winning a Grievance can be boiled down to two simple requirements. One is finding the truth, and the other is proving the truth.

Whose Truth?  

The truth is the truth. Most people have their own personal ‘truth’ based on our experiences and biases. For example, if your Supervisor has been riding you for years, even a simple instruction can feel like Harassment. The real truth is what we can prove to be factual. Management will always have their ‘truth’ and we will always have our ‘truth’. But the reality is, all that matters is what we can prove.

Proving a violation of our Contract requires us to meet a legal evidence standard of the “Preponderance of Evidence.” That standard simply means more likely true than not. If we can prove we are 51% more likely to be ‘right’ we should, in theory, win that Grievance. This seems straight forward, until you consider where the information comes from.

Evidence is King

Evidence is what makes or breaks a Grievance. No matter how many people witnessed something, all that matters is what is written down and provable. If you catch a Supervisor sorting packages when they should not be, the Union would use clock rings, scanner data, parcel volume, and witness statements to ‘prove’ Management did our work.  It doesn’t matter if you tell your Steward something happened if you don’t write a Statement and have evidence to back the claim up.

The Truth boils down to what is most likely what happened based on all the facts presented. Once you tell your Steward what happened, and we investigate, we must prove our rendition of events is more believable than Managements.  

Our Credibility

The other missing piece of the puzzle is credibility. When I conduct Steward Training, I always give this advice, “To an Arbitrator, a Postal Customer will normally be the most believable witness. They have no horse in the race. To Management, a Supervisor will always be the best witness as they don’t lie (unless they are told too). To the Union, our most believable witness is what documentation and evidence we can find.”

The further you get into the Grievance procedure, the more the credibility of the witness matters. The easiest way to understand this is to compare us to a Supervisor. If a Supervisor writes a statement claiming they did not violate the Contract, but you write a Statement saying you saw them violate the Contract, who would be more believable?

The Supervisor has a title and is empowered by the USPS to Management employees. That does give a degree of credibility we don’t have. But if you write a Statement, and so does a coworker who witnessed what happened, I would argue that is more believable than a single Supervisors claim.  

Documents and postal forms can’t lie. But even with evidence the Union needs someone to come forward and fill in the missing gaps. Even if you tell your Steward what happened, they can’t testify to what you saw. Only the person who saw it happened can give an accurate rendition of events. To be credible, and to be believed, only requires you to be honest. Speak the truth. And sign your name to your Statement.

The Truth Matters

A winning Grievance is a moment of the stars aligning. If you write a statement, the evidence the Union finds confirms your statement is factual, and Managements rendition of events seems unlikely or made up, you win your Grievance.

While we get bogged down in the day to day of dealing with unreasonable bosses and postal frustrations, remember that you always have one thing on your side no one can take away from you. The truth. When Management violates our Contract, if you step forward a good Steward will find the evidence to support what you say.

Out of the hundreds of cases I have appealed to Step 3 / Arbitration, the hundreds of Grievances I have settled, and the thousands of Arbitrations I have reviewed, I can say with certainty I never had a Grievance where the employee told the truth and the evidence matched their story that the APWU lost. We may lose when the evidence doesn’t support the story we are told. We may lose when someone changes their story later. But we never lose when Management clearly violates our Contract and the witness is completely honest.

The Truth Matters. But the truth only matters if we tell it. The next time Management violates our Contract talk to your Steward, write a Statement, and be willing to be interviewed. That is how the Union wins your Grievance, and that is how we stop Management from violating our Contract.