NRLCA National President Don Maston said in an interview Friday that the union had “gone to extreme measures” by repeatedly delaying the implementation of the Rural Route Evaluated Compensation System (RRECS).
“I understand that they’re angry, those that have lost hours, and they’re angry at the system,” Maston said.
But Maston said those delays also exacerbated the shock rural carriers felt with RRECS finally went into effect in May.
Prior to the RRECS rollout, rural carriers were paid based on a five-year-old snapshot of mail volume data, which didn’t account for a persistent decline in mail volume over the years.
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“That’s not to say that we aren’t empathetic on a human level. People get used to making a certain salary and getting off at a certain time. And it was a great system for that five years, especially with a decline in mail volume,” Maston said. “They didn’t have a lot of work to do, and they’re getting off early and getting a very nice salary. But the system was designed to pay carriers for what they actually do, and be fair to the employer and the carriers alike, but still have a substantial incentive built in there.”