QWL/EI is Discontinued

In a letter dated November 17, 2008, to the Vice Presidents, Area Operations, Doug A. Tulino, Vice President, Labor Relations, stated the following:

Don Cantriel, President, National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA) informed me on Friday, November 14, 2008, that the NRLCA is withdrawing from the Quality of Work Life/Employee Involvement (QWL/EI) process effective January 1,2009.

Effective immediately, all QWL/EI training will be discontinued. Any on-going project or activity will have to be completed no later than December 31, 2008 as a result of the NRLCA's decision to terminate their participation in the QWL/EI process.

There are a few activities that currently require District Joint Steering Committee involvement (e.g. selection of rural carrier academy instructors and monitoring implementation of DPS letters). We are discussing the transition of these responsibilities and will be providing information in the near future.

While I am disappointed in the NRLCA's decision, I hope the experience of QWL/EI for the past 26 years has created a positive working environment among managers and rural carriers that will continue in the future.

QWL/EI has been an important part of my postal career. I have participated in district training, Rural Carrier Academy as well as a facilitator.

In Kansas, the QWL problem-solving techniques of bringing all parties together, applying sequential steps to a solution, and finally reaching a consensus were never fully utilized as far as workplace disagreements between management and craft. Work teams concentrated on "projects" that rarely were approved and most rural carriers did not know about nor cared. The DJSC published a bulletin that was informative and widely read. It will be missed.

I learned a great deal from my participation. It benefitted me personally even if deemed not to be helpful to rural carriers as a whole.