Sample Forms for Stewards
This chapter of the NALC Shop Steward’s Guide is dedicated to the various sample forms that have been created for you to use in your daily duties as a shop steward. These forms have been created by the NALC and they are referenced extensively throughout this guide. Each will be extremely helpful to you as you investigate, prepare, appeal, and resolve grievances.
Although these forms are not joint documents between the NALC and the USPS, they are proper for your use to help you document requests for information, requests for steward time, extensions of time limits, and any resolutions you may agree to at the Informal Step A level. The forms are included in this guide on the following pages and a brief description of each is below:
- Request for Information:
This form is extremely valuable to you as a steward. You may use this form to request information from management when you are investigating a non-disciplinary dispute (requests for disciplinary disputes have a separate request form). This form documents the date of the request, the name and location of the person you are requesting the information from, what contractual or manual violation you are investigating, and the exact information you need or the individuals you need to interview. It even has a place for you to sign showing that you made the request and for the management representative to sign and date showing that they received the request.
The NALC recommends that all requests for information should always be documented in writing so management knows exactly what type of information you are requesting and also to prove that you requested the information, in the event that management refuses to provide it to you. After the form is completely filled out, always make a copy of it for your records and include it in your grievance file as a record of your request. If you are currently not using this form or a form similar to this one, then it is highly recommended you start using this form now for all of your requests for information.
Request for Information – Discipline: Almost identical to the Request for Information form described above, the Request for Information – Discipline form also includes the “any and all” language that is needed to obtain any and all information that management relied upon to issue a disciplinary action to a letter carrier. This catch-all phrase is extremely important, because you may not know exactly what information to request from management to investigate and prepare a grievance that defends a notice of discipline.
By using this form, you will be able to document that you asked for everything that management utilized when they determined a certain disciplinary action was appropriate. Just fill the form out the same as the standard Request for Information form, but fill in the type of discipline (letter of warning, etc.), the name of the letter carrier that it was issued to, and the date the discipline was issued.
Again, always make a copy of this completed form for your records and include it in your grievance file as a record that you made your request. As with the standard Request for Information form, if you are currently not using this form or a form similar to this one to request information regarding disciplinary actions taken by management, then it is highly recommended you start using this form now.
Request for Steward Time: Requesting steward time is important to ensure that you have the proper time to investigate and process grievances, but documenting that you made the request is equally important to prove that you requested the time necessary to do your job. By using this form you can document when and who you submitted the steward time request to, why you need the time, how much time you need, who you may need to speak with, and when you need the time by. Like the Request for Information forms, the Request for Steward Time form has a space for you to sign and a space for the individual receiving the request to sign and date.
In the event that management refuses to give you the time that you requested or enough time to properly investigate and process your grievance, this completed form will be a helpful tool in any subsequent grievance concerning the denial of steward time or appeal to the next step of the DRP. Always make a copy of this completed form for your records and include it in your grievance file as a record that you made your request for steward time. If you need more steward time, then always fill out another Request for Steward Time form the same way you did the first one and give it to your supervisor. Just like the original Request for Steward Time form, include this form with your grievance file too.
Time Limits Extension: At various times throughout the DRP you or the management representative may need an extension of the time limits for meeting on a grievance or for appealing it to the next step of the DRP. Extension of time limits are always a mutual agreement between the union and management and this form gives you the ability to document any such extension.
Filling out this entire form will show which part of the DRP you are agreeing to extend, when you are agreeing to extend the time limits until, who the grievance is being filed for, what the grievance concerns, and the grievance number you have associated with the grievance. This form also provides space for you and the management representative to sign and date the agreed upon extension of time limits. As described in the Informal Step A and Formal Step A chapters of this guide, the different types of time limits extensions for both steps are listed on this form for you to mark which step of the DRP you are agreeing to extend.
You should always make a copy of this time limit extension and include it with your grievance file as a record that the time limits for processing the grievance were extended. If additional extensions of time limits are agreed to by the parties at the Informal Step A or Formal Step A levels, then each extension should include another signed copy of this form detailing the additional extension. These additional extensions should be included as part of the grievance file as well.
Informal Step A Resolution Form: Any resolution that you may reach with the Informal Step A management representative can be documented on this form. The form has a section to describe the issue that caused you to have the informal discussion as well as a section to write out the settlement that you and your management counterpart were able to agree to. Also, there is a space for you to both sign and date your newly documented settlement.
After this form has been completed, you should attach it to your grievance file and store it for future reference. All grievance settlements should always be in writing and this form gives you a professional-looking way to document them.
Each of these forms can be copied from this book for your day-to-day use or printed after clicking the green links if you are working from your computer. The following pages contain each of the forms described above, by order in which they were listed.
