As I have said many times in the past, the only reason you guys work that many hours is because you allow it. File the 9.5 grievances and it will stop. Take your full lunch at the contractually agreed upon time, call the center and tell them you will have missed bussinesses if thats the case, and that will stop. Don't come in early and work off the clock, or work thru your paid break and sooner, rather than later you will see, the hours will be reduced, as will the bussiness deliveries.
YOU HAVE A CONTRACT TO PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS, USE IT!!!!!!!!!!
This works in theory. It might even work in practice in some jurisdictions; however, I can assure you this does not work in my jurisdiction in practice. First, it assumes you are even allowed to file a 9.5 Grievance in the first place. Second, it assumes that the 9.5 Grievance will be resolved.
Even if the 9.5 language was not thoroughly toothless in my jurisdiction, the established practices are such that neither of my stewards take their lunch until after they return to the building at the end of the day. When the Alternate Steward position came open, there were two individuals interested: one who advocates a position similar to yours and one who takes lunch at the end of the day. As I stated, the one who is notorious for breaking contract got the appointment from the Hall. Granted, he had the seniority which is probably why he got the appointment but my point is the following: the contract violations you listed are established practice in my shop starting with the Stewards which are #2 and #3 in shop seniority.
There are routes in my shop that you can follow the contract without putting your job at risk. Even then so, it doesn't mean that the dispatch is less than 10.5 hours on a regular basis. You take years of established practice and you add in the way supervisors/managers are paid their production bonuses. My supervisor is told by someone 350+ miles away how many routes can go out on road. No more, no less. My supervisor has a financial incentive to ensure as many drivers as possible are under 9.5. So he has X amount of stops and Y drivers. He wants as many of Y to be under 9.5 as possible. Guess what... if you are not in the group under 9.5, you are in the group over 10.5.
Some drivers do not mind the over 10.5 hours and then there are a few that don't have the seniority or correct route to be in the group of under 9.5 dispatches that would like to be. You go ahead and fight that with the full-throated vigor that you stated... I and most everyone else in the situation prefer to have our job. Come hell or high water, we get paid for the hours we work but I don't get a pay check if I don't have a job. Now, given the support of our Union leadership, things might be different but it just ain't so...
