If workers are forced to work mandatory overtime under circumstances other than emergencies, it can be grieved. These grievances will be used to document the need to hire more workers. Examples of emergency situations are earthquakes, explosions, mass outages, floods or fires. Workload is not an emergency. Failure to allow workers on PCO to go home before eight hours when the workload diminishes.
Every worker is under considerable pressure to cut corners when the workload gets heavy.
Most accidents resulting in disciplinary actions happen because workers are forced to take short cuts, forget to follow their routine or forget to enter information into their hand-held computers. Route studies have become routine in the field. All workers should keep daily journals noting arrival and departure times, customer contacts, and any variations from GRID routing or the normal routine. It's easier to remember specifics if you have documentation to refer to when asked to remember at a later date. Mandatory overtime could be eliminated if management would fill jobs that have remained vacant for many years.