Pay Attention and Stay Involved!!

I was driving the other day and trying to think of a subject to write about for this month’s LIMB Leader. Over time I have been accused of writing negative columns about management over the years. I have to agree with that, but did you ever think that maybe it is because it is so easy to do? Like almost like shooting fish in a barrel! Writing about mismanagement and incompetence in the postal service is like a comedian getting his material from a Charlie Sheen or President Trump. It just jumps out at you and keeps coming.

 I wrote years ago that the people who actually set the policies in the USPS wanted trained monkeys as supervisors and postmasters. I did not mean that in a derogatory manner, only to point out that they did not want people to think for themselves. They want a cookie cutter approach to all things postal. That article dealt with the use of DOIS as the end game to every work related issue. It has become obvious that they have succeeded in their endeavor. Many, if not most, supervisors are hamstrung by their stupid DOIS printouts. They do not have the common sense to use their brains to figure out even the simplest problem. If DOIS does not have the answer, there must not be one. I think it is time to state the obvious; the USPS has reached the point of AI, Artificial Intelligence. The use of one’s brain is no longer necessary. Either every issue is over-thought or under-thunk! Either way, we are headed to the point of non existence. If you think we are having workroom issues now, wait until all of the experienced managers and supervisors are pushed out the door. It is happening on a monthly basis as we speak. The upcoming class of newbie’s is not a pretty sight. There are way too many supervisors who, at best, had just a “cup of coffee” as a craft employee. Their ignorance to the job and the daily trials and tribulations of the letter carriers are stunning. When they say that ignorance is bliss, this group must be the most blissful in history. I do not fault these new supervisors at all. I blame the USPS itself. They have created this issue by wanting a cookie cutter approach to every office and every situation. Iot does not work that way in real life.

I also have a major concern of where we are headed as an entity. Certain people in Congress, as well as some people in the White House are looking to kill the postal service. Businessmen turned political fat cats who have no use for unions or the working class people that they represent. And it is not just the USPS that is in trouble. Labor is being attacked across this great land from Wisconsin to Indiana to Ohio to Florida and New Jersey.  It is hard to believe that in a “Free” society such as ours; our rights are being eroded on a daily basis. It seems that the “home of the free” is only a motto for the 1%’ers. Who would have thought that we would take such a large step back by being denied the right to bargain as a union for the benefits of our members? You may think that this does not affect you, but believe me, it does. Wisconsin’s prior underhanded decision to strip working class members of the municipal unions the right to representation was just the first shot across labors bow. Be ready for a war against you and your family’s benefits. The right wing of this country has made labor unions and its member’s fair game and has every intention of taking us down. The continued attacks on health care, Social Security, Medicare just keep popping up year after year. If not for such a dysfunctional White House these past two years we would have taken numerous hits to our benefits.

How you respond in the future will tell where we will end up. This will be a fight for all of the working class rights, not just union rights. If not for the unions, many of you would be low wage earners with no real benefits.  Even those not in unions are pulled up by the standards set through negotiated contracts of those very unions. Safety standards are in place because of unions. Health benefit and retirement benefits are in place because of unions. Our standard of living is standing on labors shoulders. Do you think that the companies that we work for give use the benefits we receive because of their love of you and me? Think again. We have fought for everything we have received over the past few generations and must continue to fight that fight. Be careful or everything we have accomplished over the past 90 years will be washed away by the anti-labor surge in politics. Pay attention and stay involved!!