Joke of the Day: “Safety” in the USPS
I just read a memo put out by the USPS recently. The heading stated that the “Postal Service is committed to a safe workplace”. Anyone who has any time in the USPS knows that this is a self-serving load of crap.
In my almost 36 years of dealing with the service I have heard this statement multiple times a year. It is all white noise to me and most of the carriers I represent. The only reason that management preaches “safety” is to use it against the employees in a disciplinary action. Management is more concerned with making a set of numbers than they are about the people in their charge.
How many carriers must die or get injured because of managements incompetence? The vehicles that we are forced to use are aluminum death traps. They are falling apart at an alarming rate. Fires break out and burn the truck to the ground on a regular basis. Management did an investigation into this issue a few years ago but nothing has changed except the fleet getting even older.
How many carriers have to be assaulted while delivering mail before management comes up with a solution? A Rural carrier in Mississippi was shot in the head and died in January. A carrier in Oklahoma was pistol whipped during a robbery. You hear these situations more and more frequently. What is management doing about that? We had a situation here on the Island a couple of months ago where a CCA was on loan to a different office. It was extremely dark out and she brought back her mail. The 204b gave her a headlamp and directed her back out to the street.
She complied and in the course of using the headlamp an unknown person started harassing her regarding the use of a headlamp. He questioned her if she was looking in people’s windows. She informed him that she was a carrier delivering mail. He informed her he had a gun in his car. As she started to hurry back to her truck, he told her he may go get the gun and shoot her. The CCA immediately called the office to inform the 204b of the situation. By the time anyone went out to the street the person was gone. Nothing was done. As a matter of fact, I believe that the CCA was told to complete her assignment. The CCA should have immediately cited her safety and returned to the office. This is the type of crap we deal with every day.
Management is nothing but hot air and lip service. They preach safety but fail to believe what they preach. Safety is ok if they meet whatever “number” comes out of their computers. Making the numbers is the foundation of the Postal Service. Management uses whatever tool they must to harass and intimidate carriers to get in line. The CCA’s are especially vulnerable to these tactics. Carriers are being forced to run in the street and office. They are encouraged to skip lunches and breaks to meet these demands. The stress levels are at an all time high. It is a never-ending cycle; Washington pushes down on the area. The area pushes down on the districts. The districts (POOM’S) push down on the postmasters. The postmasters push down on the supervisors. The supervisors push down on the craft with threats, intimidation and overwork. And let’s face it, the current state of low-level supervisors and managers are not the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, it is not all their fault. They are not trained in the proper way. They are trained be good little puppets. This has been the trend over the past 15 years or so. Washington has been on a campaign to train their managerial people to take orders. They have taken away their right to make any local decision. They want people ignorant of the National Agreement, the M-39, M-41 and the ELM. So really, what do you expect the end result to be? I could go on and on citing incident after incident but that means nothing unless you listen and start to pay attention.
The bottom line is that managements stated concern about safety is nothing more than just more Postal Rhetoric. The day they stop harassing and threatening craft employees will show me a start in that direction. The minute that these managers and supervisors are held accountable for their improper actions would be a good start. The minute they stop falsifying numbers and give fair inspections to carriers will also be a good start. I have little to no faith that will ever happen. Management just keeps sweeping the repeated violations and assaults (verbal and physical) by supervisors under the rug to keep their people in position.
I say this almost every month. The best way to hold these people accountable is to educate yourself. Know what management can and can’t say and do. You think that because they are your supervisors, they are infallible. They are not! Unfortunately, it takes time and effort to combat these types of people. It takes hard work and dedication to gain small victories, but the end result is sweet if you are successful. Nothing comes easy to Letter Carriers, but I can assure you this, nothing comes at all if you don’t stand your ground. Take your breaks. Take your lunch every day. Do your assignments as they are supposed to be done.
The NALC has given every carrier access to the information needed to be successful in your efforts. Go to the NALC.ORG website and start your research. Everything you need to be successful is at your fingertips.
Protect yourselves, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!
