New Year - Same Crap
I hope you all had a great holiday season. Time spent with friends and family is pure gold to most.
Now with the new year, we will be running into a number of thunderstorms. A new president and congress. Neither one is overly friendly to the USPS and government workforce. There are some great people in Congress that have supported workers’ rights over the years. These are all friends of the NALC and the working class. Unfortunately, with the new administration comes strong headwinds with us in their targets. The Postmaster General has continually tied to undermine the SERVICE that we provide. He hides behind his alleged mandate to be a profitable organization. This is impossible as we are mandated to deliver to every address in the country as well as in our U.S. territories. This PMG has raised the price of stamps 7 times over the past couple of years, at the same time cutting service. This is the quickest way to implode the service. This is why President Trump had him moved to the head of the class, at the 11th hour, when the board of Governors convened a few years ago to pick a new PMG. He has done nothing for us or the country since he got here.
Under his watch he has put together a monstrosity of management levels. This PMG and his cohorts have cut, cut, and cut some more. Most of the people affected are the only actual ones that do the work on a daily basis. He has added hundreds of jobs at the top level down in Washington while cutting craft workers across the board. This man is almost single handedly bringing this institution to its knees. And With President Trump back in office, I’m not sure where we end up.
As we move forward, I want to let you know what is coming in the ensuing year.
First off you need to know that the USPS has implemented another half-assed project. It is called “CRDO Safety Engagement. Once again, the ones sitting behind a desk have decided to implement a “safety” program that attacks the carrier craft. A quick oversite of the program as I read it: the service is putting teams into the street to engage with the carriers. They will be watching you and getting ready to catch you violating a safety rule. If you are “caught” doing something that violates a safety rule or regulation, expect to be severely disciplined. If you leave your truck running unattended, if you leave your keys in it unattended, if you fail to have a seatbelt on, if you fail to have the proper uniform on, if you have unauthorized footwear on, etc. You get the picture. If you are observed violating any of these issues, you may and probably will be disciplined up to an emergency placement in an unpaid status. Listen, I understand that safety is important to all of us. You come to work safe, and you want to go home that night safe. The issue I have with this entire program is that it is intended to harass and punish carriers just trying to do their jobs under tremendous pressure from an incompetent management. Some on the “safety” teams are misfits and downright horrible managers who have been moved from one job to another to hide their gross incompetence. It seems like every time we get a manager on the hook for some egregious action, he or she is moved to another site in another position. It reminds me of another organization that spent years moving their accused people from state to state and site to site in a never-ending attempt to hide them from justice. In the end, it almost brought that organization to its knees. The USPS is on the same wavelength as that organization. This company is filled with too many vile employees on the management side. I do not know how to straighten it out. I guess it may take a number of lawsuits and media coverage to actually make them stand up and take notice. It is frustrating to see members sexually harassed, threatened, berated by these people with very little consequence. Hopefully, we will see light at the end of the tunnel before it is my time to retire. I have been fighting these issues for almost 40 years now. I win some but lose too many. We need to keep writing grievances to keep pressure on them.
The USPS and the union are still trying to iron out a joint route inspection process. It is difficult to do unless the contract is ratified. Until it is or is not, the service will be going to do unilateral route inspections. Be aware, all of the carriers running routes and not adhering to safety rules will pay a price. Management is looking to take out as many assignments as they can get. I have tried talking to members about the right way to do things only to be told they do not care and just want to go home. With this attitude many of you are in for a rude awakening. Routes will be abolished and condensed, and some carriers will lose their assignments and others may be excessed to other offices. Management is looking at all of your data as we speak. This goes back to before the summer. Once I have been informed of the offices to be inspected, I will set classes to explain to you the nuances of route inspections. Take my advice, make sure you attend a class if it is given for your office. If you don’t, please do not complain and blame the union for your failures to protect your job. We can tell you how to do so but we cannot do it for you. Please work safely and smartly every day.
Remember, this is just a job and there is no need to cut corners to get done and put your safety and health in jeopardy just because some ignorant manager is telling you to do it. Article 14 is the safety article and clearly states that management may not give an order that violates a carrier’s safety and health.
