Snow, Ice, and the Troubles of the USPS

First, I would like to apologize for the lateness of the last edition of the LIMB Leader. It was not the fault of the Branch. We dropped off the information of the paper in mid-January. The printer did not process the paper until a month later. I hope this is a one-time blip. Since we print the paper every other month, there is a lot of information that is old before you get the paper delivered to your home. I will keep an eye on the printing situation. I am writing this article on March 10th.

This has been an arduous season so far. The weather has not been our friend as it has been in the past few years. Two major snowstorms weeks apart have wreaked havoc in the USPS world.

My first question is this, why did the district remain open on that Monday? There was a state of emergency issued for the whole area. Driving on the roads was prohibited. We received 23 to 35 inches of snow here on the island. There was no way to clean our driveways until the evening of Monday. Many roads were not plowed until late on Tuesday. Nothing was moving, yet NY2 here on the island decided it was in their best interest to keep the buildings open. And how did that work out? Maybe 5% of the workforce showed up to work. The other 95% made the sensible decision to stay safe at home. I also need to point out that a number of offices did not even open because the local managers felt it was too dangerous to report and open the buildings. I must point out that every other district surrounding us closed on Monday. They all understood the severity of the upcoming storm. Compassion and concern for the employees in NY2 was non-existent. To compound that is the fact they were not going to pay its employees administrative leave for Monday. Even those that showed up to work only to find the building locked. There is no doubt in my mind that we would have won this issue in the grievance process. The problem was that if they did not pay and we grieved, it could have taken a year to win the grievance. After having multiple discussions with the District Manager over the course of the week, he agreed to pay the administrative leave. I have to commend my colleague, Local APWU President Michelle Nadu, for her dedication and persistence in this issue. I also commend the District Manager for making the decision to do the right thing.

Starting Tuesday, Feb. 23 rd , Management issued orders with their unprecedented decision to delay mail across the board. In my 43 years, I have never seen this happen. Entire routes were left in the cases for days. We deliver mail almost every day in all kinds of weather. I understand that we could not deliver on Tuesday after the Sunday/Monday storm. We should have delivered the mail on Wednesday to those places that were cleared of snow. District Management was giving out directives to not bring in anyone on their non-scheduled day. They also directed the carriers to stop delivering the mail at 2pm and only delivering the parcels. When questioned why we were not delivering the mail, they cited “safety” as the foundation of that decision. We all stated the same thing “how is it unsafe to deliver the mail but it’s not unsafe to deliver the parcels to those same addresses”? They had no real answer to that question. The answer is that this just goes to show their real feelings on employee safety, it is all BS. If they were so concerned with safety, why did they stay open during this blizzard and create a life-or-death situation for its employees? We have unsafe working conditions on an almost daily basis, from death trap vehicles to unrepaired potholes in the middle of the parking lots to having carriers walk through traffic to get their vehicles. Safety to them is just a word and a tool to use to discipline Letter carriers. Every time I hear them blurt out a safety issue, they fall on deaf ears.

Here is my personal take on what is going on with this storm and whatever is coming our way. This administration is doing everything in their power to disconnect the public from the service. This all started during President Trumps first administration. He and all of his minions cried over the Mail-in vote. When he was reelected last year, he came out swinging once again against the mail-in vote and the USPS. They understand that the Letter Carriers are beloved by the public. The public has always had our backs on the issues important to us. The Trump universe knows the only way to break that bond is make the public mad at both the service and the Letter Carriers who deliver to them every day. They are succeeding at this. You hear it every day from your patrons and even your relatives at the dinner table. This president is doing exactly what he said he would do. Cut into the USPS and bring it to its knees.

Many have heard that the USPS is going to have a hard time making payroll in FY 27. PMG Steiner is scheduled to appear before congress on March 17 th to discuss the service. He is supposed to lay out his plans to right the ship. I will tell you that since he was appointed, he has done nothing to cut into the bloated management in L’Efant Plaza, USPS Headquarters. He has done nothing to address the fact the service spent over a Billion Dollars last year in grievance settlements. Most settlements which should have been easy to fix by just complying with the contract. He has not addressed any of the major issues with this organization. I guess that is why Trump cherry-picked him from the board at Fed-Ex. When we say, Elections have Consequences, this is the poster child for that statement. To all of the USPS employees who voted for Trump, and there were many, this is what you voted for. The destruction of the USPS, the loss of jobs and benefits. I know that this statement is going to offend many and I apologize for that, but the actions of the sitting President offend me on a daily basis, so were even.

None of this is personal, they are my opinion based on things I have heard and seen. I love our democracy and worry that it is falling apart before my eyes. We all have the right to vote as we see fit, but I don’t know how much longer that will be the truth. I hope I’m wrong, but honestly, I don’t think I am.

Work safely and smartly. Come to work prepared and expect the unexpected. Stop jumping through hoops to make management happy. You work to get paid. 8 hours work for 8 hours pay!

Give to the LCPF. We need our Congressman and Senators to continue to back us. Invest in your job!