Together We Can Fight Abuse on the Workroom Floor
It is frequently said by a person who has been mistreated on the workroom floor, “everyone in the office heard what took place”. Shop stewards investigate the allegations by interviewing letter carriers to see if they heard what happened. They discover that many letter carriers either did not hear what took place or they chose to ignore what took place.
Why does this happen? Are they afraid to speak up? Is it because they fear retaliation?
Those who do not speak up usually are the first to later demand assistance when they are getting mistreated. They demand from the union to seek statements of other carriers in the office. This is the same person who turned his back on a fellow carrier when they needed him/her to write a statement to help.
With all of the other carriers in the office susceptible to the same woes, it becomes important for all of us to care about each and every letter carrier in the office. We all know what we do for a living. We all know how hard it is to perform all of the duties of a letter carrier.
How often do we hear stern feedback from front-line supervisors over a request for overtime that a letter carrier feels honestly represents his or her needs for the day? With the supervisor’s stern feedback, we hear one message loud and clear: “You don’t trust me.” When this happens, it is our integrity that is questioned as it happens every day. Combine these feelings with those of the ambitious front-line supervisor, and you get a sticky situation that could be low-key or that could get explosive. If the supervisor and the letter carrier can manage to exchange information without upsetting each other, then a mutually agreeable amount of time might be approved. If the supervisor becomes forceful and refuses to take your needs into consideration, then the situation could get explosive. You hear the supervisor begin to yell at that carrier who is not able to do his route in the time approved.
Do you bury your head in the sand, or do you listen carefully while continuing to case mail?
In some cases, it might be appropriate to turn around and see what is going on, in the event that something serious could happen. In most instances, simply listening to everything that is said, and recalling the tone of voice used by both the employee and the supervisor, is sufficient if needed for any forum later. A supervisor will write a statement for another supervisor to help discipline a carrier.
Don’t withhold information when the union asks you what you heard or saw. It is not unusual for the truth to be somewhere between the employee’s side of the story and the supervisor’s side of the story and often as a result of perception. Whatever the case may be, it is important to provide the truth. If you decide not to come forward as a witness, you might deny the employee of his/her only opportunity to have justice prevail.
When do you sit down to prepare a statement about a wrong that you might have seen?
You might immediately be asked to prepare a statement by your shop steward conducting an investigation, and if so, great. On the other hand, if you are not promptly approached by the union, we ask you to take some time after work to write down what you saw and heard, before your memory fades. Whatever the case may be, please take some time out for a fellow carrier who is in trouble, if he or she was fortunate enough to have the situation observed by you. If we cannot watch out for each other, who will?
Please, if you hear something say something. Everyone must be treated with dignity and respect!
Be safe and keep smiling.
