Every Piece, Every Day.

Any carrier in the USPS knows the phrase “every piece every day.” It drilled into our heads from the first step onto the workroom floor when we were hired. We heard terms like “sanctity of the mail” and were taught that you didn’t go home until all your mail was delivered. We cared about the mail and more importantly our customers. Back then, even managers cared about the mail. In between harassing carriers, which they also loved. Today, they seem to be content with leaving mail behind. Like whole routes. They claim it’s because it’s too cold to deliver. Does anyone believe managers care about us delivering in cold weather? If this is true, it would be the first time in my twenty plus years of carrying that they cared about us at all. I remember working ten plus hours in sub-twenty-degree weather and then coming back to another piece sitting on the floor, that had to go out. We all know this has nothing to do with our safety. This has all to do with money. They don’t bring us in for overtime, and whatever mail can’t get delivered, we will just do it tomorrow. No big deal. This hurts us all in the long run. This erodes the public’s trust in us. There were places on Long Island where customers did not see their mail carrier for five days, and not because the carrier curtailed the delivery for unsafe reasons. This was management arbitrarily curtailing mail, to save money, then saying they want us safe. What’s unsafe about bringing extra bodies in for overtime?

What can we do?

The Branch has filed grievances to try and combat the willful delay of mail. They were extensive and far reaching. We need help from carriers for future grievances so we can ensure we can prevail in arbitration. We need most importantly that any carrier who is told to bring back mail must fill out a PS Form 1571 which will document the mail that was not delivered on your route that day. This should always be done, no matter why you bring mail back. The reason should be “as per management instruction.” That will protect you. So, you do not get blamed for the non-delivery. We need carrier to write statements. Document what management instructed you to do. This helps us with the grievance. We should expect more of this nonsense to continue. We should do everything we can to try and keep the trust of the public. Lets be ready next time.