22 thoughts on “Update: Question – Should USPS hire Postal Supervisors off the street?”

1. The ELM is ONLY used when it benefits management (i.e. to discipline craft employees). They don’t follow it themselves.

2. If you read branch items in the postal record, many thank the old timers who stood up back in 1970 and said no to the letter carriers union president, who was only interested in the status quo and saving his job and struck, because of the unfair pay in nyc and other areas. Our National president is again doing the same. Not interested in helping out high cost of living area’s with getting a living wage, as the federal gov’t continues to add more area’s that get area cola’s. The UAW just rec’d huge raises and a 4 year contract and contract ratification bonus checks. FedEx and ups make 30% more than us, and all they have to do is deliver parcels. We must remember forwards holds markup accountables fss dps cased mail extra bundles……….. How our go along union does nothing to raise the level of poverty many carriers endure in high cost of living areas is beyond me. Our HBP costs go up faster and more $ wise total then our salaries. And before the inexpensive areas chime in, the mail must be delivered everywhere, so just because you say MOVE, only means someone else must live in poverty somewhere delivering the mail. When will the letter carrier union execs get out of bed with elephant plaza and raise all letter carriers out of poverty with a decent contract and area wage.????????? – See more at: http://www.postal-reporter.com/blog/usps-execs-get-pay-increase-bonuses-and-pmg-dpmg-get-new-perk-for-fy2015/#comment-86703

3. And why all the interest in having more and more supervisors while the crafts are cut to the bone??

4. Usually the most argumentative, least productive carrier/clerk/craft worker on the floor is promoted to management. Why? If you promote these people (get rid of) to management, the productivity goes way up. Secondly, these people are usually the biggest scammers and always found ways of not doing their jobs and management see this as qualifications to be in management.

5. After reading the requirements to be a supervisor it appears that there is no supervisor I’ve ever met that is qualified for the job

6. There are a lot of good posts here in regard to the topic. I agree with many of them. I am currently an ET in a large office and a 20 year postal employee. In the past 3 years I have applied for many EAS positions, from Maintenance Supervisor to Operations Support Specialist. I have a 4 year business degree, I have prior Union Representation experience (14 years) to be exact and have been to many training courses in Norman, Oklahoma. However, over the course of the 3 year period, I have applied for 6 Maintenance Supervisor positions and have been turned down just to find out that someone with NO experience had received the job. I was actually told by a Manager that I was way over qualified for “any” entry level EAS position due to my background. He actually told me to “dumb down” my profile/resume and then maybe I could get into a management position. It was sad to be told that by a manager. I consulted with a good friend of mine that happens to be a Postmaster in a smaller town and she informed me that I would continue to encounter problems because of my strong resume because the managers conducting the interview, view me as a threat to their position. I see changes that can be made in my office and I am willing to help and provide feedback, however, most likely, I will stay as an ET and continue to enjoy my daily work that I perform in my office. The USPS has talented people that want to step up and become a team player, however, until management changes their “mind set”, they will continue to promote the lazy and uneducated group of employees.

   • Management usually gives supervisor and management positions in maintenance to dumb ass pencil pushers from the mail processing side who do good reports they like to see rather than those from the maintenance side with the knowledge and who might question their genius.

7. Sure hire them off the street. It will be just as easy to tell them their numbers do not match the reality of the job. The USPS/NALC agreements (M-01664) (M-01769) state that projections can not determine a letter carrier’s daily workload.

   The carrier’s knowledge of his/her route and the amount of mail is the final determination of how long the workday will be. As long as the carrier is working diligently, management will have no grounds for discipline.

   If management “rides” the carrier, then he needs to get the union to file a “disparagement of treatment” or possibly a “violence in the workplace” grievance.

8. I have seen some very good postal supervisors treated like garbage by the manager above. Some of these managers are very disrespectful towards their supervisors. And these managers disrespect their supervisors in the presence of other supervisors and craft employees. This is very unprofessional but the supervisor has to sit there and take the abuse. I have a college degree and 20 years experience and I would never work for these people.

9. Sadly, some of the best potential supervisors within the USPS would not have the job. I think most employees know talented co-workers like that. Conversely, I have a dear friend who wants a supervisor job badly, but he is not exactly a ball of fire in his current job, and his diligent co-workers would have a hard time accepting his supervision. When he gets to act, he is one stern taskmaster.

   Unless the USPS obtains the ability to “draft” supervisors from within (which would cause many irreplaceable draftees to quit the USPS entirely, and thus a bad idea) the Agency has a dilemma. Promote folks like my friend from within, who are eager to supervise and impose “law and order”, or look outside and take its chances.

10. I commented the last time this was posted. Did it get lost in the E mail??

11. To be in Management one has to be the most evil, immoral and
    uneducated tool. They eat their own. How would the application
    look with the question “Are you willing to be evil, immoral and do
    anything your superiors order you to do”? Fire them all.

12. We have seen an influx of Delivery supervisors who do not know delivery. The perceived advantage to this is that these people do not have to unlearn the realities they have experienced over years about workload. When upper management tells them that volume does not affect street time, and that coverages do not affect street time, they listen and memorize these mantras and repeat them in all seriousness to the people who actually do the work. The overriding belief system is that if they keep repeating something it will become true. Unfortunately taking DOIS projections literally is like religious fundamentalism. The sun does not orbit the earth!

13. No they should not hire off the street. They will though. It’s a part of the psychology and the view of management by the people who do the work. A good line supervisor is the best thing our workforce has. They are the buffer zone between abstract orders from armchair management QB’s upstairs who view and issue edict by yesterdays numbers. Always a day behind. Line Supervisors react and deal with the present and they do what must be done to plug in all the puzzle pieces that lead to all the mail being cleared that particular day in all operations in every facility we have across the nation. They come from the ranks and they have all the experience we do but they are viewed by Postmasters, Managers and POOM’s as ‘less then’ real management. I do not know why they do what they do. It is a selfless thankless job and somehow they seem to get gratification from helping others and pulling it all together every single day. They come to work knowing full well management will hand them chaos as their own personal piece of the pie. Still they turn around and walk out on the floor and assist however they can in what little role they seem to play in management’s view but management never realizes exactly what they do and this is a real shame in my eyes. If I have a problem I go to my Supervisor. If I have an issue I call my Supervisor and if they ream me out for something I say “Yes Sir” or “Yes mam” out of respect for them and their THANKLESS JOB! What seems to happen over and over as management shifts Postmaster’s every other month from facility to facility is upper management turns Postmaster’s into micro managers and they do not follow the contract that has been set up at the National level by the upper level Veeps and the unions etc etc. Line Supervisors respect the people that do the work as it is a day by day line by line method to clearing every last piece on the floor or in mail processing or at the counter operations. They are the ones answering the phones and dealing with customer complaints and doing what needs to be done. I do not care what any craft employee thinks of management as it’s negative because upper management is inherently negative. They always have been. It’s no secret and over such long periods of time it will be ten times harder to deal with the negativity that upper management displays. Line Supervisors are the most critical cog in the whole machine. They are the tiniest gear that if broken will ruin any relationship we have with management. They are the ones we discuss our critical mission with and they HAVE TO CARE ABOUT US. WE CARE ABOUT THEM! Ask any postal employee about their relationship with their line supervisor and then ask any postal employee what they think of managers, postmasters and POOM’s above them. This is no secret. You will see that without the line supervisor you have nothing.
    Hire them from the street with no knowledge of the system? That is just like calling up the little league to pitch in the bottom of the ninth and looking for a win with the bases loaded and a stadium of people screaming for the title in the World Series.

    • So how long have you been sleeping with your immediate supervisor?

14. Can’t be any worse than the custodians we are making supervisors in maintenance now.

15. Another way the Postal mismanagement is trying to run the Postal Service into the ground! An experienced employee should be moved up How does the P.S. expect to function without management that knows what is involved in Postal operations? When the Navy need a new CPO, the Navy doesn’t just place an ad in a paper. The Navy wants someone that knows operations from the ground up. Now the Postal Service will have more stupidvisors that will only know how the scream, and eat donuts and drink coffee. The new management will have zero idea of what is involved in Postal operations. Of course we know they don’t care!

16. No one from the craft wants to go into EAS, because they will be LOSING MONEY!! Why would they want to lose 15 – 20 thousand dollars a year in management, when they can milk their routes for 16 – 20 hours of OT a week?? They will be taking a pay-cut if they want a promotion.
    If the PO wants more of ‘their own’ to bid on EAS positions from the carrier craft, then management has to get the scum-bag carriers to work to DOIS projections and not let the carriers dictate that their routes are “overburdened”!!!

    • Not the case, there are many craft employees on the low end of the scale who are years from topping out who want to do it and make significantly higher hourly wage,the ones who are topped out,not so much,but Level 17’s pay goes up to $75,000 per year base.

17. Those who have worked in the Postal Service for years know why the district managers have made employees ineligible to apply for these positions and it is not because of a lack of inhouse applicants,why would they do that? and there are no skill or education requirements for supervisor positions,clearly,nepotism is involved here and the persons who will fill these positions you can be sure will be a manager’s wife,girlfriend son or cousin and they can come in through the back door at the level 17 initial pay of $30.00 per hour rather than go through the examination process and paying their dues coming in as a $15.00 per hour PSE or CCA and waiting to be hired as a career and going through the years of pay steps to reach the top step.

18. Lol! Only those working 4 money losing firm or those who worked at out-of-business companies,will apply. USPS,has forever,so naturally attracted those who failed at everything else.

19. Idiots hiring idiots! The Good Smart Workers don’t apply for eas jobs because of the idiots!

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