Don't Be Taken In!
By Lee Simons

July 25, 2005

Have you seen the recent films presenting Management as being “open” to your personal ideas about making positive changes in the workplace?  Management has spent big bucks for actors with Hollywood accents to sell us the idea of “Employee Opinion Surveys”.  But it’s time to consider the balance between words and actions.  Are your personal ideas really sought, or are you just one of the many, lost in “The Numbers Game” of broad statistics?   

We once had a program for submitting personal ideas and innovations, though somewhat lacking in giving proper credit for good ideas. It was our Suggestion Program, which indeed gave an outlet for personal ideas to improve the workplace.  But the Suggestion Program was withdrawn and now substituted with “opinion surveys” which purport to be “The Voice of the Employee”.  Yet the questions in the opinion surveys are not formulated by representatives from the work floor (your Union), but by Management. Being formulated by Management, the “questions” are really “points” for Management to use to their advantage during meetings with higher powers such as contract arbitrators or representatives of national organizations such as the N.A.A.C.P.

Did you not know that responses from a former “opinion survey” were actually used by Management against the Postal worker?  Yes indeed!  On a former survey, an overwhelming majority of Postal workers indicated that they were well pleased with their wages and benefits. This fact was used by Management at the bargaining table during the negotiations for the 1998 contract to show arbitrators why all workers should be only given the barest, minimal future compensations.  Do you not think they will try this again?  Any good rating we give Management can be used against us later! To that end, many of the questions on the survey form are “loaded”.  Let us consider one such question:  “How well do you think the USPS has achieved diversity?”  You may be one who agrees that any hiring must be done without regard for race, culture, or religion.  You may also agree that people should not be “profiled” and divided by skin color, culture, or religion.  Yet, the very concept of “diversity” is based on just such divisions of people.  Consequently, if you are like this writer, you find concepts supporting the idea of dividing people by skin color, etc. highly offensive.  But look at the question again. It is a trick question – like the one you probably remember from childhood school days that went something like this:  “Does your mother know that you are an idiot?”  No matter how you answer this childish question, you lend credence to the idea of being an idiot.  In the same way, no matter how you answer the question of “achieving diversity”, you lend credence to the idea of dividing and classifying people by race, etc.!  So you see, survey questions do not take into account personal thoughts, but at best represent only a narrow cut of employees with certain agendas such as those in “diversity committees”, statistical programs, ergonomics committees, or Management training classes.

Now let us consider an area outside the survey questions themselves.  Does Management ever consult the common worker, the Union for personal advice for making improvements?  Hardly! They are more open to letting outsiders come in for the purpose of cutting jobs and rearranging tour schedules! They have hired an outside company, Synovate, to conduct these broad opinion surveys with slanted questions, and call that "The Voice of the Employee".  Synovate is a company based in Illinois that does nothing but compile broad statistics for gullible companies with major dollars to waste for something that that could be had for free by going directly to the workers’ unions.  Do you think for one minute that Synovate has any concern whatsoever for your personal welfare?  They are only in business to make money!

These "opinion surveys" are touted as "working for you", but in truth, they only work for Management.  If Management were truly interested in the “voice of the employee”, they would show these outsiders the front door, refusing the idea of increasing employee stress or workloads. Further, they would favorably address employee concerns like comfortable seating for everyone, and lives being turned upside down by altered tour schedules! So don’t be intimidated the next time you are herded into a room to fill out survey forms, with an MDO watching your every move.  Just politely check the box that says, “I do not wish to participate at this time” (or any other time). “Just Say NO” to Employee Opinion Surveys!
 

It’s a Crime!
by Lee Simons

Common Sense
by Lee Simons

A man visited a jewelry store to buy his wife a nice gift. As he approached the counter, he noticed two employees – one was on the telephone and the other was on the floor taking inventory.  He asked the one counting merchandise, “Ma’am, can you help me please?”  She replied, “Do you have a number?”   “No, I do not”, the man answered.  The store clerk responded, “Please take a number, and wait until I call yours”.  “But Ma’am”, he protested, “I am the only customer in here!”  “It doesn’t matter”, said the clerk, “We must follow procedure”. So, the man snatched a number from the nearby dispenser, and waited.  After some length of time, the clerk got up and found where she had left off and called, “Number forty-two!”  No response.  “Number forty-three!”  No response.  “Number forty four!”  “Yes, I am number forty-four”, said the man.  “May I help you?” asked the clerk. “NO!” came the man’s simple answer as he walked out and went to the store’s competitor across the street. The moral is simple: Those who put procedure over service will lose customers!  

Does the USPS put procedure before service? Let’s consider “Target Mail”.  On the surface, it seemed well to heighten security by screening USPS Priority Mail for potential bomb threats. After the 9-11 attacks, there came from USPS echelons an edict to pull out of the mail stream all domestic Priority Mail parcels weighing over 16 oz. having stamps affixed without official cancellation dates from Post Office windows. Sounds simple enough? But oh, how Pandora’s box is opened!   

The USPS concept of heightened security, the very foundation of “Target Mail”, is itself flawed. To get a package on a plane, one has only to bring it to a window and answer five questions in the negative: “Is there anything fragile… flammable… perishable… liquid… or hazardous? Would any terrorist admit a potential hazard? Furthermore, it seems unlikely that a terrorist would prepare a packaged bomb, and then drop it in a mailbox. Yet the targeted packages most often returned to the customer to bring again to a USPS window are those left in collection boxes.  Misguided overreaction will surely cause customer frustration, and many will simply take their business to competitors less bent on procedure.   

Have you ever noticed the confusion that follows when new rules are made up? What exactly is targeted mail is now the 64 dollar question. The USPS has never been able to pass legislation in one sentence. To find answers, one must often sift through Management interpretations, manuals, long definitions, and later “add-ons”.  Management exacerbated the confusion over target mail by sending a representative to the Nashville GMF and to affiliated stations to make a verbal presentation of the new rules. The very next day, there were differing versions (even in supervision) of what was said.  The situation has now worsened as whole wires and boxes of non-targeted mail are being sent to and delayed in the target mail holding area. The most striking examples of non-targeted mail received are Express Mail flats weighing less than 16 oz. having meter stamps affixed, trays of Priority flats designated as a “Known Customer” and placarded to go directly to the AMC, and trays of First Class letters.  It is not unusual to receive several GPMC’s and hampers full of Priority Mail and First Class mail which common sense would have sent directly to the airport.  To make matters worse, now the target mail sorters must tear off “Known Customer Mail” placards taped and wrapped around every single package (including Fourth Class surface parcels), and risk ripping off stamps and address labels.  There are many items received in the target mail holding area which technically (according to USPS mandate) are targeted mail.  Items such as catalogs or other flats are frequently mailed in covers with affixed uncancelled postage stamps and weigh over 16 oz. But common sense dictates that such obvious items be sent on without delay.

What is Management’s solution?  They want target mail sorters to take the time to do the paperwork, writing specific problems up on catch-all deficiency forms, pointing the finger at someone. There is involved here a matter of interpretation of who is at fault.  Is it the station, or the dock personnel, or the tow motor drivers?  These are matters for supervision – not for fellow employees to decide.     

What is the best solution?  Common sense dictates that we erase bull feather rules, and scrutinize Priority Mail the same way we scrutinize First Class letters, i.e., to target only parcels with multiple  deficiencies from a “suspicious mail list” such as: no return address, uncancelled stamps, incorrect postage, faulty spelling and wording of addresses, pasted addresses, wires, oil, etc.  Let’s “cut the bull” and put service before procedure! 
 

Why a Union Member?
by Lee Simons

First, recall the day you applied for a USPS position. Why did you put up with long lines, crowded test rooms, and the hassle of roster renewals? Was it not because the USPS is a great place to work with good pay, benefits and security? All the things you waited patiently for were fought for and won by the unions of our parents’ generation. In essence, you were paid in advance with all the benefits, the fruits of our parents’ labors, plus having an advocate and representative of your best interests, the day you signed on. Be assured that neither the Congress nor the managers of the Postal Service have ever given workers anything out of kindness. Many naively place their trust in the bosses, failing to realize that the Postal Service is a business where the worker is viewed as an expensive item to be utilized to the fullest for turning a profit. Many have learned “the hard way” that bosses have their own agendas that do not necessarily include the interests of others.

Some Union winnings have already been “cast in stone”. For example, we have won the 40 hour workweek, instead of the 60 plus hour workweek. We have won a decent standard of living, better than most of the world’s. You can indeed come to work expecting a safe environment, and respectful treatment. But “the struggle continues” with job security, where the eroding forces of mismanagement, technological advances, profiteering by privatization, and Congressional “reformation” are ever-present foes. It requires talent, and money to hire the talent, to combat Congressional craziness. It also requires money to hire the lawyers to protect your rights and to secure decent contracts. If you withhold your dues payments, the rest of us face dues increases to pay your share. Do you think this is right? “Divided we fall” is just as true as “United we stand”. If you have left us, you have weakened us.

Concerning contract negotiations, you may have noticed that we had a tough time getting a new one. Management has fought us “tooth and nail” with regard to worker salaries. They whine, declaring “bankruptcy” and “economic downturns”. (Of course, they still continue to “take care of” their managers with huge EVA bonuses.) Can you visualize yourself approaching any manager where you work to ask for a modest raise to keep up with inflation? The APWU is a clean union. There are no picket lines to worry about crossing. We do not go around on long violent strikes, breaking windows, and overturning cars. You still have a good job to come to during the negotiations. When negotiations break down, everything is settled by binding arbitration. We live by the laws.

Some refuse to join the Union arguing that “Hitler and his henchmen” have taken over and are doing crazy things. This argument holds as much weight as “I don’t go to church because hypocrites are there.” If, for the sake of argument, Hitler indeed took over, you do him a favor by taking your voice out. Further, your leaving makes it harder for the rest of us to vote him out! Some argue the Union is against their religious principles but overlook the fact that the APWU is founded on the greatest of religious principles – for we are concerned only with the fair and just treatment of fellow human beings – a fundamental tenant of most religions. But I defy anyone who claims “religion” to show where it is right to “freeload” from others, i.e., getting the same representation and reaping the same benefits as those who must pay dues for them. There is another principle difficult to see except by those who are sincere in religion. It involves “the gift at the altar”. “If your brother has ought against thee, leave thy gift at the altar and first be reconciled to thy brother.”

Those who refuse to pay dues are mostly viewed as hypocritical and deceitful freeloaders. Whether right or wrong, is this how you like to be thought of? Is this a good reflection on your faith or religion? Are you setting a good example? If you are sincerely a conscientious objector about joining with us, then the right and consistent thing to do would be to give back to the USPS all the benefits we have won for you, and to deal with Postal bosses on your own. There is nothing more incongruous (and disgusting) than for a non-member to ask members about contract issues. It is a form of deceit to try to talk to Union members about contract issues in such a way as to present oneself as a concerned member. If you choose to separate yourself from us, then let your separation be total and complete!

Union dues are around $8.50 a week. You spend at least three times that for health insurance. When you consider the benefits won, and the contracts negotiated, this is a very small fee for the returns you have received, and continually receive. Consider job security. When you have a bad day, or a “run in” with a proud supervisor, we are there to stand with you. The APWU is your insurance policy for not only bad supervisors, but for protection against job erosion by advances in technology, economic failures, or poor management. You can never be laid off work for Management’s mistakes. Can you not see that your membership in the APWU is good insurance? If you have no qualms about buying health insurance, why be squeamish about buying good job insurance? Please help to preserve the hard-won gains of our parents – that our children may also know “dignity and respect”! United we stand!