by Jim Burke, APWU Eastern Region Coordinator
A problem that continues to be a plague on the Postal Service workplace is abusive supervisors.
There are certain supervisors who simply cannot manage to treat employees with dignity and respect. And there are other supervisors — including many good ones — who are victims of the system: They serve abusive higher-level managers, and are prevented from treating employees decently.
A number of programs have been created to address this matter, some effective, and some not. APWU President William Burrus instituted a system in which members identify abusive supervisors, and the regional coordinators do the follow-up. Most of the time, however, management turns the complaint over to an internal, management-only process.
Management programs that do not include union participation just aren’t effective. The natural “herd instinct” among managers means that too often their first individual or collective effort is to protect themselves. With management now having Merit Systems Protection Board rights, higher-level management claims it is very difficult to discipline supervisors. If you have a workplace where employees are being abused by a supervisor or supervisors — who themselves are protected — it’s natural that the employees will be reluctant to report abuse, due to fears of retaliation.
Joint Intervention
In the Eastern Region’s Eastern and Capitol Metro Areas, we have begun a Joint Intervention program. Its success has me hoping that the program will be instituted nationwide.
The program is for facilities where there have been widespread complaints that management treats employees in a hostile or demeaning manner, or where management feels the union is creating unnecessary strife. After a site has been chosen, I appoint an NBA, who teams up with an Area Management designee to interview employees and supervisors.
After the interviews, the team draws up a list of recommendations for possible implementation by the APWU coordinator and the Area manager of Labor Relations. I’ve been involved in 14 interventions, and all have been resolved to the satisfaction of both sides.
It takes a commitment from both labor and management to make the process work. We’ve proven it can be done in the Eastern Region and I hope it is tried everywhere. No one should have to dread coming to work because of hostility from either management or co-workers.
On a Personal Note
This is my last article as a National Officer. I intend to retire at the end of my term of office in November. I’ve been involved with the labor movement for 45 years, and I thank you for honoring me by electing me as your representative over the years.
I hope to become more involved in peace and anti-war activities. I’ve lived under all the presidents since FDR, and I believe the miscreant in office now is the worst. A generation of our young is being destroyed, just as was done in the Vietnam era. My favorite song from that time is “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye. This song is still apt today. (Joe Cocker did a great rendition as well. Try either.)
Goodbye, Jim Burke
source: May/June 2007 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.
Good Luck Jim, catch a fish for me 🙂
And for the rest of the post:
If you don’t like your job in the PO, why do you stay? life is too short. Nobody forces you to stay.
I am guessing you probably make a lot more money than you would with your skills anywhere else. And “welcome to wal-mart” doesn’t said like something you want to say for the next 10 years.
So either quit or start enjoying your job. Do you think management in any other job would tolerate lazy employees, attitude or sick calls. No instead of getting a LOW they would fire you. So stop crying to the union when you are not doing your job(and the MAN is picking on you) and start thanking the union for such a high paying job with good benefits.
PS
Most of your peers are tired of carrying you.
I wonder the percentage of management is on this site when they are clock in at work. They just take a time out from tetrus and tell the postmaster they are on the phone with to go onto this site and have some fun at the companies expense. Gee you postmasters don’t think that the customers at the window can’t see your computer screen and recognize this web site from the one they were told to go on and check out!! Hmmmmm, better close out this page when the door in the lobby opens I guess!!!
“I’m sure you’re either a scab or management. Union reps and officers are the hardest working people in the P.O.”
I fell out of my chair laughing..
This is an avenue used by the union when a good supervisor comes along and the local membership or the NBA has no way to combat good sound managment that improves performance, cuts OT and elliminates routes. I have seen this intervention a number of times in the past and in all of the cases, the manager(s) was doing their job. The true problem in the Postal Service is in fact the union’s and higher level managment that does not have the courage to stand up to the unions. I agree that there is no place in the workforce for an abusive manager, but when the Postal Service ruins good managers that are doing their job because the cry babies in a unit are being forced to do their job is wrong. The WEAK & other intervention processes in the Postal Service are a joke. The manager involved in this process that is being accused of wrong doing does not get an opportunity to have his or her day in court, in fact the only opinion that matters in these cases is the opinion of the craft employee’s and in my experiences, most of these employee’s tell the interviewers what the union officials teel them to say. If an independent group would investigate the Postal Service/Union’s intervention cases, they would find in 99.9% of the cases that the true problem was either a large majority of craft employee’s that were cry babies and did not want to do their job or it was a case of the local union or the NBA attempting to get rid of good managers so it could go back to the way it was before that good manager arrived. This process as it is in today’s Postal Service is again a joke. The main problem with the Postal Service does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. The problems are mainly do to the union’s and a large number of higher level managment that are in their possitions because they give the union what they want and fail to have a back bone to stand up for what is right. The Postal Service is one of the most corrupt organizations in the government. This is another process put into place that helps the unions ensure that there are more jobs in the Postal Service which in turn, keeps the higher level union officials in power. I’m sure if everyone looked at this process with an objective eye and they actually studied every case thouroughly, my opinions on this subject would be affirmed. I could go on for days, but I will end this by saying that this process as it is done in the Postal Service is a joke and high level Postal managment should be ashamed.
After many years of war and numerous battles, I have pulled myself out of the trenches strewn with the carnage of having launched the union, the EEO and its ‘kiss and make-up’ campaign, and just psyching myself out from a literally insane, psychopathic maniac supervisor that has been allowed to run wild within my postal facility for the last 10 years. Nothing, but nothing will work to stop this man except for action outside of the postal service, which is via the legal system, law enforcement, the Department of Labor, and our representatives in Congress. The Postal Inspection service–is the postal service investigating itself, so don’t fool yourself. Take care, and remember that the pen is mightier than the sword–unless it’s the sword of the Lord!
use the good ones up and dont discipline the bad ones. yeah lets discipline the bad ones so the union can get them out of it even when they are pure sh-t
who do we contact for this now?..I am in Charlotte in the Capital Metro section and we have too many abusive supervisors. The situation has gone on for years and no help, please help. I have been a steward for 10 years and we need all the help we can get.
I am a disabled veteran who has no history of discipline with the exception of management lies and blown up charges that are false and to the point of slander have fired me for reporting sexual harressement to my supervisor and to the postal inspectors I.I. No charge was filed and I was out of work for a few months, lost alot just to hold on to what I have. Ive seen this person (supervisor) display the same evil tactics on me to others on the floor.He has no compassion when I lost loved ones, he has verbally threaten to fire me one way or the other, witnessed.They made me sign away my rights to a eeoc case to give me my job back, is that even legal? This MDO has access in his office to the postal inspectors office. He turns empoyees against me to cause a volitile invironment, totally stressed, lossing weight fast, don’t know what to expect next. I would love to discuss this with a expert. His boss which is the plant manager Doug miller allows Brad collins the MDO to conduct these illegal activities, of retalliation, harressement, and ruining good working family’s lives, both finacial and mentally draining because of stress. This behavior is conducted at the Huntsville, Al plant….. A HONORABLE VETERAN AND POSAL EMPLOYEE
hey, larry if u haven’t noticed there are some people in some pretty high places that have made it very obvious that they want to suck every penny out of the postal service to include privatization to their buddies. the post office is just another entity to be exploited, hmmmmm kinda like iraq……u know the haliburton debacle…….as far as all the supervisor input, i have no sympathy for any of you, especially sycophantic 204b’s……from what i have seen your all a bunch of self-serving, back-stabbing, non-integrity havin buttheads……you’ll suck the life right out of a great worker and break his back while you either sit YOUR LAZY asses behind a desk or stand around watchin people that actually EARN their paycheck do all the work…..then turn around and not even stick up for the poor worker ,after you have sung him praises on how great his job performance is, the first time they get into a little trouble like they spine-less jelly fish that you really are……where do you think all the real LAZY asses strive to go? that’s right MANAGEMENT…….as if they really know the meaning of the word…MANAGEMENT….also, SUPERVISORS, you remember one thing….who actually moves the damn mail in the first place, which “sad to say” pays your paychecks which is a big waste of mooooolah…….your gonna sit there and call craft workers lazy, but guess what, who the hell do you think moves all the mail and makes all these multi-billions o dollars if your not doing it, unless your violating art. 1 like most of you idiots love to do……..which brings me to another point…don’t criticize us for enforcing our nationally negotiated contracts you freakin communists…..would you let the bank come in and break your mortgage contract? nooooooooooo….would you let them break the contract on your car?…..noooooooooo…….hell, when you break the contract that’s just bonus money for all our hard work……i guess in the end i should be thanking all of you for being such stupid, incompetent fools……..if ya’ll weren’t so self absorbed you might realize that if there weren’t any damn workers then, guess what, i guess they wouldn’t need any damn supervisor’s anymore!!!!!!would they? so ya’ll keep tryin to act so smart and keep tryin to pour all this hard-earned postal money on vast automation takin food off the table of thousands of american workers…when its just a bunch o automated robots with a few maintenance guys sleepin in an office on the clock waitn for shit to break down…well, i guess ya’ll just went and worked yourselves right out of a job with all you bright innovative improvement ideas huh? way to go you freakin geniuses……i say good riddance, who needs ya’ll any way……..all we really need is craft workers and human resource people to move that mail……how you like dem apples?……..lastly, i will leave ya with this, everybody please remember……if you ever took a BUSINESS class (administration or management) you would realize that it is solely the responsibility of management for creating the working environment….not the laborers….so when ya’ll incompetent supervisor’s come tryin to blame all your sorry ass discipline cases on the workers you might wanna check yourself before you wreck yourself, because half the time it will end up pointing to either something that YOU did wrong or somethin that YOU (big surpise here) failed to do…….so next time ya’ll wanna look down on us like we are a lower class citizen than you (supervisor’s) you might wanna take a big look in the mirror, when it comes down to it your probably just jealous of the people that actually aren’t afraid to do some “real” work for their pay and actually probably make more in a year than you do……oh, have a nice day…..oh, yeah and by the way, any union rep that isn’t selling out and has enough b*lls to stand up for their rights and the rights of their union brothers and sisters is alright in my book……DON’T START NOTHIN WON’T BE NOTHIN…..lol smile
I agree, there is a lot of abusive supervision and inadequate work from some employees. Our postmaster gets pretty abusive at times with certain employees. Our T-3 3 year 204B micromanages and threatens by posture, I think due to not having any management skills. Yet, there are a number of people that abuse their sick leave and will disappear from their work station at the first chance they get. Like bigpoppai, I have little regard for the long term future of the USPS and that’s a shame. We’re the best and this could be a great place to work. George and Carl will most likely get us privatized, though. Poor management and poor employee attitudes will hasten the decline.
I can agree with most of you. It is craft AND management. They keep promoting inept people into management positions. They dont care to learn the job or the people on the floor so they do what they think is “right”: Micro-manage, make no decisions, follow the leader(who knows even less), and make all of us look/feel bad. There should be a psychological evaluation done on ever potential Supervisor/Manager along with that Associate Supervisor Program. The good old boy network should be non-existent. USPS is terrible at utilizing the HUMAN resources that are so prevalent and instead grab drunks, bullies, and perverts to oversee operations. Craft… If we just do the jobs that we are paid so well to do and quit trying to get something for nothing, some of the A*hole managers wouldn’t make supervisors act a fool. You have to admit you are all spoiled rotten and rotten some of you are. That can definitely make our jobs tougher and cause us to be firm with that small few in our approach as supervisors.
I think often it is the other way, supervisors are being abused by their employees. The way some speak to us and act toward us, is abusive and than dare one of us do discipline to that person and we have an EEO or grievances on our case. And they think they are right. Do your job and act right, than we don’t have problems.
Lets face it management only cares about bonuses and if that particular manager or supervior causes problems with craft employees, they never face termination just a promotion and it continues on. Post Offices around the this country are treating their own employees like a machine not a human being. After 21 years as a letter carrier it only gets worst. Forget those damn employee surveys too! Jack Potter you should be ashamed of yourself also for some people whom you place in charge as “Acting Vice Presidents” especially the Northeast Section.
It’s really a crime the way that management is allowed and even encouraged to treat employees. I have had only one or two supervisors during my time in the USPS that were even halfway human. I have been harassed in many ways, from verbal abuse to being followed into the bathroom. I had one supervisor that paged me over the intercom EVERY TIME I went to break!!! The trick is to beat them at their own game, and not to let them get to you. It’s hard sometimes, but eventually they DO slip up. And I like to think karma will have its way sooner or later.
Everyone, hold your head up! If you are just trying to do your jobs in an atmosphere free of harassment, sooner or later you will prevail and the rest will take care of itself.
Mr. Jim Burke,
I just wanted to personally wish you well in your upcoming retirement. As a proud member and steward of the APWU, I had the privilage of meeting you on several occasions and always admired how straight forward you were on all our union struggles and if not for your hard dedicated work we would of never prevailed.
Best of Luck !!
SCRANTON LOCAL 101
Debi Spiewak
Jim,
First and foremost, thank you for your years helping the APWU receive the benefits that all postal employees receive. You will be missed. I wish you the best in all that you do. You do have the freedom of speech and everyone should realize this. Like it or not. Again, thank you for working for me in the eastern region. You will be hard to replace. In Soladariy.
what supervisors do to their people is testament to their own personal acts. being a distrustful individual is not just an all-in 8 hour thing. if you can not be trusted on the clock yot can not be trusted off- the clock. that is what they do not seam to see or do they???! all sides are respondsible for this. i had a supervisor laugh in my face when he was shown what he was violating in the postal policy (not the agreement). these thing are hurtful and causes anger and everybody deals in this segment personally the less they do their job the worst it is to get. union reps need to stop before things happen, not after it has happened.
Mr Burke you are so full it. I read that editorial, personnely I’m glad your leaving.Only problem is your going to stick your nose into something you know nothing about.
Our freedom was earned through a war with a Tyrant. Then Our freedom was saved through a Civil War. Our freedoms will always be attacked. As long as we have the right to bare arms we will have our freedoms.
Right now we are in the mist of getting another country on this earth the freedom it so deserves. We had foreign help during our Revolution and Civil Wars. When the agreements were signed the shooting continued just as it is in Iraq now. It takes time to clear out all the S%#!heads
So I’m asking you Mr Burke to keep your nose out of something you know nothing about
To Anon,
Thanks for the support. I have worked endless hours off of the clock to file grievances, especially in the beginning when I had to read the contract for every grievance I filed. VERY few employees understand the dedication it takes to be a successful union steward and it is truly a thankless job but highly rewarding when the union prevails!
The administrative process is a farce! Pub 45 is a farce. NALC, EEOC and OSHA are farces.
When you lose everything because no one will protect you, its the end of the world folks.
How many more “Going Postal” incidents are going to stop the madness craft employees are subjected to all for the “Good of the Service”
Wake up folks, you can be next.
I can see a change in our supervisors they are getting hostile and the ones that don’t comply are receiving disipline. It reminds me of the supervision of the 70’s and early 80’s before all the shootings the Postal Service started having. I hope there isn’t a repeat of those times that would be awful.
Jim, Goodluck in your retirement. I enjoyed reading the PostReporter. I went to our annual union meeting last night, and was surprized at the larger than usual turn out- We had 9 people from 6 different offices. That a shame. I think more need to get involved if they want to see things change and work. Some just bark and others go after. Take care, and have fun!!!
I know it is bad for all Postal employees right now. There is a new management mentality that must have been insituted by Mr. Potter himself. It is called Mirco-Management and every high level manager is applying this type of management style to they managers, who pass it on down hill. It is documented how destructive this management style is to a work enviorment. Hopefully we can survive this, but I think we are seeing the end of the Postal Service.
jb,
You missed the point. The union isn’t complaining about good management, we are complaining about management that needs to calm down a bit, to use your phrase. Good management knows the contract and does not violate the contract. Bad management allows their emotions to rule their conduct and a good steward will make sure that a grievance will immediately follow when management violates the contract. Management’s response to a grievance is more egregious behavior, which is followed by more grievances. See a pattern here? Craft employees are REQUIRED to do their job and the union can not save an employee that violates postal policy.
Promblem is, management doesn’t care about the contract or postal policy. They only care about their own agenda, which usually has nothing to do with the contract or postal policy.
JB
I’m sure you’re either a scab or management. Union reps and officers are the hardest working people in the P.O. They have two jobs. The one they perform on the work floor and then there’s the union position which pays almost nothing but aggravation which is caused by having to deal with assholes like you.
The personal attacks are what many union employees resort to when they cannot carry on a rational conversation. It is not as much judging as reporting what I have seen. Management for sure is not exempt for many of the behavior patterns that have been shown but many of the union employees would have been fired long ago if working in a private industry; not so much for ineptitude but for sheer laziness and poor attitude habits.
Come to Baltimore and check out Conway and McKnight (MDO’s) with the tact of slugs. Plant manager is the leader of this cabal.
jb you are either an asshole supervisor, a kiss ass employee, or a scab. Either way everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect as long as it is given. And management has a history of using the good employees up instead of addressing the bad employees and we all know some, so who are you to judge? (EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR perhaps), I doubt it!!!!!!!
Only a union rep would throw in their personal political viewpoints. So much for separating your professional work (I am being nice) from your personal feelings. If so many of the union workers weren’t lazy then the supervisors could calm down a bit. The union is all about ‘how much can I get with the least amount of work.’
Dear Jim Burke,
You picked a hell of a time to leave. I really want to know more about the program that you have started. As a steward of 2 years, the burn out has already begun. I used to wonder why stewards leave, but I know all too well now. We file the same grievances over and over again. Management pays for the same grievances over and over again. Their attitude is always the same…hostile and abusive toward the steward. They seem to think that they are spending some one elses money so they don’t care about losing grievances and paying more money. Also, abusive management continues to promote like minded supervisors.This is not to say that there aren’t some very good, educated supervisors within the postal service. However, they can not make a difference because the majority of management knows they are incompetent and will do anything to thwart supervisors with job knowledge and integrity. They see these supervisors as a threat mentally and as a threat to their future and they use the same abusive tactics on supervisors that they use on craft employees.
What is the answer here?
Sue
Amen!!! The GAO described the USPS as a dysfunctional agency characterized by “autocratic, abusive management” . Several months ago I witnessed through accident unbelievable abuse directed at two supervisors by an MDO who EEOed his/her way through the ranks to MDO. There is a saying that S— rolls down hill. I was also the target of abuse from a supervisor. I contacted an attorney who instructed me to inform management if this were to be repeated again that I was to contact the local municipal police department and have them intervene immediately. My friends and relatives have no idea what a hostile work environment the postal service can be.