Money Problems and Management Problems

To hear National APWU President Bill Burrus talk about layoffs is unsettling. This is the first time in my career that there has been such talk. We are now victims of the Postal Service's latest brain storm of cutting Tour Two mail processing operations across the nation.

Previously management's ineptness was only a minor irriation as we went about our lives while moving our nation's mail volume. Yesterday, we only grumbled as we delivered our citizens' mail in spite of our leadership, not because of them.

We would roll our eyes as we confronted the daily management theory of the day regarding color codes, break reliefs, 2-click clock ring variations and other nonsense. We sighed as we listened to lectures about full bins or unloaded ledges from people who have forgotten what it is like to work for a living, and held our tempers as we signed 3971s for 9 clicks "lateness not condoned" demanded from people who came in late daily and took two hour lunches. We brought FMLA papers repeatedly back to our frustrated doctors with each ridiculous request, and still we went about our day doing our country's work with these minor annoyances.

We have always born the burden of our management's bad decisions. Let's face it - It doesn't take a rocket scientist to run the post office but it can't be accomplished by morons either.

Now the management theory of the month is more than a mere annoyance. It is disrupting the lives of the people who get the work done.

Now we are told that due to severe drops in volume we must now endure the realignment of tour compression. What this is supposed to accomplish is that workers (senior T2 workers) will be excessed from sections to move the people to coincide with the mail. What it really means is that now management will again cover one mistake by making another. Only this time, our lives are disrupted and our families will pay the price along with us.

I will meet with the Plant Mgr and Inplant Support Mgr this week. Hopefully the closed bid packages for the impacted sections will be forthcoming. I'll keep you posted.