Doomsday Scenario

I do not believe that postal employees appreciate the serious circumstances confronting their future employment. The final outcome of the current legislative struggle will determine the number of postal employees, where they will work and future wages and benefits. Over the past 41 years postal employment has been on auto pilot with no lay off protection, ever improving wages and a benefit package that guaranteed health insurance, protection against injury and a decent retirement. It has been assumed that these conditions were directly associated with being hired as a postal employee and there was an entitlement that postal employees were different than those at Wal-Mart and McDonalds.

Some employees who associated with the union believed that more could be achieved through more aggressive and effective union leadership and the only thing separating their employment from being ideal was an incompetent management and/or union officials who did not care. Others rode the backs of the union as free riders with the belief that they had special entitlements and as author Frederic Douglas wrote, “They could get rain without thunder and lightning.”

This is to inform that those days are past when a postal employee could show up, extend an acceptable effort, complain and receive compensation and benefits that are the envy of nonprofessional employment. If you are a non-activist who pays union dues with the expectation that “you have done your part” or a free rider who assumes that the gravy train has existed this long and you expect it to continue at least until your retirement, you are in for a rude awakening. You can no longer put your head in the sand believing that change will not affect you. It has worked so far so why change.

There is enough blame to go around but the simple fact is that the Postal Service cannot exist another year without Congressional intervention and all of the finger pointing and placing blame will not change the inevitable without relief. For all the geniuses who know the solution with no authority to change events, you will have plenty of time to share your negative opinions as former employees because you will no longer be employed, at least in that terrible job that you complained about for so many years.

Until recently, it was not a given that there was an intent to continue a government mail service but it is now apparent that after the dust clears there will be a United States Postal Service. Based on the conflicting solutions being offered by Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the President, there will be a legislative solution to the USPS’ financial difficulties and depending upon the solution approved, the Postal Service as you have experienced over your career will be changed and those changes will affect you directly.

Depending upon the solutions selected from those being offered by the competing political factions you can expect:

  • Fewer employees with the adjustment over a short time frame
  • A changed union structure caused by reduction in dues revenue
  • Reduced wages achieved through reduced work week or new workers under the negotiated wage scale
  • Fewer job opportunities which will require you accepting different work assignments, work locations and in the most negative scenario, being forced to retire
  • A requirement to pay more for your retirement and health insurance
  • Fewer pay increases including COLA that you thought was automatic
  • Elimination of the option to receive workers compensation after you reach retirement eligible

The APWU Legislative Department will advise of the strategy that is most likely to succeed and will result in minimum adverse effect on employees and the public but change is coming. Whichever strategy is adopted to support or oppose specific plans, you the employee will be the one directly affected and it is your choice to be a part of the most favorable solution or the victim. It is too late and the stakes are too high to continue pursuing the perfect solution. Congress is not going to write a check for $50 or $80 billion that could continue business as usual. You can say you were right but it is time to focus on the best of the bad alternatives. The national union officers will chart a course and initiate strategies which must be more targeted than asking members to write their Congressperson, picketing friend and foe and educating the public, but at the end of the day – you the postal employee will be affected. It’s your job, it’s your future and it is up to you to do your part.

Peace, Love and Solidarity

Bill

BurrusJournal.org

9 Responses to "Doomsday Scenario"

  1. There are many things within the Post Office that should and could be done better and more effectively, but from my 20 years of work in 3 states and 10 offices, as long as the current management structure exists it won’t matter how many days a week or how many offices are open or closed. A lemonade stand can fail if you don’t operate it correctly, let alone a gigantic operation like the post office.

    UPS operates under the guidelines of the law and under the pressures as a publicly held corporation yet they continue to survive and produce profits. They don’t have the luxury of borrowing money at reduced rates, they don’t get a free pass on vehicle registration, they don’t have an illegal mailing monopoly, and yet they are a successful company.

    You want my opinion? The Post Office is doomed, only a matter of time when the continued losses will create an unavoidable situation of drastic changes.
    Personally, I think UPS should begin a slow 5 year takeover of the Post Office with the understanding that they must still provide universal service and follow some reasonable level of salary and benefit compensation for those who still carry the mail. Eventually, a UPS takeover, bound by the above mentioned restrictions would have created a fully functioning mail delivery system that is healthy and profitable. No more union slugs, no more manager’s that are never held accountable, but instead a job for us and future employees that will always be there.

    Just my opinion, but if you’re losing billions every year something’s got to give.

    Sincerely,
    RMH

  2. I’ve worked for USPS 30 yrs.;Nita B. knoweth of that she speaks…that dolt of a supervisor should be fired,but instead will be promoted…that’s USPS.

  3. I agree 1000% with Paul on the issue of delivering mail to include packages and other bulky items. I worked for a short period as a Letter Carrier in Asheville, NC and aside from being asked to deliver everything in a timely manner, the mail truck had to be off the street by 5pm. There were many days I didn’t take a lunch because it was just impossible to deliver all the letters, packages and bulky items in the time they allotted. My supervisor ride my route with me one day to see why it was taking me longer to finish up. It was quite interesting as he had a phobia of being in small places and was hyperventilating the entire day. We managed to deliver everything because he jumped out and helped with the delivery that day never even admitting that we were down to the wire and that was with two people working their collective butts off! I finally resigned, the stress of the job was just not worth it. I found a nice calm government job and tell every postal worker I run into these days “I appreciate what you do” because God knows they earn every penny of their paycheck!

  4. Issa wants to lay off all retirement eligible postal employees. Aside from the fact that you are 58 Mr. Issa and indeed eligible to retire,I would only receive $13,000 a year… what would you receive if you were thrown out after 25 years of service??? Since you are probably a millionaire…you wouldn,t care.

  5. I’m glad i’m there anymore – it’s like a train wreck. They fired me for all the wrong reasons and i’m happier now than i habve been in 23 yrs working for the bastards

  6. i do believe that we need to cut back on employees that are close to retirement ready….. i believe to get this done in a fair and effective manner……
    CSRS employees should be offered an early out . with 6 years added time, and $50 k per ….. this would allow those employees like myself, who would like to go… the bridge to make it happen now, rather than in 8 years which i had been planning… VERA please. thank you.

    FERS employees need to be at least 62 to get soc security, so they are another matter .

  7. Like I said above, “Nice scare tactic”! It ain’t happenin! NOBODY, AND I MEAN NOBODY IN D.C. IS GOING TO UNEMPLOYEE THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF POSTAL WORKERS! YEAH, we got alot of problems, but every carrier/clerk knows where those problems originate. Burrus, you really gotta open your eyes. Really easy to write on this subject, another problem getting rid of 100.000 employees. Are you kidding me?? so actually, between this and my above post. STOP, STOP, STOP! Between this idiots posts and mine, I just realized what this idiot is saying. Oh my Frigging God, he has no idea, that as postal workers, we will sustain for another 50 years.

  8. Nice scare tactic. After 27 years, do I not see changes coming? Of course I do. But what you Mr. Burrus have not seen is the capitulation on the part of the unions to save the Postal Service. The days of Vince (god bless him) Sombrotto fighting for the slug employee has been over for years. Yes it is a different time, but let’s really talk about the real problems here! Issa himself complains about the 1:7 ratio of bosses to workers. 1:7, are you kidding me. that is nowhere in line with real world corporations figures. So if mail volume is down as far as you claim, and they’ve cut the carrier and clerk craft to the quick, what the hell are these mgt. people doing? I’ll tell you what! NOTHING! We have them hiding out in our office now, and they live and are assigned in stations hours away. Let’s talk about their per diem, hotel costs, fuel costs to go home on weekends, etc. But I digress from the original topic. Mr. Burrus, Issa can write all the bills he wants(LAYOFF FROM THE TOP DOWN! REALLY? DON’T THINK SO!) but we’re still protected by civil service and VA laws. The ultra-right and the teapartiers can vote for this all they want, moderate GOP, DEMS, and most of all, Mr. Obama are not going to vote to put 100,000 employees on the unemployment roles. Especially Mr. Obama who is trying to pass a jobs bill. Let’s talk about the undereducated mgt. personnel running the postal svc. right now. Let’s talk about the bogus numbers these people are made to enforce. Sir, can you tell me of one other company in the U.S. that when assessing an employees workday, they ignore 50% of their workload? That is exactly what is going on in the Postal Svc. now. Yes, my mail is counted(linerally, not by piece, which is a problem unto itself), but I get no time to deliver a truck load of parcels(AND NO, NO MATTER WHAT THE USPS TELLS YOU, WE GET NO TIME IN THEIR COMPUTERS TO DELIVER PARCELS, NO TIME TO DELIVER SIGNATURE MAIL, NO TIME TO DEAL WITH THE 20 HOLD MAILS THAT MY VERY AFFLUENT ROUTE HAS ON A REGULAR BASIS)!!!!!!!! THIS IS WHY WE ARE FAILING. LIKE I MENTIONED ABOVE, WHAT COMPANY DOESN’T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE EMPLOYEES ENTIRE WORKLOAD/RESPONSIBILITIES. ONLY THE USPS.

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