Don’t laugh. Standing up for justice is no laughing matter. A federal statute regarding time fraud is on the books, and it’s clear. It’s a federal crime, and the time has come to see to it that adherence to that statute is not ignored. 18 U.S.C. § 1001 reads as follows:

“Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully – (1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or (3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry; shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.”

I’ve quoted that law so many times in this series that you should know it by heart, but the reason that no one has been sent to jail, or at the very least, fired, under that statute is because the unions have been twiddling their thumbs in the administrative process instead of using the clout of the membership’s numbers to flex their political muscle. TIME FRAUD IS NOT A GRIEVANCE. IT’S A FEDERAL CRIME.

Filing grievances and EEOs play right into the PO’s hands. The administrative process takes forever, and justice delayed is justice denied. The system is stacked against the grievant and/or complainant. It’s designed to make you think you have rights, while its actual function is to maintain the status quo – that’s why you’re paying thousands of dollars in union dues and you’re still suffering. Have you ever wondered why an employee can pick up a Walmart coupon out of the trash and be summarily fired, while your manager can be caught falsifying thousands of dollars of employee clock rings then be promoted? Wake up.

If you want justice, and for your job to be secure, you’re going to have to make sure that the jobs of your boss, your union officers, and your politicians are insecure. You’re going to have to shine a bright enough light on laziness, complacence, and corruption to place THEIR jobs in jeopardy.

Again, time fraud and falsifying government documents is a federal crime punishable by five years in federal prison. Yet, in spite of that fact, and the fact that the United States Postal Service is stealing millions of dollars PER DAY from its employees, you’re not seeing anyone go to jail, or even fired, for that matter. In fact, one acting CSO in the Los Angeles District was even promoted while an allegation of time fraud is pending against him. The reason for that is your unions have been less than aggressive in pursuing your rights. They’ve been satisfied to get one or two people paid a year (just enough to look good on their resume), then letting the PO sweep the matter under the rug. One officer even told the grievant that she’d have to pursue the matter through the EEOC and refused to return her calls.

As egregious as that sounds, I’m sure that most of you know that it’s not an unsubstantiated claim – you’re living the consequences of that kind of reckless complacence on the part of SOME union officials on a daily basis. It is this kind of complacence that has made time fraud and many other abuses such a severe problem within the agency. The postal service knows that the unions are ineffective, so they feel free to rob, abuse, and intimidate you with impunity. I know I’m being kind of hard on the unions, but before a problem can be corrected it must be faced in an honest and forthright manner.

What’s so unconscionable about this particular situation is it can be so easily addressed. A thief needs the cover of darkness to commit his crimes, so all the unions have to do is shine a light on what’s going on within the shadows of the postal service. Why haven’t they done that? I won’t speculate on that issue at this time; I’ll leave it for the membership to decide – but decide you must – and in a hurry, because not only is your hard earned money disappearing, so are your jobs.

The OIG has been ignoring the issue of time fraud for years now, but after the Los Angeles Sentinel, the Black Star News, Veterans Today, and the Postal Employee Network started shining a light on this criminal conduct back in March (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html), then continued hammering away at it and demanding that the OIG and PMG be fired, all of a sudden the OIG recognized the need for a national audit.

But back in February, in the Los Angeles district, when JoAnn Snow’s time was stolen, OIG Special Agent Reid Robbins said “the OIG’s office generally doesn’t investigate time issues.” Well, now they’ve reconsidered that position. But the question is, why ddn’t the unions do years go what these publications have managed to do in six months? That’s something that the membership needs to consider. At this point, however, it’s going to be very interesting to see just how much effort the unions put into organizing their membership to take advantage of this opportunity to correct this criminal conduct once and for all.

FROM THE USPSOIG:

Having Problems with Your Time and Attendance Records? The OIG Wants to Hear From You.

Recent news stories have identified a few instances where Postal Service employees have had time deleted from electronic time card records. There have also been other time and attendance instances where managers inaccurately calculated employee work hours for out–of-schedule work.

If you are a Postal Service employee and are experiencing similar problems or any other time and attendance issues at your work place, we would like to hear from you. Please take our brief survey or provide comments below.

This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Human Resources and Security audit team.

Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Literate by Choice

Just like you are doing right now reading is a thinking process to interpret words to gain meaning about a topic. Writers write to provoke change using their persuasive language to get their point across and convince others of their point of view. The larger the audience the greater the opportunity the writer has to influence public opinion. There are enough books about the Postal Service to easily compile a heritage (“A”) list to better understand the sacrifices of our predecessors. And a required reference (“B”) list to help us understand past, present and future operational risk management.

True professionals gather, analyze, and implement lessons learned to provoke critical thinking on the front lines, or in a support role to achieve the competitive industry advantage. The first step is to read, then discuss our readings with each other. We glance at the side of a cereal box, review the narrative on the movie case, look at the newspaper, and translate the directions on how to put something together. We can find out what impacts our mail business everyday through this form of comprehension too. I offer the following brief summaries and recommend the following titles as requisite reading.

Title: The Role of the United States Postal Service in Public safety and Security; Implications of Relaxing the MailBox Monopoly.

There are 46,000 Zip Codes! Universal service is critical to binding the nation together in the timeliest and efficient manner possible. We are an essential part of the National Response Framework; we participate as an Emergency Support Function, play a vital role in the Cities Readiness Initiative, and take part in the Department of Homeland Security National Infrastructure Protection Plan. “We Deliver” and must look for other opportunities for business and revenue growth which will help keep universal service of the “most trusted” government agency alive and well in the 21st century.

Title: Going Postal (Pinnacle true crime)

Visit 12 states with “isolated incidents?” from 1983 to 1996. The GAO issued recommendations for changes including one that suggested the USPS “Select and train managers who can serve as facilitators/counselors and who have the skills experience, and interest to treat employees with respect and dignity, positively motivate employees, recognize and reward employees for good work, promote teamwork, and deal effectively with poor performers.” Statistics report a higher rate of taxi drivers and liquor store clerks murdered on the job. “They didn’t bother to mention that cabbies and clerks weren’t being slaughtered by fellow cabbies and clerks.” Data also details post offices don’t have a high rate of homicide, but they have an exceptionally high rate of employees who kill coworkers.

Titles: Deep Inside LiteBlue & Thinking Inside the LiteBlue Box

A deck plate perspective and representative sample of workplace leaders with an industrial age mentality utilizing a confrontational style of leadership and independently choosing to show limited technical expertise. An absence of postal pride leads to a decline in business performance standards. Two manuscripts loaded with hot minute topics impacting teamwork on the workroom floor. Proof there is a desperate need to drive fear out of the organization.

Title: Preserving the People’s Post Office

This book should be obligatory reading for all postal employees aspiring to management, or leadership positions with USPS. Nothing is more important than understanding where the numbers come from and how to keep them alive through employee cooperation, teamwork, participation and treating others with dignity and respect. It builds a compelling case for “never privatizing” the USPS.

Title: Any Mail for Me?

This is a superb story about five thousand years of mail for kids of all ages. Back-in-the-day messages were tattooed on shaved scalps of slaves whose hair was allowed to grow before being sent on an errand to deliver the message. Today, thousands of century’s later mail is the best way to talk to anyone else without knowing what was said. It is much more personal than email and word of mouth.

Title: The Last Monopoly: Privatizing the Postal Service for the Information Age

This is a very good topic for discussion about the notion among postal employees. There is a lot of information for privatizing the United States Postal Service and getting rid of the monopoly. “Employee owners approach their jobs with a far different attitude than most working people. They feel personally responsible for their company’s performance, they are loyal to their company, and they are responsive to their needs. That situation, in turn, creates a productive sense of teamwork between management and non-managerial employees.” That’s what the author said.

Title: The Tainted Eagle

A transparent story with actual documentation displayed inside. A letter carrier shop steward that communicated, investigated, represented, and followed up union business for the membership. He exhausted the entire system and was engaged in a very long contest for justice which was even minimized by people who should have been on his side. Read this book to see what he has done, and continue to follow his story to see what he is doing today.

Title: Beyond Going Postal: Shifting from Workplace Tragedies and Toxic Work Environments to a Safe and Healthy Organization

We all want to run our business more efficiently so it’s time to bring in one particular expert who can help! This is a real modern day account of the cultural reality inside the United States Postal Service in the year 2010. It depicts the reality of a leadership tone that has a significant influence on productivity in the postal work environment. It doesn’t matter if you are a craft employee, resource worker, supervisor, manager, or labor leader. You will relate to this bottom up perspective from an author who walks the talk, been there, done that, and got 20/20 hindsight to prove it.

Title: There’s Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice and Equality

If we don’t fight for change it won’t happen as apparent from this very well researched book. In 1961 President Kennedy said “Let the public service be a proud and lively career.” The author does a superb job presenting an important history lesson for all of us. Find out about the history of 9 postal unions; NALC, UFPC, NPMHU, NAPOGSME, NFPOMVED, NASDM, NPU, NA, NRLCA. You’ll have to dive into this book to get the real lowdown. Recall the 1970 strike with the euphemism for the strike weapon being “imposition of economic sanctions.” Learn about the wildcat powder keg, collective begging, and review the contributions of APWU Moe Biller and William Burrus.

Those titles are just a few of the many available to all who care about their working environment and the arduous conditions associated with delivering the mail. Knowing what has occurred in the past prevents all of us from repeating the same mistakes. The choice to read will motivate us to represent the serious philosophical spirit of those who have gone before us. We don’t want to be illiterate by choice.

Ronald Williams, Jr.
Postal Employee

Copyright 2010 R. Williams, Jr. and Postal Employee Network

I like what news correspondent Tom Brokaw said at a past commencement speech, “It’s easy to make a buck, but it is tougher to make a difference.” I say that message needs to go out to all our high paid executives and our national labor leaders. Tom Brokaw continued to say a gentleman took his statement a little further with words to the effect, “If you make a lot of bucks, it’s easier to make a bigger difference.”

I can’t tell if our bosses are engaged with the issues of dignity and respect. It is my opinion that these matters have a lot to do with an employee’s working conditions. Postal management has multiple policies about dignity and respect and harassment posted on bulletin boards everywhere. Those policies will be rendered useless decreasing the value of the workplace if they are not aggressively enforced. Many people feel the only outlets are EEO or filing a grievance through processes that can make employees feel like they are on the slow boat to China.

The strength of strong labor organizations helps solidify a collective agreement which conveys better wages, greater benefits, and redress procedures. We can promote activity in the community; utilize union services, take a tax deduction on our dues, and we have a voice in making the workplace safe. Without a collective agreement we all would be at the mercy of managers to play favorites and change the conditions of employment.

Effective union leaders will let you know it costs money to operate a labor organization and to get things done. With our money, unions pay for operating expenses, contract negotiations, and grievance handling all the way to the national level. There are costs associated with publications, professional fees, legislative activities, education, training, and community service programs. Dues don’t cost, they pay for what we expect as a return on investment. I read on the Department of Labor website that the difference between union and non-union pay is $154.00 a week and that is a difference of $7,392 per year.

Our unions are controlled by us! Many people believe that just because we have a no strike clause the employer holds all the cards and all we can do is some collective begging. Again, according to the Department of Labor statistics “almost all contract settlements (98%) are reached without workers resorting to strikes. Strikes are very uncommon today. Only one work day out of a thousand is lost due to a strike.”

The squeaky wheel gets oiled or replaced! One of the top issues in this federal agency that needs to be drilled down on, brought to the surface, and taken to a public forum by union leaders and management officials is dignity and respect in the workplace. I hear that many employees are afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation, which leads to poor attitudes, no forum for constructive, NOT destructive dialogue. We have to intelligently put pressure on those who own the bakery to remind them that we are the bakers and civilly help them understand that the recipe card they are working off to cook in this business is going to be the basis for a lot of people getting sick. That means management has to be accountable to deal with complaints, inappropriate conduct, and unacceptable behavior.

On the street level I see minimal emphasis on training, limited concern for people skills, some poorly managed processes and limited edition teamwork. Bosses who don’t like feedback make everything urgent even though some things are not necessarily important creating a ball of confusion. Example; If the person in charge has to relocate employees, and in the same breath brags about how well the bathroom remodeling project is coming along might be suggesting we should follow the money, and we will get the answer to the motivation.

Recent reported incidents involving current or former employees that might indicate a wider organizational problem include:

June 2009: North Carolina, postal worker fatally shoots himself at work in the employee locker room.

Oct 2009: Georgia, postal worker pulls gun on his boss.

Oct 2009: Arizona, postal worker charged with assaulting two bosses.

May 2010: Florida, laid-off postal worker involved in a bizarre alcohol induced freeway shooting rampage.

May 2010: California, fired postal worker crashes his vehicle into his ex-supervisor.

June 2010: District of Columbia, postal executive arrested for altercation with a facility manager.

June 2010: New York, postal worker stabs boss multiple times with a pair of scissors.

July 2010: Georgia, postal worker stabs supervisor multiple times with a knife and screwdriver.

Articulate your own images and consider this not-so-cheesy solution to go with that whine. I once took a “how to get your story in the media” seminar presented by local radio and television personalities. They unanimously informed the attendees that the bottom line is “if it bleeds it leads” in the headlines. They also said that the second best way to get their attention is to attach your story to a celebrity since we are a society infatuated with celebrities. It would be nice to see our labor organizations get together for the sake of pride and deference, find a celebrity with mail associated star power to get behind our message, order up 500,000 royal blue t-shirts, and show our strength in numbers in a non-violent national campaign. Let’s talk about all the things that contribute to a hostile workplace. Not only will it help us, it will create a wider discussion about American workplace violence. We know how to bind the nation together, now let’s unite ourselves together by coming to the workplace table with more than a fork. Let’s not just look for the big bucks, let’s make a bigger difference in our organizational culture with our union and management bosses out front.

Written by postal employee Ronald Williams, Jr. for PostalEmployeeNetwork.com (PEN)
Do Not Repost without consent from PEN and R. Williams, Jr.

Excessing Means…

According to published data on the USPS.com website in the year 2008 more than 40 postal executives received pay-for-performance packages as an annual pay raise ranging from $59 to $73,000 paying out more than 1.2 million dollars on the backs of employees who work extremely hard every day to keep them successful. We get hot dogs, and hamburger incentives which contribute to higher cholesterol, obesity, and unscheduled sick leave paid for by the company. They get the BBQ and enough loot in most cases to fully pay for a luxurious sport utility vehicle. This gives new meaning to rank has its privileges (R.H.I.P.) Meanwhile, Whiskey, Oscar, Romeo, Kilo, Echo, Ringo, Sierra (W.O.R.K.E.R.S) have to involuntarily get out of town.

Excessing often seems like a fancy word used by the agency which signifies effective business management. I can excess you inside the building, or I can excess you outside my facility. Although you are an assigned regular, we need to juggle your hours, and unscheduled days to make my budget. Your labor contract gives you the title Full Time Regular; the management can make you a Full Time Irregular. Senior managers walk around with a thought bubble over their head that reads; believe me, I am going to do whatever it takes to make budget. That means “I do the greatest good by moving the greatest number.” This is similar to the theme of medical triage in a mass casualty situation. In the facility where I work there are so many rumors about the number of employees that will be impacted with this handy little tool designed to circumvent union contracts, and no layoff clauses. The thinking implies let’s see who can take a transfer beating, and who can help drive my facility costs down. If I nudge workers the right way they just might decide on their own to improve our attrition rate by quitting in turn keeping down the unemployment figures, and costs for the labor department.

One day forty-five people will get the excess axe, the next month the number is sixty, and a few months later the talk is one-hundred plus. Scuttlebutt has it that more negotiations are being verbalized throughout the country. Facility alpha better get their people moved before facility bravo because the slowest turtle could land their selectees thousands of miles away. Meanwhile, if you are junior, and I don’t mean by your last name, you are sweating bullets and beginning to get stressed out because having to relocate is emotionally and physically stressful. These days we often hear that the average age of an employee at the Postal Service is fifty years old. That would lead me to believe that the most junior folks are in their forties and whether you are generation X or baby boomer the latest buzzword that sounds like “X-cess” represents the unknown. We know this is the age group when folks are trying to raise children, assist parents, paying lots of bills, dealing with declining health, and associated expenses, etc. Now the company wants to drop the stress induced relocation bombshell on individuals because the budget looks bleak, and they feel we got too many employees with a yielding attrition rate that is dropping slower than the declining mail volumes. Junior employees in one facility will continue to be junior when moved to the next facility, and as one senior manager said “I have no control over what happens to you when you are involuntarily assigned to another facility.” He couldn’t sympathize or empathize either! Bosses are so worried about pay for performance packages and incentives that they are unable to focus on people initiatives. They forget that people are the most important asset that we have and focus on the human aspect like they do counting numbers. It is funny how when our executives get to a certain level on the ladder they drift further away from the employees. Anytime they want to communicate it has got to be one way through a webcast, bulletin board, or flyer talking about service scores or productivity. An area vice president or district postmaster could be in the same building as thousands of employees and will not come out to hold town hall meetings as a courtesy to talk about the state of the business. They are too large to visit with the same employees that put them in their jobs, or is something else wrong? That behavior sends the message “I did dirt to get here, now you are in charge, and it’s your turn to do dirt.” Then they slip into secluded isolation and only get their reality checks from their direct reports who only tell them what they think they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. That paves the way to some nasty blind-side surprises. I once heard one senior manager asking a junior manager “How come this is the first time I’m hearing about this.” The true answer is because he is barricaded in the penthouse by yes men, women, secretaries, and assistants. Might as well get a bobble-head! They won’t tell you when the building is on fire either.

If you ever watch the television show the Undercover Boss, bosses truly find out how much they are left out of the loop when they are on the deck plate for more than five minutes. Being around and taking the time to experience life on the front line can be a wake-up call for those who have forgotten where they come from but currently holding the flag on mahogany row. A Marine Corps general sleeps two tents over from the troops on the battlefield, a Navy admiral enters the ship the same way everyone else does, the New York City Mayor takes the subway to work every day, and I notice postal executives arrive through a side entrance (even if they have to make one) and leave the same way minimizing any contact with the little people. This gives new meaning to the thinking that the higher a leader climbs, the smaller their ears look, and the bigger the mouth gets about policies, procedures, and corporate regulations. If we could just get our leaders to empathize! That is truly the one quality that is needed as a mentor if one wants to change the world, the company, the organization.

For the future we can only hope that labor unions and management personnel are diligently working out front and behind the scenes to come up with beneficial ideas and incentives to entice the most senior, highest paid, and oldest workers to voluntarily move on with their lives. Recent news articles have written stories about retiring and deceased postal employees in their nineties. Since there is no mandatory retirement age, and we are shifting people around like chess pieces one day the youngest employee in a facility might be seventy years old. What’s wrong with that? Just a lot of young people out of work and unable to raise a family. When all the elder states-people do retire they will probably do it all at the same time. I believe that incentive packages allow people to retire or resign on their own and the longer we wait the more we have to pay. The younger generations can now move up with their postal knowledge and if more employees are needed we can build the part time workforce with workers who know what to expect about a career in the Postal Service. With this technique lives won’t be disrupted, and this action would probably be more cost efficient than paying families to relocate, and it’s guaranteed to minimize collateral damage or associated workplace stress. We need good happy people to continue to bring in the numbers. Leaders! Please prove that people are more important than numbers. We have to make good decisions today in order to remain efficient tomorrow. See you on the workroom floor.

Postal Employee Ronald Williams, Jr.

Where can employees go — anytime, anywhere — to look at their official records?

The Official Personnel Folder (OPF) contains documents, including appointment, compensation, benefits, administrative and payroll records. USPS may use these records to review employee qualifications, status, eligibility, rights and benefits. They’re also used to track length of service and other information USPS needs to provide personnel services.

Before 2008, employees had to meet with their district personnel offices to review their folders. Now, OPF documents are available online and have become “eOPFs.” Employees can go to LiteBlue at any time to review their files. Each eOPF is a secure and encrypted file, available only to employees by using their employee ID number and USPS PIN, and to HR professionals with an official need to view them.

USPS always has encouraged employees to check their records for accuracy. Employees should review their eOPFs to make sure documents are up-to-date. Accurate records will make processing personnel actions such as transfers, promotions or retirements easier. Employees who need to change, remove or add documents must complete a PS Form 8043 and submit it to their district HR Generalist.

Disciplinary documents only can be removed according to provisions of collective bargaining agreements, the ELM 650 appeals process or as a result of an EEO or Merit System Protection Board decision. Documents placed in an eOPF by another federal agency cannot be removed.

Employees who cannot access their eOPFs using LiteBlue should notify their area Human Resources analyst, district HR Local Services, or HQ Corporate Personnel.

Source: USPS

Please Note: Postal Employee Network cannot answer questions regarding your personnel folder or its contents.

July 19, 2010

Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
It’s Time to Fight Back

It is time for poor and Middle-class workers to start fighting back. The corporate community has become increasingly prone to take shortcuts on safety, create hostile work environments, undercutting and even stealing wages from gainfully employed workers in the name of grossly obscene profits.

These unconscionable practices in the name of ever more profits are not only having a negative impact on the quality of life of the poor and middle-class, but often, literally, sacrifice their very lives, as we’ve seen in an increasing number of cases, as in the coal mine disaster in Kentucky that took the lives of 29 coal miners, and the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico less than a month later, that took the lives of 11 oil workers. Both of these “accidents” were avoidable, and due to reckless penny-pinching by the corporations.

What the corporate community is calling “unfortunate accidents” are not accidents at all. They’re actually the corporate community’s reckless response to the new global economy – and it’s having a devastating impact on the American middle-class standard of living, and an even worse impact on the poor.

What we once thought of as American corporations have now become international in scope. They have no loyalty to any one nation, nor any respect for any geographical boundary. They’re now competing with countries that pay their workers less per week than many American workers spend on lunch per day. As a result, the American middle-class standard of living has become a liability and is under an aggressive assault by both the corporate and governmental establishment.

Something has to be done, so in response to this attack on our quality of life I’ve recently become associated with three gentlemen who share my belief that it is essential that the middle-class beat back this assault by every means at our disposal. These gentlemen include the following:

• Lewis Maltby: Attorney, author (Can They Do That?), and former president of the worker’s Rights Division of the ACLU. Lew is also current president of the National Workrights Institute.
• Dr. Steve Musacco: Therapist, author (Beyond Going Postal), occupational psychologist, and 30-year veteran of the postal service, retired. Steve was involved in the development and implementation of both the Voice of the Employee Program and the Employee Assistance Program for the U.S. Postal Service.
• Rick Owens: Publisher of the Postal Employee Network. Rick’s publication reaches the workforce of the postal service’s 600,000 employees.
• My name is Eric Wattree. I’m an author (A Message From the Hood), and I write a political column called Beneath the Spin. My column is carried in the Los Angeles Sentinel, New York’s Black Star News, and several other publications in America’s heartland. I’m also a staff writer for Veterans Today – a publication that is global in scope.

We’ve come together to establish a non-partisan organization called CARMA (Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse). We’re currently in the process of developing a database to increase our numbers. We intend to consolidate and flex the political clout of poor and middle-class workers in a way that will be impossible for politicians, unions, and the corporate media to ignore. We also intend to use our clout to address the reckless assault on the poor and middle-class through both political action, and in the courts.

We intend to take no prisoners, nor give any group a pass based on political concerns, be they corporations, unions, or politicians. So we urge every American worker to become part of this important effort to defend poor and middle-class workers. If maintaining or enhancing your standard of living is important to you, please contact the e-mail address below and become a part of our database. If you’re already a part of our database, please distribute this message to your family, friends, and neighbors.

We don’t need one voice speaking for millions; we need millions speaking with one voice.

Eric L. Wattree|Wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com

Here’s a quote from a USPS executive published by Logistics Management. It’s a beaut.

“We are facing this problem because of a massive drop in mail volume and the fact that the bulk of our costs are fixed by laws, contracts, or regulations. Our operating flexibility is severely limited right now. Our network is expanding by a million delivery points every year, and we are subject to a lot of legal requirements that limit our ability to reduce service commensurate with the decline in demand.”

Okay, okay. Let’s see. The USPS is losing mail volume, so the way to gain that volume back is to raise prices. Right? Wonderful logic, don’t you think? Okay, okay, “our costs are fixed by…contracts.” Are we expected to believe that those contracts happened without USPS participation or complicity? Gimme a break. Okay, okay, “we are subject to a lot of legal requirements.” You’re a government agency with a statutory monopoly, for cryin’ out loud! You want to be rid of both, go private and leave your governmental binky at home. Does anyone over there actually listen to what they’re saying?

What: 
Chester Reed, who proudly claims to be 95 ½ and is the nation’s oldest U.S. Postal Service employee, is ready to retire and will be turning in his forklift keys at his retirement celebration.

Who: 
Mail handler and Honoree Chester Reed
District Manager Dallas Keck
Senior Plant Manager Larry Belair
San Bernardino Plant Manager Jim Olson

When:
4:00 P.M. – Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Where:
San Bernardino Processing & Distribution Center Cafeteria
1900 W Redlands Blvd.
Redlands CA 92373

Please Note:

Media is asked to RSVP to Eva Jackson at 858–437–1493 for further instructions on how and where to enter the facility.

Mr. Reed will be available for pre–scheduled one–on–one interviews. To make arrangements, please contact Eva Jackson at 858–437–1493 in advance.

Background:
On his retirement date, Chester Reed will have accrued 37 years and 16 days of Postal Service employment, and to top it off, will have never used a day of sick leave. Combined with his military service time, Reed has a total of 62 years, 10 months and 12 days of government service.

Reed was born in 1914 in Bridgeport, Ohio. As a young man, he worked as a manager at a Texas heating and air conditioning business. Reed enlisted with the Air Force at the age of 33 in 1947. He was stationed in the San Bernardino area, and after 25 years of service, retired from the Air Force as a sergeant. Reed then joined the U. S. Postal Service in 1973, and has since worked as a mail handler–forklift operator at the San Bernardino Processing and Distribution Center.

Sick leave is a job benefit, not a privilege

While managers may have the legal right to use sick leave restriction letters ["How to fight sick leave abuse," Ask the Lawyer column, April 19 issue], I could find no guidelines during my career on what constitutes sick leave abuse. There was no usable definition of what constitutes incapacity.

Is a headache sufficient reason to take sick leave? What about depression and other gray areas? Simply having a chronic condition may be reason for days off.

Having to submit to interrogation by a manager who may already be hostile toward an employee for absences is demeaning and rife with potential for abuse by the manager.

Not all conditions require a visit to the doctor, so requiring this documentation is not an effective way to respond to sick leave abuse.

Managers are not doctors and are not qualified to make decisions about what constitutes incapacity, especially in the absence of agency guidelines.

Managers are not employment lawyers and are not qualified to make judgments about what constitutes abuse.

Read More

The “Have You Seen Me?” program distributes photos of missing children through direct-mail advertisements, newspaper inserts, and on the Internet.

Valassis distributes pictures and information of missing children to more than 100 million households each week, Chairman, President, and CEO Alan F. Schultz said.

Journal Inquirer