April 14, 2010
by Dr. S. Musacco
Dr. Steve Musacco is a Ph.D. in organizational psychology, a M.S. in Counseling, and a B.A. in psychology. He’s been licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist and completed Coachu’s coaching program. He also worked for the postal service for 30 years.
Dr. Musacco said:
Prior to my retirement from the USPS, at a former district I worked for, there were three suicides within a two year period that I concluded were contributed to in significant part by how these employees were treated in the workplace. The third employee, a city letter carrier, fatally shot himself in a postal jeep and left a letter stating that he could no longer take the job. The night before he committed suicide he told his wife he did not know if he would be able to handle his job anymore. How do I know? His wife told me this one day after his suicide. He was one of the best employees in the office. The District Manager and I interviewed his coworkers after his death, and they stated he would urinate in a bottle while on delivery route for fear he would not meet an artificial deadline set by postal management. During the interviews, one of the postal supervisors told the District Manager and me that the day before the suicide she gave a letter to all the city letter carriers in the station, noting that any future over time used for their routes would be considered unacceptable performance. The suicide at the Gastonia postal facility was the second since December 2005.
Many people have asked: Why is there so much stress and workplace tragedies in the U.S. Postal Service? The answer to these questions is because the postal culture embraces and reflects core values that center on achieving bottom-line results with little or no regard for employee participation, respect, dignity, or fairness. Additionally, there is little or no accountability for the actions of top management in the Postal Service. Many postal facilities consequently have toxic work environments, and they can be a catalyst or trigger for serious acts of workplace violence, including homicide and suicide. The associated rewards system for behavior consistent with the postal culture core values, moreover, enables systemic organizational and individual bullying of employees at all levels of the organization.
I define a toxic workplace environment as a workplace where there is a high incidence of stress-related illnesses. These stress-related illnesses are manifested by psychological and physical deterioration. In other words, these types of environments seriously erode employees’ health and well-being. The primary factors contributing to a toxic workplace environment are high job demands, low job control, and low social support. Low social support generally entails a lack of respect and validation of employees’ dignity by their “superiors”. It also oftentimes includes organizational practices and methods that encourage the bullying of employees to meet corporate goals.
Dr. Steve Musacco
Beyond Going Postal
Submitted by:
Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
We alerted district HR to the issue and met with the Manager & Union rep. Union rep was awesome actually, and we are working through the issue with a set of agreed-upon solutions.
What is clear in this case is that USPS does not have policies for nursing mothers, as they are directed to have by OPM. The Union has not insisted on development and publication of these policies & the Union has not addressed these issues in the contract or policy manuals.
I am 62 (almost 63) and I’ve been with the postal service for 34 years. I had surgery on my shoulder last July and continues to heal but slowly. I was also injured by falling and hurting my back a few years ago on the job. After survey I was told by the PM that I was not to return unless I was released by the doctor for full duty. The doctor released me for modified duty but the PM said no, no work available. 10 months later I was demanded (3/28/13) to return to work the next day! When asked about the “no work available” the PM said, that has changed. I am presently on modified duty at my station with a 10 lb lifting restriction but at times I still have to lift more on a business route. The station manager harass me almost daily saying I’m costing the USPS money because I am too slow in the office and on the street. I was visited on the street by the district manager and told I should be healed from my surgery by now. I have major stress and hate going to work. However, I’m thankful to be working in this economy but management sucks from the top down!
My wife was demoted from her detail supervisory position after 4 years while out on FMLA leave for the birth of our son. She and another gay supervisor were both replaced by an (ineligible) casual rural route carrier who has a sexual relationship with the manager who made the demotion and hiring decisions.
Since returning to PTF position delivering mail, she has been made to work 6 days & 60 hours+ per week delivering mail. She presented her manager with a doctor’s note advising that she would need to pump breastmilk while on her shift. She began pumping milk in the office bathroom prior to leaving for her route, and was then told by her manager that she could not take this morning break and would need to pump on the street.
She has been complying with this demand, expressing milk while on regular breaks in the back of the postal truck as directed by my manager. As you all know, the back of a mail truck is horrendously dirty, extremely hot (110 degrees+), dark, and very uncomfortable. On two different occasions, the sliding door has been broken and she has hidden behind boxes while expressing milk. The back of a postal truck clearly does not comply with Federal OPM definitions of a functional space for expressing breast milk.
Additionally, while complying with her managers instructions, she has been harassed about pumping breastmilk at all. In addition to his insistence that she pump in the truck, he has asked her to provide documentation of when she takes her regular breaks to pump, warned her that she was being watched and that her street variances should not suffer because of having to express breast milk. He is aware that she is only taking her regular breaks and pumping while on these breaks, yet she has to provide daily documentation of these break times (which is not required of any other employee).
She is currently working 6 days and ~60 hours per week in a much different work environment than when she was supervising over the last 4 years. On top of the increased work hours, long and inconsistent routes and lack of a day off, she feels harassed for needing to pump and pumping in the back of the truck is just horrible. The stress created by this situation has just about pushed her to her breaking point. She comes home at 7pm exhausted, overheated and very depressed. She has needed to go to therapy because she is struggling so much with this work situation.
She has a very strong work ethic and a thick skin, but is being intentionally singled-out and punished for having a baby and needing to breastfeed. POSTAL EMPLOYEES WHO ARE NEW NURSING MOTHERS HAVE RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW. Those RIGHTS include access to a sanitary, functional space to express breastmilk & time to pump without it leading to reprisal, harassment or increased hours.
The Union is no longer adequately representing USPS employee interests. They seem to have lost their backbone entirely.
There seems to be no help, no support, and no resources for USPS employees. There seems to be no accountability for station managers and district managers / postmasters who do not comply with labor laws and who push their employees to the point of suicide.
No corporation could survive or expect to profit with such a poor record on social responsibility. For all the talk that USPS does around sustainability and sustainable business models, the way that employees are treated is more reflective of overseas sweatshops.
Keywords: USPS, Postal Employee, Breastfeeding, Nursing Mothers, Sustainability, Breast Pump, Pumping, Childbirth
What a bunch of whiners!! Just do your job and quit complaining. I had a real job before I started at the Post Office and believe me, we have it easy. Everybody on here acts like they are owed something.
I have been Electronic Technician with northern California P&DC for few years. I was one of the youngest ET ever hired in this northern Ca plant. I was only 27yrs old back then. Most of the ET I worked with were over atleast 56 yrs of age or older. I was discriminated against on daily basis for being young. It took me 3-4yrs to finally get my fellow ET’s respect. I have BSEE degree, but still no one liked me for being an ET at such a young age.
Recently, I have moved to new postal facility and im dealing with same bias attitude that I have dealt with in the past. I have thoughts of quitting my job and use my degree for other jobs, but im married with kids. I have been really depressed for few weeks now. I can totally understand the stories of people that hurt themselves due to postal attitude.
I have worked for the USPS for 15 years now. For about 14 of those years have been harassed over conflicts with management. I have been assaulted 3 times on the work floor(Reported and ignored). Lately I have been subjected to repeated chemical attacks on the work floor almost fainting on several occasions. Again reported to postal inspectors and management even though they are promoting the hostile work environment.
I can honestly understand why some people go POSTAL!
I first stated about 3 years ago the post office was sinking into the 7th level of hell! I can uncategorically it has achieved the furthest point from heaven one could imagine. The Gestapo otherwise known as the “postal inspection service” paid me a visit . Heinrich Himmler is Ziegler grilling in his grave. The Postsl inspectors had such a great time back in the day of real food stamps ! Now they need job security and they have only one defenseless target to turn to with the decrease in mail! Who gets this attention. Why the poor hardworking grunts and more specifically the injured grunts! If you are an injured worker do not if you can try to work even within your restrictions. I was spied on with csmeras and my bank accounts monitored as well as my cell phone tracked and cameras installed while I shipped packages at the post office. Yes the post office. Online sales of 1 pound average packages warrants Postal inspection intervention and eventual accusations of feliny charges and 2+ hours of Gestapo interrogation with no lawyer as requested and no union rep. Postmaster even bailed! I was eligible for light duty and none came for a year but the inspector gadget was affordable rather than my light duty . And I am a 5 point protected veteran. Union no help at all over 4 months before firing and continued harassment. Am now out on psych. Claim! I came to the edge you better know. I had been doing sales on and off comp. for 2 prior injuries and never a single problem and now I am número UNO on Hitlers hit list! Postsl workers are raw meat for the inspector pit bulls! My nickname got them is “BULLS”. In the early days of the railroad they had armed men that pushed and knocked hobos and ride catchers off trains. As bulls push when they fight they became known as bulls. The meanest most inhumane were the ones that kept their jobs and received promotions! Sound familiar? Postal workers know this! You are guilty until proven innocent! My union told me 2 months ago they could not begin to help me until I was fired!?!?!?!? This from the former Texas state rural letter carrier steward! I kid you not! She was the same no even less help 5 1/2 years ago. I was told by union workers comp. lawyer to contact “postal employee advocate” and it was the greatest thing I ever did. It cost me some money but not outrageous and I got instant respect and my job back. I was never helped by the union at sny time. The steward told me when I went back to work to be careful as they were watching me. After 2 years out of the post office for injury and illegal attempts to fire me and false allegations of violence against me I returned to work. Not one management person suffered for this in any way. I doubt they were warned! Contact the “postal employee advocate”. Do a web search! It is my only hope as it was back then! They sent me a stoppage of pay the day after they drive me to a psych. claim. And less than 2 weeks later a letter if removal ! The bitches did both acts illegally but will they be harassed and threatened with freaking felony? No! I am a 5 point protected veteran and they cannot by law do this. Not one if them . People are blown up by obvious known potential terrorists identified by Russia as such but don’t worry America the postal service will stamp out postal workers working within comp. restrictions! I was born here so I must be surveillanced and stamped out and my rights raped but remember the words of the commander in chief! We must not rush to judgement!
new hire?
I have been a TE for over 3 years, in offices rated 21. I would like to list for you a few of the experieces I have had.
The Norms:
scheduled anywhere from 7:00 am to 10:00 am through 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm on any given day monday through sat with less than 24 hrs notice
Utilized by other offices 10 to 30 miles from instalation hired in , at a moments notice.
“split” hrs ( 30min-2hrs ) off clock at anytime and expected to return to resume work
Differing route assignment daily even in other instalations in which i was unfamiliar with the expectation of completing work in regulars alloted time.
Piviots on routes that were unsequencial (random loops) so the regular could avoid excessive “accountables” ( express , certifieds, sig confirms…ect) or house to house saturations.
Piviots exceeding stated amounts eg.. saying they gave you an hr off their route, but piviot plan shows same loops as 2 hrs
Non scheduled all week untill a regular notices and requests the day off the night before.
Inability to obtain time off for any reason
Inability to schedule Vacation (annual) time even if accrued
Work holidays with no notice
The Experiences:
Almost always got the most undesireable route
Once almost struck by a car on busy 4 lane rd only to have the driver go complain to postmaster out of fear of being reported
No help or info from regular on where to start or specific info regarding their rt
Dog attacks and close calls almost daily
no inclement weather plan or info when needed
Overloaded workload for time allowed eg.. full 6hr 30(managements time stated) min rt plus 2 hr piviot when starting time was 9:00am and slated for “collection run” that needs to be done at 4:30pm as to not miss the dispatch truck at 5:00pm. do the math this senario puts you over an hr in the “hole” just walking out the door.
Come back from doing a full rt to find 2 hr piviot waiting, as regulars are walking out the door using annual to fill thier 8 hr day
The Facts:
Can be terminated for any reason at anytime (you remind me of somone I dont like or you smell funny),(Merry Christmas or Sorry your wifes in the hospital)
TE Meant “transitional” not temporary just an example of mentality of standing
No senority (that new TE they just hired is gonna be trained just in time for your breakout and did i mention this office needs only one..)
I now have the privlege of “re-applying” for the same job i have been doing for over 3 years with a 27% paycut provided i make the grade.
I do not want it percieved that i am “complaining” i am not i have performed much more difficult jobs for far less compensation. I was well aware of the “challenges” that came with the job long before I applied for it. I expected to be treated like a “scab” by union reps and the like ( i was formerly a teamster for over 15 years and know how unions are ran). I love the work and the outside exposure in any kind of weather and love the customer interaction albiet uncordial at times, the team feeling and the acomplishing pace .
I only want to to be realstic about what you may face should you accept a position ,
and to share with you what i know
thanks regina for the update on how to treat supervisors, they all are this way and need to be put in their place on how to treat people or get out of the job they are in!!
Please listen all postal employees. I am a Union Steward and I just finished my long ordeal with the Postal Service. I endured a year off work and three court appearances. During that time I obtained my Associate of Science Degree in Paralegal Studies. I took this course just to be able to defend myself in court against the problems I was having at work. I have worked for the Postal Service for 27 years. I have come to the conclusion that when a supervisor starts harassing you. Write every incident down. Time, date, and what happened along with the person or persons names. Keep a journal every day with you so you can write it down at the time of the incident. After you have enough information go down to your County Court house and file a Civil Suit against the Supervisor or persons that are harassing you. What’s going on, is, they are hiding behind the name “The Postal Service.” This will get the name out of the way and you can start dealing with the person that is harassing you. I guarantee you once they receive the notice that you have filed a civil suit against them personally all harassment will stop. If they are stupid you might end up with them in court and you can get to the bottom of why they are harassing you. It may cost you a little time and effort and a little money, but it will stop the harassment and you will have a happy tenure with the Postal Service. The problem is that we started working for the Postal Service without a college degree and we did not sign up for the military so we are not used to being screamed at and ordered to do something the way they are taught to train soldiers. These people have no people skills because they are dehumanized in the military so they will be able to kill others when they are protecting our country. They don’t know how to separate the two. They think they are still in the military. They don’t realize now they are in the real world and not the military. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!
P.S. An EEO takes a year, a grievance takes 2 years, and the MSPB Board takes time also but all of this has the Name “The Postal Service.”
I started work as a CCA at the New Dorp station in Staten Island, New York on Monday April 22 and resigned by Thursday April 25. On day one, within 30 minutes of my arrival 3 employees warned me to “get out while I still can”.
My OJI told me that if you think slavery is dead, you will find out it is alive and well here. Another employee concurred saying it is true, and it does not matter what color you are. It did not take me long to see that what they all said was true! I was sent out on the streets by myself on day 4 with woefully inadequate training,
a very heavy work load that was totally out of address order, making it nearly impossible to deliver with out putting it in some kind of order first. That was the mail sorters job, not mine. To boot, they gave me only 2 hrs to complete my route.
My shop stuart/OJI warned me that this is only the begining, and it was going to get much worse! After nearly 7 hours of trying to deliver this missorted mountain of a mess, exhausted,aching and dehydrated, I turned my LLV around, headed back to the station, and resigned after my 4th day! When I walked in on day one, I handed one of the supervirsors a training checklist that was given to me at the very end of my “training” at the carrier academy. My OJI NEVER used that checklist to properly train me, thus setting me up for failure.
I really need to talk to someone that can help me with problems I am having at the post office I work for. I have 27 yrs. service and was never so depressed like I am now. I would like to talk to a senior plant manager or someone like that who would help me. I really don’t want to get my attorney involved.
I can barely stand to go to work.
Anna – We’re sorry, but PEN can not get involved in any persons postal life or career.
Agree completely!! It’s the exact reason why I left after eighteen years!
Wow! This sounds like the same issues I’ve been having with postal management. Once you get the target on your back you can’t get it off. It really is a shame it could be a great place to work if they treated us like adults and could get over this paranoia that all carriers are out to screw them.
I am a sub. I have been one for 13 years now. I have worked in a few offices. The office I am in now wasn’t my choice. Our routes were transferred to this office one week before I was to get my own route. Now I am #16 on the seniority list. I was so stressed out and rushed by this large office and ended up in an accident one week after the move. I had a crushed right tibia and fibula with titanium rod repair, as well as a concussion and a dislocated left hip. It took a year to get approved for the hip replacement. I began delivering mail again about 10 weeks after the last surgery. I have been harassed as well because I’m not as fast as the other carriers. They more or less want me to quit. I am still waiting for my scheduled award process. I have suffered numerous panic attacks since returning to my job. I even felt that I had to call in sick on a Monday because they scheduled me on a hard route I had never done before
My sweet husband Walter Feb, a 30-year veteran postal clerk (and dearly loved – he had a heart of service, rare in the USPS) died of congenital heart failure the day after Thanksgiving, 2012. Two weeks prior he had been called into a meeting for supervisors to harass and threaten him over too many excused absences helping care for our young children when they were sick – doctors’ notes for every one (I had taken a job too, as we feared USPS would run out of $ to pay his retirement, so I couldn’t always stay home with sick kids). He was told not to call in sick one more time or he risked losing his retirement. He was set to retire end of January. Well, Tuesday before Thanksgiving he called in sick (likely terrified to do so). That Friday he was dead. Now USPS is denying me life insurance and unpaid compensation due to beneficiary forms USPS employees clearly misled him into completing wrong. We were holding out for the darn early-retirement incentive. Finally it came. He had less than two months to go. And yet … he tried to tell me how awful it was there. I didn’t believe him. I didn’t believe he couldn’t stand up to them when they forced him to work full days with no lunch, no break, and a nonstop line of customers – with zero backup. How I want my love back. How our three- and six-year-old miss their daddy. How I regret not believing him. Anyone interested in networking over this please contact me: charityandwalterfeb@comcast.net. If the USPS is going to effectively kill our loves and abandon their families, the least we can do is make damn sure the public knows about it.
I’m married to a supervisor, he had very high ideals in regards to how this company could be a positive, productive team-like place to work with everyones voice heard and appreciated. He is now going through serious mental hardship. One week he’d get praise and acceptence from his boss and bosses boss seemingly in the same breath they would demean and push for him to push workers harder, he now is back to as low as he can go to escape the pressure and ‘games’ that management plays and it is impossible for him to go back to just a regular worker (heaven forbid the secrets of management would be held with a simple worker) in fact another individual in our work place has been waiting 4 years for his request to go back to worker and in his lowest point nearly committed suicide. This is a very hostile work enviroment for anybody that truly just cares about doing a good job and providing a good service for our customers. I cannot say Tdog that you should run for the hills but be very careful in your consideration to become a postal employee and make absolutely sure that you maintain a life outside the post office as this place will literally try to consume your whole being and try to make you feel that nothing, being sick, going to your own wedding, having babies is not nearly as important as being at work everyday.
You should be happy to be working!
im a TE in somewhere nj, and i have been a TE for 5 yrs now. recently i worked over and beyond 360 days where i was suppose to receive 5 days off, i have filed a greivance with my shop steward , and within 2 days i was told by my shop steward that we cant win, i bet that he didnt even try. and when i approach my postmaster about going over my 360 days, he told me that you dont get a break anymore. so i mentioned the labor law and working over 365 days i should receive full time benefits,he said nothing so now do i have to get a labor lawyer. it’s ashame that the post office and management treat their workers mainly te’s like day labor slaves.
I am currently training to be a TE and will have to transition into the lesser paying CCA within a month with the promise to become a full time employee soon but after reading all of these comments I am unsure if the pay is worth the stress? What advice to you recommend for someone completely new to the field? Run?
I’ve heard and done all of what you all have said. The one difference is that I’m not sure if you all realize that your union is behind much of your trouble. I had my union and management set me up and claim I had threatened someone with a gun. Members of both “unions” had another employee sit down and put on paper I had done this, she then was given full medical discibility to HIDE her!! I’m in the middle of an EEO that covers 12 years. I say bring it on, it’s not the USPS that is after us, rather, the officials, who are protecting each other’s jobs. I say to all the older carriers, thank you for the fight, much of those being targeted unfairly appreciate the tails of “bullying”. If the USPS doesn’t get a handle of the union leadership, I can see where some employees may not realize the organized attack on them, and unfortunately may take it out on us. I honest hard working employees who can’t seem to get anyone’s attention that its the unions hurting this company. My name is Travis Lober, and I’m not afraid to try and help this aweful situation. Lets stick together everyone. I hear ur pain.
Hey all… am Rick, acarrier in Maine for 26 years….. LOL, last route inspection I was red lined for going over on my lunch by 5 secounds!!! yes I said 5 secounds… anyway its documented…. forever I will keep this paper, maybe even frame it…. the abuse we undergo is incredible… I see my self with no patience for anyone or anything around me. When I have to deal with people in retail or other various buisnesses, I feel like I`m gona exployed when I see anyone going slow… I see waste everywhere…. I can no longer relax, even on days off! People dont know what we go threw.
Wow! i understand your sentiments being a fellow carrier. So sad that this was on your mind on Christmas day. I know it’s just words from one person but I believe this to be of a common nature due to being a carrier out of three offices over many years. The attitude of management is so condescending without their having a background of rightous entitlement other than a title (or even the 204 wanna B’s) given to them. Any recognition they’ve earned has been on our backs. Hope others see this and comment also. The public just really doens’t know. I had a misdelivered package on my route when I was off. Package was for a dying man from his sister out west. A sentimental item she had hand-crafted for him. Though my office could see the date and time it was delivered, they refused to even see which scanner (person) supposedly delivered that package. The 204 wanna B (a former fellow carrier with 10 years less senority than I) did not want to “bother” the supervisor. So I brought it up with the supervisor and the supervisor and she said, “How do we know someone just didn’t back up a car after the delivery and then picked up the package.” We all know that COULD happen but why not take it as far as possible. Could not believe the lack of care for the customer. As a carrier, if managment would have shown me the last dropped package delivered before this one and the next one after, I would have no problem walking up to customer’s doors just to “ask” for them to look around out of respect.
I was a clerk for ten years before becoming a letter carrier which I have been for almost ten years now and I can say with NO hesitation that Letter Carriers are treated like garbage compared to clerks, at least in my view and experience.
The postmaster for my town was kicked out of every station he was assigned to in a management position (four) in the neighboring city before he was removed from the neighboring city completely. Offenses included sexual harrassment, violence in the workplace, racial discrimination, sexual relations with an employee which earned him an illegitament child (he’s married with two daughters). The racial discrimination lawsuit resulted in the the postal employee being awarded 67,000$. This sociopaths’ actions and behaviors have not only been condoned by the higher-ups but rewarded. He started out as a 204b and has risen to the rank of postmaster! All through the degenerate and regressed behavior that has cost the USPS well over 100,000 dollars in EEOs and lawsuits! Now he has actually found some low-level floor-flushing 204b useful idiot to follow his every word and command! Two lawsuits have been filed against these two as well as numerous EEOs. Those of us who have not sold out our integrity can only pray that Christ and Karma will finally remove these two agents of Satan from our midst! My heart goes out to each and everyone of my fellow craft employees who have had to suffer through the actions and behaviors of bad USPS management.
try being a contractor
As a City Letter Carrier and in solidarity with your courageous statements, I would like to extend my condolences to Trish’s family, friends, co-workers and community. I am currently out on stress related leave due to Postal Managements routine deficiencies. The bullying, harrassment and policies lending themselves to this TOXIC WORK ENVIRONMENT must come to an end…but I truly do not see that happening. My Union knows of the problems and can do little to help…a lot comes under the heading of “managements right to mis-manage”…and EEO laws are non-inclusive of much of what Management gets away with on a daily basis. They push you to the point of injury, then write you up when you hurt yourself trying to comply with their routinely inadequate evaluations of work-load and the time it takes to do the job safely. When you negotiate in the morningfor the time that you think the day requires, they come out of left field with numbers and times that have no basis in either reality or past performance. They are combative and bullying, they loudly proclaim that “nobody else is asking for time today!” to further intimidate you utilizing their version of peer pressure. They routinely give preferrential treatment to “favorites” in the form of overtime, days off, etc. Most Postal Supervisors have no formal Managerial Training outside of the Postal Service, so it is “in-bred” and passed down from generation to generation of new Postal Management. Regional Management changes frequently making it difficult to pin the deficiencies on any one person and as the saying goes…”S*** rolls downhill.” In short…Carriers are at the bottom of the hill. We are expected to make up for the deficiencies of the plant, the supervisors in our own offices and others in the area, we are set upon and degraded openly and in private and our Unions do not posess the crucial right to strike. We are fighting a losing battle to do our best to keep the Postal Service afloat, while Management pokes more holes in the boat.
Like much that Government does, the Postal Service might better serve the American Public these days in the Private Sector…as much as it grieves me to say that! We in the Service of our Country’s Mail Delivery System know EXACTLY what is going on…but it seems that we have put our faith and our futures into a highly politicized system with the Unions as our only real recourse…
how’s THAT workin’ for ya? Yes….it’s BAD….it’s Nation wide, and it must change.
My best friend of 30 years committed suicide November 27, 2012 in the parking lot of the Ormond Beach, FL post office where she worked as a TE for 6 years. The manager and the supervisor were bullies to her as well as to the other carriers. She was a hard worker, as the fellow employees all will say. However, she was a target for bullying by her manager Scott and her supervisor Sharon. She was promised she’d be made a regular for six years, and each year she was passed up by someone who was a favorite. She had no benefits and had terrible pain in her hip. When she would ask them to please let her work on a driving route just for a day to give her hip some reprieve, they laughed at her and told her if she didn’t like it she could quit because she could be replaced easily. This type of bullying is deplorable. Those two people are deplorable. She was important to the rest of us. We loved her and it broke our hearts to hear her stories of misery at her work place. Neither the supervisor nor the manager even bothered to come to her memorial. Her suicide note clearly says that the post office and the terrible management was just too much for her to handle. The post office sent post masters to other offices to have a stand up meeting with employees where they said that she committed suicide and it had nothing to do with the post office. They said that it was because she was having issues due to her recent divorce. (She had been divorced for 26 years so I have no idea where they came up with that.) It is time that the entire country understands how toxic the work environment is and how cruel these power hungry managers and supervisors are to people they believe are beneath them. This isn’t just an Ormond Beach, FL problem… it is nation wide.
Hwy Contract: I too am hispanic and have been experiencing years of harrassment, and failed attempts of removing me from my 26 year position within the postal service. If EAP is available to you then you must go. Go to your doctor to get your health/mental issues addressed & documented. Keep a journal of your feelings and things that happen at work. Document everything that happens….everything. Seek advice from an EEO counselor. Their is an excellent EEO Legal Advocate that is named J.R. Pritchett, that I am using in representing me in my present EEO cases I have filed. He knows everything about how the P.O. works. He knows their attempts to screw employees. He knows how badly they lie. He will help you!! It is unlawful for you to be treated the way you are!!! Take action. DO NOT empower them just because they are the Government!!! You are smart, strong and have RIGHTS UNDER THE LAW that you need to excersise!! Get help from friends to focus and file for your rights. Contact J.R. at 208-254-9196. At least find out what he can do for you!!
Sounds like you can file and EEO for protected activities, your nationality, sexual pursuation, harrassment, gender & who knows what else. Please empower yourself and take action! Use that negative energy to do some good for yourself. Look online at what caselaw is out there regarding your circumstances. You would be so surprised that you are not alone and that others have prevailed. Write to your congressman, the President. Let your voice be heard. As far as the OIG, or Postal Inspectors go, NEVER answer any questions from them without telling them that you are entitled to have an Attorney present. Having a Union Rep is NOT good enough. AND NEVER believe those guys are your friend. Do NOT sign anything ESPECIALLY do not write a statement. AND, since you have already met with the Inspectors have your Union Steward write on your behalf requesting ALL documentation concerning your investigation referring to the Freedom of Information Act. They must provide it to you without blocking out names of others named in the report. If it is not too late, have your union file a greivance on your suspension requesting all information the bosses used to come to this determination. File and EEO within 45 days of you being put off the clock!! Good Luck. I will NOT give in, nor should you!! Hispanics are treated the worst in discrimination. Stand up and put a STOP to it!!
I’m an openly gay25yr old Hispanic Spanish speaking male. Im a highway contract mail carrier, let me add that I am the only openly gay Hispanic Spanish speaking mail carrier. I’m a minority, and I get singled out I would love that counseling cuz the post office has messed me up quite mentally, due to bullying from management and coworkers.. but city carriers are the only ones that are covered for counseling.. recently 1 of the bullies that hates me, lied and told inspectors that I was going to go postal do to using the word postal, and my likes in movies such as war movies, because I want to be a Navy Seal.. Im suspended until they do their investigation.. All because they let the bullying 2 go on. which a job could be lost, do to somebody’s crazy comments and hate, which could possibly potentially ruin a person’s life.. if I need to speak the truth and expose the.. people for who they are I will do so. All round the world.. the world needs to know. I’m worried that I will wake up tomorrow and I not have a home to live in or food to eat or water to washup or poop. Or now heat in the winter.. I live alone., not by choice this is a lot to mentally process when you are 25 years old.. I would like to be having fun with friends my own age but instead I’m at home worrying weather I will be homeless.. due to a coworkers Envy n hate. years of bullying.. I wanted to share the story of the person that was bullied something was said but nobody took the guy serious. the guy ended up killing himself committing suicide and the family ended up turning around and placed lawsuit and sued hell out of the post office! And won!
Why? If there are so many of us USPS workers that are aware of not only management’s creation of these toxic environments-but the unions help in molding them-Why? Can’t we create an environment albeit site/movement to help in undoing this…there has to be something that can be done to help us better.
Need not know, you take the information that you have and you file a Congressional Inquiry. If you don’t have documentation then start now. Even if it’s just in the form of a diary that you write in daily. IF it is something that be considered fraud and you know that it can be proved you file an anonymous complaint with the OIG.
CEE CEE
I knew the carrier in your office that you are referring to. He was a gentle and kind soul. The postal service does not deserve to have an employee like that. They are looking for devious and “yes” carriers to do the dirty work. All of the carriers I know won’t stoop to that level. I wouldn’t that’s why I transferred out of the district six years ago. The postal mentality sucks. Its funny how customer service is only important when they loose a carrier to suicide. It doesn’t matter if the mail gets delivered any other day does it. A——s!!!
I am a 25 year employee with a spotless record.I am a suicide survivor. After being forced to work 6 days a week endlessly I was destroyed. My marriage of 35 years fell apart. I went to EAP for counselling for 3 months.They are awesome.
Now 2 years later my wife and I have reconciled and have become Christians.
I am still working 6 day weeks but I use a lot of sick time so as not to get burnt out again by the constant torment. This week I have been harassed all week for a misdelivered parcel 3 weeks ago. Whatever happened to dignity and respect.
The sad truth is that this article and the comments are so true. This article is from someone who knows what he is talking about on the ground, and in the culture of a toxic environment.
The Postal Service could be a great place to work, but a culture of numbers, which creates a culture of lies, is indeed a cause of a toxic environment.
I have almost three decades with the USPS, and every week, I think things can’t get worse, but they do.
Now that the USPS is in the microscope of Congress and Debt, the toxicity is getting worse and worse, driven by the management in Washington.
Discipline, harassment, refusal of overtime requests, all are a part of daily routine.
Our local station manager fusses over “seconds”, but she told me (months before she went out on “stress leave”, that before she retired, she would take a whole YEAR of sick leave. This is several years before she can retire, and she is PLANNING on stealing a year from the USPS, plus costing the price of her replacement. I could go on…
We have had EIGHT OIC’s in six months. Each demands the lower supervisors to write “paper” (discipline in the form of letters of warning, etc.).
It is all over missed scans (no one or no scanner is perfect, and missing ONE scan out of hundreds is NOT refusal to follow instructions). It is over “unauthorized overtime, now called unscheduled overtime”. It will not be authorized or scheduled because they will not approve it, but force you to skip breaks, lunch, run, etc.
They talk about safety and hydration, and safety in bad weather, but don’t you dare mention it.
Older carriers such as myself are constantly harassed with Investigative Interviews and letters of warning that are full of untruths. You are dogged on the street, and of course you might make it in eight hours or less, because they go with you on light days, and no customer will even whisper to you when a supervisor is following you, etc.
I wish I could get paid one good lump sum for all the time I have given, peeing in a bottle in the back of an LLV (the women do it too, let me tell you); for all the time I have skipped breaks and lunches; for all the time I simply “forgot” to clock out, thus giving them gobs of hours over the years; for all the time I have worked off the clock cleaning up the mess of the day, simply because I did not want to “hear it” from management.
The TE’s are treated like slaves, forced to work inhuman demands, and they have to do it, or else. They get in wrecks or get hurt, hurrying, but WHO is to blame, really? But who gets fired?
People who have never had a letter of warning in their entire career of over 20, 25, even 30 years, are getting them, all over insane expectations.
The size of a workforce does make a minute of overtime for each person extremely costly on a daily basis, I know that. But if it is overtime WORKED, doing productive things, then so be it.
The environment is going to have to change from the top. They talk the talk, but force management to act otherwise.
We are humans, doing work that is NOT rocket science, that is, a computer program cannot be used in an inflexible manner, or programmed in such a manner that TRUTH, reality, and daily circumstances are squeezed out of the formula.
CeeCee first accept my condolences .Please give us some background .I read about this on PostalMag.com but its been buried everywhere else .Checked your local newspaper and TV stations and cant find anything. Your friend wanted his story to be heard and to get the word out PLEASE talk to us
From Rick Owens @ PEN: It is really very sad to hear of this. The station I worked at for over 30 years had three carriers commit suicide – each at different times. None of these were due to work issues – does anyone know whether or not this instance was brought on by something at work.
Oh by the way these postmaster’s call this time off Comp time, if you know anything about management they actually have to show up for work in order to get comp time, they work one hour over their time and they take a whole day. I thought that is why they get paid 83,000.00 a year…
I have one better. I have Postmaster’s taking time off and getting paid for it, this is the second one I have worked for that has done this. Now she is trying to get me fired for saying I claimed 10 miles to much on my travel. She has not put in any annual o r sick leave in since Oct 2011, yet she has been off for her husbands heart surgery, her son’s throat surgery, another son’s graduation, called in sick and 2 summer vacation’s already this summer and yet not one ounce of annual. How is this possible that these postmaster’s can get away with this yet she is trying to have me fired? Upper management takes care of their own, they hide shit, lie for each other and much more. I have seen this with my own eyes, I could bury my district with the shit I know, but who do I tell? What would get done? At this point I am with CEE CEE they would do me a favor and fire me because I won’t sell my soul for this job..Oh I have 17years in the PO with no disipline just awards for job well done.( When they use to do that sort of thing)
It is july 2nd 2012 and another worker of the USPS
committed suicide today at my station! He was
There more than 25 years and was the best
carrier at my station. To come to work a punch
in on the clock and then heading to the men’s
locker room to take his own life should be
a wakeup call for management but they expressed
little concern! Their only concern was who was
staying to work and who was leaving because even
Though your coworker that u see everyday just
passed a few hours ago on our clock in our
building the mail still has to be delivered!
I never knew how cruel and heartless my supervisors and
manager could really be until today! I decided
there’s no way I can retire from the post office
so I’m looking for another job as we speak!
Denise: It definetely sounds like you are being screwed over. The bastards clearly want you out. And your experience with the half-hearted and anemic efforts of your NALC local sounds very familiar indeed, and sadly not uncommon. The local boys more often than not take care of themselves and their friends first and foremost, leaving you (and the less senior people, as well as the people they despise) with the crumbs off the table. Be especially wary of the Union Branch President or Steward that goes into the PM’s office with your grievance, and exits saying that he’s oh so, so sorry, but he can’t do anything to help you. Most likely he has just sold you out; working a sweetheart deal, one that feathers his nest, and those of his buddies. Its a well-traveled compromise route this blatant collusion between Management and the Union. Mr. Union Honcho gets what he wants for himself and his friends, and management gets what they want whenever you voice a concern. That is: the freedom to mess with you without restraint. Yet however bleak your situation is right now, I would strongly advise that you contact the NALC’s Regional Business Manager. Let him know that you have a problem, and that your local is cowardly doing nothing to help you. From his higher vantage point the Business Manager maybe aware that there is a pattern of non-representative abuse going on. I would also write and call the the NALC bigshots in Washington, although they almost always like to wash their hands in any matter brought up by the people they are supposedly working for, and then promptly send you back to the problem you’re addressing. But try nonetheless; you may get lucky. EEO is a waste of time of course, but document and retain every printed word you receive from them, and carefully record every conversation you have with them. Demand to know why they are not doing something to help you. All your due diligence will indicate to parties further down the legal road that you acted in good faith and attempted to play the game by the rules. no matter how absurd the whole process may seem. Additionally, if you can continue somehow to maintain outside legal pressure on the USPS; by all means do so! Call you Congressman if you feel that you’ve been abused. Create a storm of organized protest, After all, you have nothing to lose, because you need to be clear in your mind about this: these rotten management bastards are no doubt determined to bring you down!
And I can’t stress this too much: please by all means record and document everything carefully and thoroughly. Think: Lawsuit. Think: Victory.
Wow it is good to know that I am not imagining that management is corrupt, unjust and down right criminal. The Post Office is suppose to be “A Model Employer” and they are the biggest offenders of all the rules from Sexual Harassement, Age (Discrimination of all types), Abusive Management practices you name it they’ve committed it against its employees. Currently I am seeking anyone who can give information on who/what office I can go to for help. I was injured by management and because I choose to get medical treatment they’ve harassed me to no end. Their final result is to terminate me. I was a faithful worker, I took pride in my work and regardless of that they’ve chosen to single me out and make my life hell. The union is a joke they’ve taken a hands off policy in my case and they’re allowing management to violate my rights but at the same time telling me you have a good case against them. I spent money on Attorneys fees and I they backed off for a moment now they’ve taken away my position and sent me home to be paid by DOL however before I can be paid the PO must submit my forms to which they’re refusing to do so for 2 months now I am without income. I have been told that may be around Thanks Giving time they’ll process my paper work. I filed EEO but have no representation, the union refuses to assist and I cannot afford my lawyer. I feel as if I am having a break down which is what they want. Two supervisors told me Manager X said he doesn’t like you and he’s going to fire you so please be careful. Anyone with info on who I can file claims against the PO and Union please post, I am in NY
I resigned from the postal service after fourteen years of service. I was even in a small office. It wasn’t a push to get the mail delivered that caused my harassment. I angered another worker by sorting mail faster than her. This was only the beginning, Through the next three years I went through hell. When I though I could take it no more. I tried to file for FMLA and was told “she had never seen this approved before” I though it was illegal for an employer to discourage an employee from taking FMLA. I guess its ok if you’re the government.
This article is on target. After years as a loyal and consistant employee I was hit in a van by a illegal immigrant. Ofter a craniotomy and other injuries I’ve been thrown out by NPR. I have problems remembering things now they want me to be clerk.
I am relatively new to the post office.. coming up on 5 yrs this December.. and already I am seeing exactly what everyone is saying, espeically with the threate of 5 day delivery and trying to force us PTF carriers out in favor of TE employees. I can already see that the USPS only cares about one thing, the bottom line… they will push you until you push back, and if you do not, then they will just keep riding you all the way to the grave. To make things worse, the Union is no better than upper management. They too have their own agenda. This is my only job dealing with a union, and by far this is the worst I have seen any employees treated. The union isn’t there to help us, the employees, it is there to help the union.
I’ve been in the USPS for 20+ years as a carrier and nothing has changed. The supervisors and postmasters push, push, push. They accuse and belittle and if you stand up for yourself then you are targeted. Any carrier who doesn’t work off the clock and skip lunch and breaks is not a “team player” and is dealt with severely until they quit. Anybody who fights back is my friend and I go out of my way to encourage them and let them know that they are not alone. I am the number one target in my office. I hate those bastards!.
When you hit age 45 or so, and you can no longer move as fast as when you were 25, the supervisors are under the gun to either get you moving again, or make your life so miserable that you will take the first retirement offer that is made. This is life in the USPS today. And the PMG and the Board of Governors will just shrug their shoulders when asked about the workplace environment and say, “We are not aware of any situations that exist today like that.” I say take those high-powered suits and skirts on the Board of Governors, put them into the TE program undercover, and see what life is really like!!….I bet they will not be saying “if you don’t like the job, McDonalds is always hiring.” Until that happens, they are as useless to the craft workers as the old Employee Involvement program was.
After a number of years of meeting and exceeding city carrier expectations I began getting the subtle but obvious give me more language. After many accolades and awards by my managers and supervisors recently all that went down the drain. A hostile atmosphere developed and I began to speak out and then decided to retire early to avoid compromising my own integrity or engaging in hostile actions in retaliation. These new expectations levied on managers, supervisors and workers comes when the PO is in decline. Absent, it seems, is the ability and experience to lead under adverse conditions. Forget customer service, there’s no time for that!
Before they asked me to take a disability retirement after 20 years of honest and faithful service….I had 2 bleeding ulcers…. Needles to say, I was happy to leave but the emotional scars remain!
But who cares? We have to deal with same managers everyday……..nothing has been change.
Finally someone is telling it as it really is ! And coming from a professional in mental health this adds to the weight of the problem of stress in the work place. I would also venture that this added stress contributes to accidents in the work place and out in the field, both walking and driving. I’ve been with the Post Office for 30 years as a city carrier and I’ve never seen it this bad. I fear that it will only get worse as the “business model” further deteriorates. It really is an untenable situation that ultimately points to a much smaller operation with a much less top heavy system of management.
Right on target. It is definitely destroying mental health.