FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – 12/21/15 – It may be just four days until Christmas, but December 21st is also an important date for the United States Postal Service. It’s officially considered the busiest mailing day of the year.
With some 30 million packages going out worldwide Monday, postal service leaders said the sheer volume of packages is up 15 percent from this time last year. While it makes for a very busy December, post offices are working around the clock to make sure packages get from their stations to people’s front doors by Christmas Day.
“It happens every year, and we are seasoned,” Northwood Post Office manager Kim Early said. Read more
Now that parcel business is through the roof, almost literally, it’s time for management to consider the fact that having a lot more parcels to deliver means a lot more street time. It’s always insulting to read quotes from managers, about how “we’re seasoned” or “we’re ready”. They don’t do anything but supposedly count the packages and sit in the nice comfy office while carriers are out after dark doing the real work.
We as craft understand that this is our job and if we don’t want to do it, well, there’s the door, and nobody is stopping us from quitting. But we DON’T like people taking the credit for work they don’t do, and the higher ups getting bonuses or in the case of the top cats, enormous raises on the backs of us.
Letter carriers deserve more pay because our work load has increased exponentially. No route adjustments are in sight because management will not do counts and inspections unless they think they can cut routes and eliminate positions. I would never recommend anybody put in for a 271-G (special route count) because every time somebody in my office did, including myself, we got our routes added on to.
How about a level increase for those with 20 or more years? We get no increases after topping out except for contract agreements and the occasional COLA. I see no reason why a carrier with that much time in with a good record shouldn’t be a Level 7. Of course, I’m not holding my breath.