The trouble in West Essex, New Jersey between postal workers and management seems to be more widespread than the borders of New Jersey. Now, a Boston post office worker sent this missive to this newspaper.
Thank you to the many national publications that are now publishing these pieces, which are being sent out to readers and shared across the country. The internet, social media and a call for help is being taken seriously by one and all. As for this reporter, I am waiting a few days to get my reply from the Washington, D.C. office of the postmaster general and Congressman Frelinghuysen.
Updates to follow.
Click here for first article.
Click here for update.
Click here for first anonymous letter.
Have a comment to add? Email me at jerseytpress@gmail.com with any anonymous comments. I will never divulge your identity.
- Diane Lilli
Please note: all letters published are not proven, and are allegations.
Letter number 2: Post office series, from a post office employee
I just read your article about the Jersey PO near you, and I as a postal worker and carrier who would also like to remain anonymous can tell you it is not just a New Jersey problem. I work right outside of Boston MA as a carrier and the work load and conditions are the worst I've witnesses in 15 plus years on the job. People are overworked, stressed, and tired, and we have to continually hear from management how we don't have enough work.
We do have enough work the problem is we don't have enough workers anymore, and that the postal service in their infinate wisdom is not hiring career employees anymore, they claim they are but they aren't. Now you are hired as a CCA with the option of becoming career when it is needed, it's a farce they hire people for $15 per hour work them like dogs upwards of 50-60 hours per week do not offer them health insurance or retirement give them minimum sick and vacation leave and then wonder why they are all quitting after two weeks.
Management gets around paying health benefits by laying these employees off every year for one week, CCA's who were previously on the roles were called TE's and the changed there name and cut there pay by $7 an hour. I have some carriers in my office who have been temp or CCA's for 6-7 years, it pathetic that the postal service is allowed to treat workers so poorly, but they are and they do. We have carriers who on a daily basis work until 6,7 and even 8pm delivering mail.
This has also been the worst winter I in 15 years has had to work through there has been more injuries and more sickness than in past years MGMT is fully aware and could careless. I got the flu thus year and was out for a week and to penalize me I was not paid even though I have the sick leave to cover my absence and a doctors note as well. MGMT will do just about anything to hurt you anyway they can, if the postal service treated their workers like humans they would have a lot less sick calls, and groaning. They think that it is completely ok to treat me as if I were a child, I'm a 40 year old who when I am sick and not in need of a doctor should be able to stay home take my OTC cough medicine and get paid.
The postal service for lack of a better word is run so ass backwards you have never seen anything like it. I hope that your articles shed some light on how badly we are truly treated and that someone takes note and cares enough to stop it. If you look at most management personnel in Boston at least the majority of them is related to someone else nepotism is and always will be a problem in the high ranks of MGMT. I am only a lowly letter carrier but I know for a fact I could run the post office better than any of the people running it now, because I have actually done the job and have an appreciation for how difficult it can be at times.
I am also not naive - there are also employees who are just not good workers, and there are employees who are good workers but just don't care anymore because they've had enough and have been beaten down and because no one else cares so why should I , and that's the worst part. I used to care but now I could careless, I care about my customers but not the rest of it.
I don't care if I call in sick and they don't pay me just means another day of sick leave I don't care if they write me up, I'm secretly wishing they fire me, I don't care if they tell me what to do if it's unsafe I'm not going to do it. The postal service has put to much emphasis on technology and not enough on people because they can have all the technology in the world to sort mail in the office but they will need some poor chump like me to deliver it.
