What is going on here?

A few close friends have advised me that my articles lately don’t have the fire they used to have. Well let’s see what may have caused that. The Postal Service decided to implement an old pilot program previously known as the Dallas, Kokomo, and Hempstead program, put a new dress on it, renamed it the Ryder route/delivery test program and rolled it out at Ryder station in Brooklyn N.Y, which is the largest classified station in that borough. They implemented this test program taking out 3 routes on top of taking 10 routes out for the F.S.S. program. Do the math, 13 routes out of 65 leaves 52. This equates to total disaster for our service standards. Carriers out in street delivering mail 9 o’clock in the evening, mail being misdelivered, thrown on the floor in apartments with Government boxes, scans being missed, complaints running rampant, local politicians’ and community boards in an uproar. What is more upsetting is the Postal service has expanded this pilot program to other area’s and said that after 6 months of gathering information the stations will revert back to its original delivery methods. What purpose does that serve? We are our own worst enemies.

Wait time in line is another issue. We must have clerical staffing in order to man the windows. This does not always happen do to sick calls and annual leave, and cut to the bone staffing. If you fail a Mystery shop you are taken downtown sometimes early in the morning for what management calls a retail drill down. Managers have the task of proving why they failed the Mystery shop. In most cases it would be what you could have done to insure a successful mystery shop. Sometimes an over zealous retail specialist can be overly aggressive. If this happens please let us know and we will get it to the proper upper management official.

Another thing that bothers me as I compare the good old days when employees were treated with dignity and respect with today’s management officials. How can a direct report tell a supervisor or manager that they can’t go on scheduled annual leave unless they find a replacement. Since when is it my job to schedule vacation coverage? That is the job of the Poom or Area manager. When an Area Mgr changes your schedule it is his or her responsibility to find you coverage if necessary. Don’t let them tell you the responsibility of coverage rests with you, or the famous DON’T MAKE YOUR PROBLEMS MINE STATEMENT. I wonder if they know what their job description really is. We are our own worst enemies.

Darrell Issa Republican from California who chairs the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform committee has a RAP SHEET. It includes arrests for weapons charges and auto theft, suspicion of arson, and accusations of intimidation with a gun, but you would hardly know it from the media’s recent coverage of the chairmen of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee. While Issa was substantially mentioned in 15 articles in the nation’s largest newspapers since the last election including several major profiles, only one of those articles mentioned any of these allegations. Likewise, interviewers did not ask Issa about his alleged criminal past in any of the cable or network interviews he sat for during that period. My question is why this individual is being given a pass on these criminal allegations by the media? My second question is why are the good people in California allowing this man to hold office? In New York even with a misdemeanor conviction you can lose your right to vote and to serve on jury duty. Mr. Issa was convicted of possession of an unregistered handgun paid a fine and served probation in Michigan while in college.

These are just some of the things that are bothering me and I wonder what we will do about it.

Stay Strong
Tommy Roma.