BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

President Obama: Respect workers’ Rights - Emancipate United States Postal Workers 

PART III

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We thought it would be instructive if we took the time to reprise in part an article that we did in December of 2009. During that time we wrote a series of articles pointing out that the United States Postal Service was a microcosm of America as a whole, so to ignore the plight of it’s employees would come back to bite middle-class workers as a whole. 
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At this writing, Ohio voters are in the process of voting to repeal a Draconian assault on middle-class workers by Governor John Kasich and his Republican legislature. It’s one of many votes across the country that’s only necessary because American workers refused to wake up to the fact that the only way to fight for their own justice, is to fight for the justice of others. 
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Ohio voters wouldn’t have had the problem they’re facing if they wouldn’t have ignored the threat that the GOP posed to workers when they elected Kasich, but they thought he was only a threat to others.  But now they’ve found out the hard way that injustice toward some is a threat to the justice of all, and it’s much more difficult to fight off injustice when you wait until the boots are at your door.   
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The Tea  Party abruptly woke up to this fact as well. By the way, when was the last time you heard from the Tea Party?  I'll tell you when - when the GOP started talking about attacking Social Security, Medicare, and the programs that have a direct impact on their lives. Isn't it funny how fast people begin to see the light when the quality of THEIR lives are under attack?  

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The Role of Poor, Minorities, and Middle Class in the New World Order

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The phrase New World Order says it all. But in our blind naivete' and the belief that it can't happen here, the vast majority of American people believe the phrase refers to the reshuffling, in terms of importance, of the various nations around the world. We fail to understand that the change is much more profound than that. The new world order not only applies to a geo-political reshuffling among nations, but the reshuffling of the internal economic structure within individual nations as well.
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That means that as the world moves from many separate national economies to one global economy the class structure of the various nations of the world must be adjusted to accommodate the new state of affairs. In turn, that means that the high standard of living enjoyed by the American middle class since WWII can no longer be sustained in an economy where many of America's competitors are paying their workers less per week than many of us spend on lunch per day. That accounts for why American jobs are being outsourced to other countries, and Walmart, one of the largest retail corporations in the world, has based its business model on purchasing most of its merchandise from China in order to undercut the price demands of its competitors.
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Walmart is a microcosm of the revised American business strategy under the new world order. Must only look at Walmart's business model, and the socioeconomic profile of its employees, and see exactly what direction American business, and our society, is headed as a whole.
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Walmart's business strategy is to hire easily replaceable and low skilled employees who are at, or very near, the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. It then takes advantage of their precarious economic condition to squeezes every dime of profit out of the company's operation . They aggressively fight organized labor to hold down employee wages and benefits, and deny their employees anything approaching affordable healthcare. That, essentially, is the American business model under the new world order.
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But now there is a new wrinkle. Now, the United States government has embraced this anti middle class business model.  In the past the U.S. government was dedicated to enhancing the standard of living of workers all over the world to conform to the standard of living of U.S. workers, but now, as evidenced by the abusive employment practices of the U.S. Postal Service - the second largest employer of middle-class workers in the country - the United States has clearly embraced the corporatist philosophy that it’s easier to lower the standard of living of American workers to conform to that of third world countries.
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Thus, at this point, American workers are on their own. Neither business nor government are on our side. Where business was once our partner in a symbiotic relationship, it is now a predator to consumers and employees alike. Our parents could pull into a gas station and a guy in a white shirt and bow tie would run out to check their oil and water, then put air in their tires as he pumped twenty-two cents a gallon gas into their tanks. I know, gas is no longer that cheap, but what happen to the service?
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The reason for the change is greed. When the United States had a thriving industrial economy, one class complimented the other. Labor was well paid and given the security of knowing that they had a job for life, so they had the confidence to purchased goods that the corporations produced. That allowed the companies that sold the goods to prosper, to the benefit of the investor class.
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But now, in a global market, in order to remain competitive with countries that pay their workers just above slave wages, corporations have to squeeze every penny and every concession out of the labor class that they can get. And since the heads of these corporations must make huge profits to justify their unconscionably oversized bonuses, they prey on their workers by undercutting their benefits and outsourcing the very jobs that the economy is dependent upon to sustain the corporation, and the nation. But since these corporate heads live from bonus to bonus and only think about themselves, they never stop to consider the negative impact of their irresponsible behavior on the economic viability of the nation.
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So now, when Wall Street or the Fed announces that the economy is thriving, they're not talking about the American economy as a whole - they're only talking about the monetary return of the investor class. A thriving economy means they're successfully squeezing the American worker to the limit and gouging the consumer of every penny that he can afford to part with - and a few that he can't. It is that kind of greed and irresponsibility that led to the 2008 economic disaster, and nothing has changed.
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In the global economy of the new world order, corporations no longer need the American worker to sustain their profits. Now that they can outsource their labor, and purchase and sell their goods overseas, the American worker is no longer a partner in the corporation's viability. the worker has now been relegated to the status of field hand. The only time they need us is when they want to tap the treasury for our tax dollars to pay off their gambling debts.
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An article in Wikipedia points out that the AIG Financial Products division, headed by Joseph Cassano, in London, had entered into credit default swaps to insure $441 billion worth of securities originally rated AAA. Of those securities, $57.8 billion were structured debt securities backed by subprime loans. So not only did the American taxpayer pay off this insurance company's debt, but we paid off a debt that originated in another country.
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Now, your money is being taken once again, but this time, they're taking YOUR money, to pay YOUR representative, to block an attempt by President Obama to stop them from cutting your throat in a time of crisis, just like they did to the corporations on Wall Street. But there's one very big difference - you and you're family are NOT too big to fail, so without the benefit of a robust, job creation program like the one proposed by president Obama, but being blocked by the GOP, you're simply gonna bite the dust - and with the corrupt and able assistance of many of your very own representatives.
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Think about that, and urge president Obama to step up to the plate and emancipate United States postal Workers, because they represent the American middle class as a whole.
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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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President Obama: Respect workers’ Rights - Emancipate United States Postal Workers PART II

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

President Obama: Respect workers’ Rights - Emancipate United States Postal Workers 

PART II

As pointed out in Part I of this series, on August 13, 2011, after Carrier Sylvester Burton inadvertently left part of his mail in the station, he alleges that U.S. Postal Service supervisor, Juanita Hamblet, of Rimpau Station in Los Angeles, came out to his route and subjected him to severe verbal abused.  According to Mr. Burton and an independent witness, Ms. Hamblet came out to his route and began to verbally accost him in a very hostile and aggressive manner.  Then when Burton asked the supervisor why she was harassing him, the following exchange took place:

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“She then walked up to me, her hand in my face and said, ‘I CAN HARASS YOUR ASS AS MUCH AS I WANT, AND I WILL CONTINUE TO HARRASS YOUR ASS. I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU BURTON - I THINK YOUR ASS IS GAY. TAKE YOUR ASS BACK TO THE STATION, I’M GONNA CALL THE POSTAL POLICE ON YOUR ASS!’

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“So I pulled about 8 feet away from her and parked, wondering if I should follow this woman’s instructions or ignore her and finish delivering mail. Then she walked up to me again, and said, ‘I SAID TAKE YOUR ASS BACK TO THE STATION! THAT’S A DIRECT ORDER!’
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When we got back to the station she ran into Mrs. Stanley’s office and told the manager that I called her a bitch, I threatened her, and that I almost ran over her. She also said that I was a coward and she was intimidated by my presence.”
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One of the customers on the route wrote a statement substantiating Mr. Burton’s account of the incident, adding, “My entire family including my seven year-old niece had to witness this entirely unprofessional vulgar outburst. The cursing and swearing peppered with the f-word and the homophobic remarks was nothing less than shocking and completely inappropriate.  I was extremely offended by her homophobic remarks and I am myself gay, not to mention the cursing and swearing in front of our child . . . You need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS WOMAN. While representing the USPS no one should be able to behave that badly and make that big of a scene in public plus publicly attacking a subordinates sexual orientation and be allowed to keep their job.  If Mr. Burton sues for harassment I will gladly be a witness on his behalf.”
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There have been several complaints regarding the behavior of this supervisor in the past. Subsequent to the incident with Mr. Burton, one employee summoned the courage to write the following:
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“To whom it may concern:
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“I, Vyonnie Garbutt, can attest to the fact that Mr. Sylvester Burton is a respectable, hardworking carrier at Rimpau Station.  He always treats everyone with respect and carries himself in a professional manner.
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“I would also like to attest to the fact that I have personally witnessed Carrier Supervisor Juanita Hamblet unprofessionalism and lack of dignity and respect for several employees at Rimpau Station.  These employees include window clerks, distribution clerks, carriers, custodians, TE’s and PTF carriers. Some of these employees I personally witnessed include Marcus Smith (Carrier), Antoine Denson (Carrier), Charmaine Hepburn (Clerk), Ms. Franklin (TE), Mr. Sonny (Custodian), Ms. Joi (PTF),Vyonnie Garbutt (Clerk), Sylvester Burton (Carrier).
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“Supervisor Juanita Hamblett has been in combustive verbal altercations on the workfloor too many times.  She creates an extremely hostile work environment for Rimpau Station.”
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Unfortunately, this sort of behavior is far from an aberration by far too many postal managers and supervisors.  In fact, it’s become protocol. Postal management routinely use threats, aggressive behavior, and intimidation to get employees to work off the clock without pay.  So when the postal employees refer to the postal service as “the plantation” they’re not speaking figuratively - and the various agencies within the government such as the Office of Inspector General and the EEOC, who are charged with protecting employee rights, are at best, indifferent to employee abuse, and at worst, in collusion with the agency to protect its impunity from repercussions. Thus, poor and middle-class workers have but one recourse, to address their plight as a political issue.
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As a United States government agency the U.S. Postal Service should be in the very forefront of the fight to protect employee rights, yet, in the Equal Employment Opportunity mediation initiated by Mr. Burton on this matter, instead of the postal service bending over backwards to correct what is clearly a toxic work environment, the agency went into damage control. The postal service didn’t even require Supervisor Hamblet to attend the mediation. Instead, they had an attorney, Kristi Ashman, come in her place to try to negotiate the issue away.
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Mr. Burton indicated that during the "mediation" he felt like he was trapped alone in a den full of jackals, and essentially he was. He was one worker trying to fight for his rights against the full weight of the federal government. He was alone in the room with his manager, his area manager, a post office attorney, a mediator who improperly urged him to accept the postal service's "lame resolution," and a union representative who the postal service's attorney pulled out the room to talk to out of Mr. Burton's earshot. So initially he signed the agreement as a result of feeling like an elephant was sitting on his chest. But to his credit, he came to his senses and rescinded the agreement within the remaining three-day time limit. In addition, the participants are sworn to secrecy regarding what takes place in the mediation, which is also slanted against the interest of the worker.
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The United States Postal Service is a microcosm of America as a whole, and the above situation is a perfect metaphor for the gross assault on poor and middle-class workers in this country as a whole.
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The working conditions created by the inept and irresponsible managers within the postal service is not only un-American, but creates a serious danger to the unsuspecting public at large. The reckless and self-serving  irresponsibility of bonus-seeking postal managers constitute nothing less than a United States government agency sending ticking time bombs to every business and home in America six days a week.  Dr. Stephen Musacco, an organizational psychologist, a therapist with thirty years experience in the postal service, and the author of "Beyond Going Postal,” says the following:
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“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.
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“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.”
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One of the criticisms of the "Occupy" movement is that it doesn't seem to have a well defined objective. But in defense of the movement, it is commendable that it's not allowing itself to be co-opted by any particular political party or group. One way to resolve that conflict is for the movement to simply target instances of glaring middle-class abuse and focus its energies on addressing those issues one at a time, and there's no better target for beginning that process than the United States Postal Service, for several reasons.
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First, there is not a more flagrant example of middle-class abuse anywhere in the world than the way the U.S. Postal Service treats its employees right here in the United States. Secondly, the postal service is the  largest civilian employer in the United States after Wal-Mart, so that alone makes it directly representative of the way middle-class workers are being abused as a whole in this country. And finally, the postal service also highlights the fact the U.S. government has now embraced the corporatist philosophy of profits over people, which, by definition, is blatantly un-American.
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We also have to confront the hypocrisy of our government.  Again, in a June 9, 2009 speech in Cairo, President Obama told the people of Egypt, “ But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.” 
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Thus,  during this election season we need to confront our president with the fact that he seems to be preaching a much better sermon than he's prepared to live.  We want to believe in him, but facts don't lie.  The following fact is a case in point:

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If we can sacrifice the lives of our young people to bring justice to others around the world, certainly the president can make a simple phone call to bring justice here at home to the families and former comrades of those who are putting their lives on the line. After all, veterans are postal workers too. 

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Where are you, Mr. President?


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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

Sphere: Related Content

Has the United States Postal Service Become a Criminal Enterprise?

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

The behavior of the United States Postal Service has become intolerable. The agency's gross abuse of its employees has come to rival that of a third world country. It's essential that we bring the following example of citizen abuse to an end in this country, because postal employees are just the beginning. If we simply sit around and quietly allow this kind of  corruption to go on, in time, the entire American middle class will be reduced to the status of field hands.

In the new global economy, businesses that were once American corporations are now multinational. They no longer depend on the American middle class to either buy or produce their goods. They can now send our jobs overseas and give them to foreign workers who earn less per week than many of us spend on lunch per day. So the American middle class standard of living has become a liability to the corporate bottom line. 

We used to be able to depend on our government to protect out interests, but what's currently going on in the postal service clearly demonstrates that's no longer the case. The behavior of the U.S. Postal Service clearly indicates that our government has begun to embrace the very same abusive business tactics as the private corporations that they're suppose to protect us against. Thus, it's time to use our political clout to push back.

The interest of the American poor and middle class will never be secure until we make the jobs of the political class insecure.

"A citizenry of sheep begets a government of wolves."

Edward R. Murrow

October 20, 2010

JoAnn Snow
City Carrier
Los Angeles District

Official Statement in Response to Notice of 14-Day Suspension

In accordance with Article 15 of the USPS/NALC National Agreement, I, JoAnn Snow, hereby file this official statement in response to the Notice of 14-Day Suspension issued to me on September 27, 2010 by the United States Postal Service. The document reads in part:

All Postal employees with time-keeping responsibilities are required to maintain time-keeping and pay records in strict compliance with postal regulations. When acting in a management position, employees with time-keeping access are aware that coworkers are to be compensated appropriately for work performed. Our regulations also require that clock rings accurately reflect the pay and work status of our employees. The postal Service has recently become aware that you have made time record entries for coworkers that were improper.

Postal Records reflect you entered numerous clock rings for craft employees Terria Clausell and Barbara Elzie that were improper and may have reflected the employees worked fewer hours than they actually worked. You made the entries for these employees which did not report directly to you.

I'm challenging the above action on the grounds that it is nonprogressive, punitive, untimely, and the facts as presented are ridiculously contrived. In addition, the charges brought against me are a blatant and unconscionable exercise in reprisal within the meaning of 5 USC 2302 (9) (a) of the federal code, which reads as follows:

Any employee who has authority to take, direct others to take, recommend, or approve any personnel action, shall not, with respect to such authority take or fail to take, or threaten to take or fail to take, any personnel action against an employee or applicant for employment for the exercise of any appeal, complaint, or grievance right granted by any law, rule, or regulation.

Falsifying Clock Rings

The charges indicate that I entered numerous clock rings for craft employees that didn't report directly to me. What they didn't say, however, was that it was the station's policy that 204Bs (acting supervisors) not hit the clock. In addition, 204Bs were also instructed not to enter their own time. Thus, the facts will show that the above notice of suspension has been issued to me for nothing more than the egregious offense of following instructions, and having the audacity to complain when my time was stolen. The matter that actually needs to be investigated, therefore, is why 204Bs are not allowed to hit the clock in the first place. Every 204B in the district clearly understands the reason why - because any time worked over 10 hours constitutes penalty overtime which requires the agency to pay the employee double time, and 204Bs routinely work between 12 and 16 hours a day, time that the district demands, but refuses to pay for.

In addition, the charges seem to indicate that when I entered a 204Bs time, it was my intent to deprive them of compensation that they were entitle to as a result of gainful employment. But the fact is, as the evening supervisor, I didn't get in until after 12 p.m., so I had no personal knowledge of how many hours the morning supervisors worked. I simply had to rely on the information that they provided me, so if they worked 14 hours and told me that they only worked 10, I entered 10 hours.

And further, the charges lodged against me lack both intent and motive. If the postal service's policies are indeed as laid out in the complaint, what motive would I have to deprive any employee of wages earned through gainful employment - it's not my money? Thus, if the employees were cheated out of hours, they cheated themselves as a result of the intimidation leveraged against them to adhere to the district's illegal policy of time fraud - and that is routinely the case.

Clear evidence of my contention is indicated in a memo sent out by Area Manager Joe Digiacomo to the supervisors in his area. It states the following:

Sent: Monday, February 01, 2010 11:28 AM

Effective Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 all delivery supervisors will be required to stay until all their carriers are back. Unless specifically documented and requested, no extra time will be given without my personal approval. No exceptions!

Any questions, call me.

Thanks

Joe Digiacomo SOM-2

Delivery supervisors are generally in the office by 6 a.m., and carriers are often on the street until after 8 p.m. So the above memo is instructing delivery supervisors that they must work that overtime without pay. Therefore, the above memo is grossly inconsistent with management's contention that "When acting in a management position, employees with time-keeping access are aware that coworkers are to be compensated appropriately for work performed." This clearly shows that while the postal service is preaching integrity out of one side of its mouth, it's threatening its employees not to hit the clock out of the other. So after getting such a memo, if a 204B worked 16 hours, what are the chances that they're going to tell me that? Yet, after the gross intimidation of its employees not to report the time they actually worked, the postal service now want to hold me responsible for the employees under-reporting their time. Thus, the action taken against me represents the very height of hypocrisy.

The Postal Service's History of Time Fraud

The theft of employee time that's going on here in the Los Angeles district is far from an aberration. The postal service has clearly adopted time fraud as a national business strategy. One law suit against the postal service alleged that time fraud against its employees is so rampant and widespread that it constitutes a criminal enterprise. The attorney in the case actually tried to charge the postal service with violation of the RICO Act (The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), the law passed by congress to go after the Mafia - and the postal service didn't deny the charge. Instead, it simply petitioned the court to throw out the allegation based on the fact that a government agency can't be charged with engaging in a criminal enterprise:

The USPS has petitioned the District Court to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses postal officials of intentionally deleting parts of employees' Time Records to Avoid Paying Overtime. The suit alleges USPS violated the RICO, Privacy and FLSA Acts. However, USPS argues, " The Postal Service is not Subject to RICO liability As Part of the Federal Government; and "Postal Service Officials Cannot Be Held Criminally liable for Acts Committed in Their Official Capacity." Donahue vs FBI (pdf) . The petition further states "the Supreme Court observed ( in USPS vs Flamingo Industries (pdf) ) that while the Postal Reorganization Act of 1971 may have waived the Postal Service's immunity from suit, it...did not strip it of its governmental status."

In New Hampshire, Congressman Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) called on the United States Postal Service to present a plan to fully reimburse postal workers for the wages they have lost as a result of managers manipulating their timecards." The congressman went on to say:

“It has been weeks and the hard-working employees at these post offices are still waiting for answers,” said Congressman Hodes. “The USPS should immediately present a plan to ensure that workers are immediately reimbursed for their lost wages, and that appropriate disciplinary action is taken. Those individuals responsible for cheating New Hampshire families out of hard earned wages must be held accountable . . . In May of this year, I wrote to USPS Inspector General David Williams requesting that his office investigate claims that the United States Postal Service had altered letter carriers’ timesheets on an electronic time system for the last six years. "

On December 2, 2009, Arbitrator Sherrie Rose Talmadge said in her decision against the postal service for time fraud that "Management’s violations were so egregious over a period of many years that punitive damages were awarded to deter the service from further clock ring violations.”

And finally, just this past week Barbara Stickler, president of Branch 1100 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, led her branch in picketing the Long Beach postmaster for harassment, intimidation, and time fraud, and another round of picking is scheduled for early November.  Ms. Stickler said the following:

While Management everywhere is pushing Letter Carriers to do their routes and part of another route in an impossible time frame, Long Beach management has taken it to new heights. Long Beach management is consistently violating the parties collective bargaining agreement with their abusive remarks and creative discipline. Management is on a rampage destroying its very own employees. Letter Carriers are brought into the office and threatened with discipline if they do not make the delivery times arbitrarily created based on projected times and inappropriate deductions, and have been disciplined for not making these illegitimate standards. Additionally, the union is investigating several cases of management falsifying clock rings for the entire office. 

Background on Previous Complaint and Reprisal

The current action is in reprisal for a complaint that I filed against the postal service after becoming the victim of  time fraud. This is an accurate portrayal of what took place thereafter, as related in an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel:

I recently found out that a friend of mine was the victim of repeated instances of forced labor and time fraud committed by her manager in the U.S. Postal Service. When I first became aware of it I was shocked, but not alarmed. I thought I could simply contact the OIG's office and have it, and the manager involved, taken care of. I was certain that the OIG would be anxious to investigate the matter and get the offending culprit out of their midst. But to my amazement it not only took two reports, but over a month before I was even contacted on the matter.

Then when I finally was contacted and explained to the OIG inspector, Special Agent Reid Robbins, that a postal manager, Marcie Luna, was forcing an employee to work between four and six hours a day without pay, and was committing fraud by falsifying a government document and changing the employee's official clock rings to reflect a three (3) hour lunch that the employee wasn't permitted to take, I was essentially met with a yawn: "And who are you? How do you know this employee?"

Then after we finally got past what felt like an interrogation to determine whether or not I had a right to NOT mind my own business, Agent Robbins went on to explain that the OIG's office generally doesn't investigate time issues - which was a blatant lie (they just don't investigate it when the government is doing the stealing).

Then after giving the matter further thought, I began to ask myself, "What kind of crime fighting organization doesn't fight crime?" It is my understanding that the Postal Inspection Service investigate external crimes against the postal service, and the Office of Inspector General investigate internal crimes within the postal service. So if the OIG doesn't investigate the intimidation and coercion necessary to force an employee to work six hours a day for free, or the falsification of documents necessary to steal an employee's wages, the OIG must not consider employee abuse a crime.

So I attempted to contact Agent Robbins at the number he provided, but he failed to return my calls, even after six attempts. So I decided to leave a message on his voice mail asking him the following questions: 1) Whose office would handle the matter if the situation was reversed, and the employee worked only eight hours and falsified her time to be paid for twelve? 2). Whose office would handle the falsification of government documents? And finally, is he going to investigate the matter, and will anyone be held accountable for the commission of this crime?

I have yet to receive a response.

But it doesn't stop there. The next day the employee involved called to advise me that Agent Robbins had contacted her. She went on to say that he seemed to be more interested in how she knew me than he was the crime that had been committed against her. She also said his tone was aggressive and intimidating, and he told her that when she accepted the job of acting supervisor, working overtime without pay came with the job - another blatant lie.

The National Association of Postal Supervisors advised me that a certified supervisor can be required to work a maximum of 30 minutes without pay (in emergencies), 204Bs (acting supervisors) who are covered under various craft employee contracts must be paid for every minute they work. We know this information to be accurate because if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been necessary for the manager to falsify government documents to achieve her objective, to rob the employee.

But even worse than giving the employee inaccurate information, and failing to investigate the complaint, Agent Robbins also revealed both the complaint, and the nature of the complaint to postal management, and that's supposed to be confidential information.

As a direct result, this highly productive employee who has held the same position for over twenty-one years - longer in the same position than any other supervisor, manager, or postmaster in the Los Angeles district - has been demoted by a manager who didn't even entered the postal service until six years after the employee was a productive supervisor. And even worse, while the manager, Ms. Marci Luna, who had recently been demoted from area manager herself, was informing the employee of her demotion, she allegedly commented to the employee, "I just want you to see how it feels when the postal service doesn't appreciate all that you've done for them."

What!!? Is this manager actually saying that she wants the employee to suffer because she feels that she's suffered an injustice? How was the employee responsible for the manager's demotion?

In the interest of full disclosure, I became personally (but objectively) involved in this matter because I know it to be particularly egregious based on my personal knowledge of the employee involved. It also speaks directly to an issue that I've been addressing in many columns and is of particular interest to me - the negative impact of America's new business model on the middle class. So while admittedly, I know the subject of this piece personally, the facts in this case alone clearly demonstrate the business community's full-throated assault on the America middle class.

The character of the manager and agencies mandated to protect the rights of the employee is clearly revealed through the facts in this case.

The federal law is clear. 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."

If that is indeed the law of the land, then why did the postal service and the Office of Inspector General allow Station Manager Marci Luna to falsify Ms. Joann Snow's clock rings and insert three hour lunch breaks that she didn't take? Then, when it was reported to the OIG, instead of the appropriate action being taken against Ms. Luna, Special Agent Reid Robbins of the OIG interrogated Ms. Snow. He treated her like SHE was the criminal for allowing it to be reported (Who is the guy who reported this? How do you know him? Didn't you know that working without pay goes with the job?).

They placed so much work on this employee that by the time she was finally ready to close the station, she didn't have to because the morning tour was showing up for work. And instead of going home, she checked into a motel across the street from the post office.

Then, while still at the motel, she received a conference call from Station Manager Marci Luna and Area Manager Tyrone Williams wanting to know why she hit the clock to be paid. When she told them that they had placed too many additional responsibilities on her, Area Manager Tyrone Williams is alleged to have told her that she sounds like a carrier and she simply wasn't using her time wisely - this, to an employee that's been doing the same job for twenty-one years with nothing but praise for her efforts.

The following is a letter from her former manager:

I was the Manager of Customer Service at Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles from 1997 until I retired in 2001. I was Ms Snow's manager during this time. Prior to coming to Bicentennial Station, the two previous managers, Lloyd Curtis and James Barnett had apprised me of Ms Snow's supervisory skills and total dedication to duty and company. Upon coming to the unit I was not disappointed and found all they had told me concerning Ms Snow was true.

Ms. Snow was one of my closing and weekend supervisors. She had an exceptional knowledge of the overall operation and excelled at running a difficult unit and she required little to no supervision. She could be counted on to work beyond what was normally considered an average work day without complaint. She always finished her assignments no matter how long her day was extended and this included weekends. She has excellent interpersonal skills which you need supervising the diverse workforce at Bicentennial Station. Ms Snow exceeded my expectations relative to handling my business customers and resolving complaints. In addition to all of this, Ms. Snow would routinely call the office on her scheduled off day to see how things were going and offer her assistance if needed.

Joann Snow proved to be an invaluable asset and even now in retirement, I often think of her and thank her when I talk to her for helping make my tour at Bicentennial successful.
Sincerely,
Eugene Jeffries

I was demoted immediately upon speaking to the Office of Inspector General regarding having my time stolen. Yet, Area Manager Tyrone Williams indicated in his statement that I filed a grievance because I was demoted, or in his words, "because she was informed that her higher level detail would be ended because the four supervisor vacancies were filled at this office."

His reason for my demotion might have rang true if it were not for the fact that Barbara Elzie, the other 204B in the station remained in place, and is still a 204B at this writing. In addition, while I was issued a Notice of 14 Suspension on September 27, 2010 for entering Ms. Elzie's time, at this writing, a month later, she hasn't been issued any corrective action for entering my time.

Punitive, Nonprogressive, and Untimely Action

About three months after I file my grievance for time fraud I was contacted by Labor Relations Manager Steve Marney. I assumed the investigative interview was to get clarification of my complaint, but it turned out that he wasn't investigating the time being stolen from me at all.  Instead, he accused me of doing the same thing to Barbara Elzie and Terria Clausell that I was complaining about, but I wasn't having that. I told him that I'd been a supervisor for 21 years, and in all of those years I had never stolen a penny from any employee. I also told him that if he could show where I had stolen from an employee, he wouldn't have to bring corrective action against me, I'd leave the postal service on my own accord.  So his attempt at intimidation didn't work.

Then he offered to pay me several thousand dollars in back pay because, he said, "It was the right thing to do." But there was a quid pro quo - I had to drop my demand that Manager Marci Luna and Area Manager Tyrone Williams be fired for conspiring to steal my time. But I refused to accept that remedy because this is not just about me. I represent thousands of postal workers across this country. While I'm not a crusader by nature, now that I've been placed in this position I'm not going to turn my back on that responsibility. Somebody has got to stand up and say enough is enough, so I guess I've been chosen by fate to be that person.

The resolution that Mr. Marney suggested is how the postal service has been getting away with this corruption for so long. Whenever any employee refuses to succumb to intimidation, they offer them money to sweep the matter under the rug. Giving me eight or nine thousand dollars wouldn't be anything but a business expense to the postal service, because the agency is stealing millions of dollars a day from its employees. So I made it clear that I wasn't going to go for that. The only way that we're going to stop managers and supervisors from stealing the hard earned wages of employees is to set a precedent that makes it clear to all management personnel that if they engage in time fraud and falsifying government documents they're going to lose their jobs, go to jail, or both, just as the law prescribes.

So that's why I've received this untimely and punitive action - it's yet another attempt at intimidation. I had my investigative interview on June 17th, yet I didn't get a notice of suspension until September 27th. That's untimely. In addition, I've never had any previous corrective action, so it's also nonprogressive. And finally, everything I've said in this statement clearly demonstrates that this action is punitive.

In closing, I'd like to predict in advance that the postal service is going to leave no stone unturned in their attempt to avoid providing me with the TACS documents that I requested in discovery, because they're under no illusion that those documents will prove beyond a doubt that they're robbing their employees blind.

JoAnn Snow
Regular Carrier
Los Angeles district
Date:


Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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President Obama: Why Are You Allowing Your Postmaster General to Run a Plantation?

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

President Obama: Why Are You Allowing Your Postmaster General to Run a Plantation?

The United States Postal Service is running a latter-day plantation. It's been documented by members of congress, and arbitrators, that the postal service is routinely falsifying employee clock rings, subjecting its employees to harassment, intimidation, and abuse, and forcing many of its employees to work between four and six hours a day without pay. Then, even though the Inspector General has documentation of the commission of  federal crimes in hand, the perpetrators are being allowed to walk away with impunity, and even being promoted.

Why are you allowing this to happen, Mr. President? Don't you know that this sort of thing more than offsets all the good that you're trying to do? While the corporate media hasn't taken an interest in this issue yet, this kind of blatant worker abuse isn't taking place in a vacuum. The United States Postal Service is the second largest civilian employer in the United States. It employs over 600,000 people, and they all know what you're allowing to happen to them, and so do their family and friends. That's a lot of people - and a lot of votes.

What's so curious about this situation is that your administration seems to be totally accepting of this abuse, and completely in the dark about what it's doing to your image. While you're hanging onto Glenn Beck's every word, you're completely ignoring a federal assault on the people who voted you into office. Then, speaking of audacity, you have your collective lips poked out because workers have the audacity to complain about it. In effect, you're asking your constituency to accept your position that, "Okay, so they're destroying one or two families - but we got you some healthcare!" That's not gonna fly.  We appreciate the healthcare.  It was quite an accomplishment, but what about protecting our Constitutional rights? The way we see it is if you're willing to ignore these kind of atrocities, you're not the man we thought you were - people are DYING!

The federal law is clear. 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."

Congressman Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) called on the United States Postal Service to present a plan to fully reimburse postal workers for the wages they have lost as a result of managers manipulating their timecards." The congressman went on to say:

“It has been weeks and the hard-working employees at these post offices are still waiting for answers,” said Congressman Hodes. “The USPS should immediately present a plan to ensure that workers are immediately reimbursed for their lost wages, and that appropriate disciplinary action is taken. Those individuals responsible for cheating New Hampshire families out of hard earned wages must be held accountable . . . In May of this year, I wrote to USPS Inspector General David Williams requesting that his office investigate claims that the United States Postal Service had altered letter carriers’ timesheets on an electronic time system for the last six years. "

And Arbitrator Sherrie Rose Talmadge said in her December 2, 2009 decision that “[USPS] Management’s violations were so egregious over a period of many years that punitive damages were awarded to deter the service from further clock ring violations.”

As I've mentioned previously, President Lincoln was willing to go to war to end slavery on his watch, while you have it in your power to emancipate over 600,000 American citizens with a simple phone call. Yet, in spite of repeated White House contacts and extended articles written and posted on the Democratic National Committee website, you've failed to make that phone call. We want to know why?

I've also previously mentioned how much pride I took in supporting your campaign, both in my column, and through my very meager bank account. While the historic nature of your candidacy wasn't lost on me, I didn't support you simply because you are Black, however - Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are also Black, but I didn't support either of them. I supported you because I was inspired by your pledge to usher in a change that I could believe in. Well, frankly, especially in the current matter, I'm not seeing that.

While I take great pride in your election, I vote with my mind, not my heart. So having a Black president is meaningless to me if he's not aggressively protecting the interest of ALL of the American people.

Another USPS Workplace Tragedy

by

Dr. Steve Musacco

On the morning of June 2, 2009, a city letter carrier went to work and reportedly fatally shot himself in the head in the locker room at a postal facility in Gastonia, North Carolina. The Gaston Gazette online news report stated that the "Gastonia Police are investigating an apparent suicide this morning at the post office. . . . One of the employees is inside dead from a gunshot wound."

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.

The name of the city letter carrier who committed suicide in Gastonia, NC on June 2, 2009 is Steven Spencer age 60. According to his obituary, Steven was married and leaves two daughters and three grandchildren. He was a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers/ and state representative for Muscular Dystrophy Association. He was the founder of the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive for Gaston County. He was very active in Scouting, attaining the highest rank of Eagle Scout. He also was a member of the Order of the Arrow. Steven was a veteran of the Vietnam War serving his country proudly in the US Navy.

I find it highly improbable that an employee will kill himself or herself in a postal facility or while on a postal route unless it is to send a clear message that a toxic workplace exists and the person can't handle it anymore. Sadly, it also may be a tragic attempt to better the lot of one's fellow coworkers by drawing attention to the tragic event itself.

Prior to Steven's suicide, I was contacted by a relative of an employee at the Gastonia post office in April of this year. She was concerned because of what she reported as a toxic workplace environment at the Gastonia post office, lack of accountability to address employees' concerns, and that the situation may lead to another workplace tragedy. Unfortunately, her worst concern became a reality on June 2, 2009. She further indicated several employees have resigned their positions at the office because of the toxic workplace environment and others were suffering from negative psychological and physical effects because of this environment.

I was told employees' attempts, mostly city letter carriers, to have their concerns addressed over a two-year period included: filing of discrimination complaints and grievances, unprofessional workplace assessments, town hall meetings, contacts to congressional representatives both locally and nationally, contacts to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), and petitions to Charlotte postal District officials as well as to national representatives of the Postal Service and the NALC. She further indicated that none of these measures contributed to fully addressing the workplace environment or alleviating its negative impact for the employees at the Gastonia Post Office.

In order for the U.S Postal Service to become a safe and healthy organization and thereby prevent future workplace tragedies, which have been at an epidemic level over the past three decades, there is an urgent need for congressional intervention and legislation to address its toxic postal culture. Dr. Gary Namie and his wife, Dr. Ruth Namie, along with their colleague Dr. David Yamada, have for years pushed for such legislation at the state and federal level. In order for national legislation for the prevention of workplace bullying to have the intended impact, it would require sanctions to employers or their representatives who are in violation of a new workplace statute that defines workplace bullying as a harmful and illegal activity.

******

With that, we'll let the victims speak for themselves. The following is the text of a petition that went to Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Appended to the petition was six double-columned pages of signatures:

Dear Madam:

We the employees of the Los Angeles International Service Center, (LAXISC) formerly the Carson International Service Center of the United States Postal Service humbly request your office to inquire about the horrendous behavior, sexual harassment and physical intimidation practices of named manager, Raul Corona. This manager has been exiled from the facility on more than one occasion for extended periods and was referred to anger management because of his actions and conduct. Recently, he allowed one of his acting supervisors to kick an employee, then slap them in the back of the head and make remarks about her body parts, stating that it was so tight that a quarter could bounce off of it. These actions were witness by other employees who either gave statements or were willing to testify to the office of the EEOC as to what was witnessed. Mr. Corona took no action against the 204B supervisor but instead displayed his true disregard for the employee by confronting her on the work floor about her complaint against the supervisor. This is just one of the many egregious actions of Mr. Raul Corona.

A complaint was made to the APWU, American Postal Workers Union and charges were also filed with the EEOC which is being handled by the APWU building facilitator Donna Williams who is representing this complainant and numerous others involving MDO Corona. While this incident is currently under investigation and review Mr. Corona has had at least one of the witnesses brought into his office and threaten them with disciplinary action if they did not personally give him a statement after they had already spoken with and given statements to the union representative, and when they requested that a union representative be present during his personal investigation, they were denied, which is a direct violation of the Weingarten Act. ( see attached )

This same witness who has FMLA and receives chemotherapy for her condition (lupus) was directed to his office by supervisor Erma Harris and when the employee would not cooperate with his request not only did he threaten her with disciplinary action, he directed his supervisor Brian Ta to go into the time and attendance system known as TACS to remove her pay three days later after she had called in for FMLA leave which had been already approved by this same supervisor. Because of the numerous grievances and EEO'S that are filed and still pending against this manager and conditions being so toxic, employees have bidded to other tours for fear of retaliation which we believe will take place to all of us who have signed this petition.

And if these circumstances aren't demoralizing enough we have observed Mr. Corona engaged in an improper and unprofessional relationship with one of his acting supervisors (204B), which violates the Postal code of conduct and ethics prohibiting this type of relationship between a manager and employee which is still ongoing. He personally assist her with her job duties in front of other employees when she is not supervising and she has been observed leaving his office with her clothes disheveled which had to be pointed out to her by a union steward, and they have also been seen by other employees in compromising situations. The most recent, being seen exiting the Postal Inspectors cat walk door located at the southwest corner of the building, he zipping up his pants as she was buttoning her blouse.

We are asking that MDO Corona be sent to another facility LAP&DC permanently and to be taken off of the work floor entirely where he can be under the watchful eye of his bosses as was done before, because he has waged his own personal vendetta against any and all employees who file charges against him. Employees on all three tours at one time or another have had to disrupt their family and personal lives by bidding to other tours just to get away from this man. Attached you will find a copy of just one of the petitions that were filed against this manager starting in 2003 and a recent EEOC discrimination and personal harassment case that was charged and awarded against this facility for these type of practices .

If any additional information or facts are needed we are sure you can get the cooperation of the APWU union representatives both mailhandlers and clerks at the LAXISC.

We feel if something is not done about this manager soon, the conditions here will deteriorate further becoming more toxic and possibly escalate into something which the public and news media refer to as "Going Postal" which we are fearful of. We all have families to take care of and do not wish to come to work in an environment having to look over our shoulders fearful that something will happen that could have been avoided.

All signatures in regards to this petition can be verified through the APWU building facilitator Donna Williams. We would deeply appreciate your office's assistance in this disturbing matter.

Petitioners

The following, according to the petitioners, took place subsequent to the petition:

On Friday April 23,2010, employee Cloe Edwards was in serious physical distress having chest pains and requested 911. Mr.Raul Corona MDO told the employee he was not calling 911 for her because the Postal Service was not going to pay for the ambulance service and if she felt that bad, she should call herself which she wound up having to do. The paramedics from the Airport Fire Station # 95 on the corner of Century Blvd and International Road came and Ms. Edwards had to be taken out on a stretcher around 4:45pm.

Mr. Corona got belligerent with the paramedics telling them she was faking and started demanding her prognosis. The paramedics that attended to Ms . Edwards could not believe what they were hearing from this manager. She was taken to Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey where she was informed that her blood pressure had gotten so high that she was on the verge of either having a heart attack or stroke. She was then transferred to Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower.She was released Sunday evening April 25th. Ms. Edwards return to work Monday fearful that MDO Corona may try to take action against her.

She was given orders that she would not be allowed to perform her bidded duties as a general expeditor and would be working mail in IAAA. She is currently in the process of filing for leave under workman's compensation on the advice of the hospital.

******

Ms. JoAnn Snow

Ms. JoAnn Snow was the victim of repeated instances of forced labor and time fraud committed by her manager in the U.S. Postal Service. When I first became aware of it I was shocked, but not alarmed. I thought I could simply contact the OIG's office and have it, and the manager involved, taken care of. I was certain that the OIG would be anxious to investigate the matter and get the offending culprit out of their midst. But to my amazement it not only took two reports, but over a month before I was even contacted on the matter.

Then when I finally was contacted and explained to the OIG inspector, Special Agent Reid Robbins, that a postal manager, Marcie Luna, was forcing an employee to work between four and six hours a day without pay, and was committing fraud by falsifying a government document and changing the employee's official clock rings to reflect a three (3) hour lunch that the employee wasn't permitted to take, I was essentially met with a yawn.

"And who are you? How do you know this employee?" Then after we finally got past what felt like an interrogation to determine whether or not I had a right to NOT mind my own business, Agent Robbins went on to explain that the OIG's office generally doesn't investigate time issues - which was a blatant lie (they just don't investigate it when the government is doing the stealing).

Then after giving the matter further thought, I began to ask myself, "What kind of crime fighting organization doesn't fight crime?" It is my understanding that the Postal Inspection Service investigate external crimes against the postal service, and the Office of Inspector General investigate internal crimes within the postal service. So if the OIG doesn't investigate the intimidation and coercion necessary to force an employee to work six hours a day for free, or the falsification of documents necessary to steal an employee's wages, the OIG must not consider employee abuse a crime.

So I attempted to contact Agent Robbins at the number he provided, but he failed to return my calls, even after six attempts. So I decided to leave a message on his voice mail asking him the following questions: 1) Whose office would handle the matter if the situation was reversed, and the employee worked only eight hours and falsified her time to be paid for twelve? 2). Whose office would handle the falsification of government documents? And finally, is he going to investigate the matter, and will anyone be held accountable for the commission of this crime?

I have yet to receive a response.

But it doesn't stop there. The next day the employee involved called to advise me that Agent Robbins had contacted her. She went on to say that he seemed to be more interested in how she knew me than he was the crime that had been committed against her. She also said his tone was aggressive and intimidating, and he told her that when she accepted the job of acting supervisor, working overtime without pay came with the job - another blatant lie.

The National Association of Postal Supervisors advised me that a certified supervisor can be required to work a maximum of 30 minutes without pay (in emergencies), 204Bs (acting supervisors) who are covered under various craft employee contracts must be paid for every minute they work. We know this information to be accurate because if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been necessary for the manager to falsify government documents to achieve her objective, to rob the employee.

But even worse than giving the employee inaccurate information, and failing to investigate the complaint, Agent Robbins also revealed both the complaint, and the nature of the complaint to postal management, and that's supposed to be confidential information.

As a direct result, this highly productive employee who has held the same position for over twenty-one years - longer in the same position than any other supervisor, manager, or postmaster in the Los Angeles district - has been demoted by a manager who didn't even entered the postal service until six years after the employee was a productive supervisor. And even worse, while the manager, Ms. Marcie Luna, who had recently been demoted from area manager herself, was informing the employee of her demotion, she allegedly commented to the employee, "I just want you to see how it feels when the postal service doesn't appreciate all that you've done for them."

What!!? Is this manager actually saying that she wants the employee to suffer because she feels that she's suffered an injustice? How was the employee responsible for the manager's demotion?

In the interest of full disclosure, I became personally (but objectively) involved in this matter because I know it to be particularly egregious based on my personal knowledge of the employee involved. It also speaks directly to an issue that I've been addressing in many columns and is of particular interest to me - the negative impact of America's new business model on the middle class. So while admittedly, I know the subject of this piece personally, the facts in this case alone clearly demonstrate the business community's full-throated assault on the America middle class.

The character of the manager and the agency's complete failure uphold the law and to protect the rights of the employee is revealed through the facts in this case, but what about the character of the employee?

Employee Background

I became involved in this case when the employee, Ms. Joann Snow, was acting unusually depressed. I became immediately concerned because I've known her for over twenty-five years, and what makes her most unique WAS her bubbly, Life's-a-bowl-of-cherries-type personality. Everybody loves her - especially in her workplace. Her superiors depended upon her because of her can-do, A type personality, and her subordinates would seek her out for council, knowing she could be depended upon to do the right thing (making sure they were properly paid, for example, or doing battle on their behalf with their immediate supervisors over injustices). In addition, she would donate her vacation leave every year to employees who became ill and ran out of sick leave, because she never found the time to take a vacation herself.

This woman was so highly depended upon by her superiors and dedicated to her job that for years she was working seven days a week just to cover their backs against any oversights. And since she had been in her current position for over twenty-one years - again, probably longer in one position than any other supervisor, manger or postmaster in the United States Postal Service's Los Angeles district - when the administrators needed any kind of information, or any issue addressed, in many cases they wouldn't bother with the station manager - those people would come and go - they'd wait until after 11:00 a.m. when Ms. Snow arrived so they could address the issue with her.

A former manager said the following:

"I was the Manager of Customer Service at Bicentennial Station in Los Angeles from 1997 until I retired in 2001. I was Ms Snow's manager during this time. Prior to coming to Bicentennial Station, the two previous managers, Lloyd Curtis and James Barnett had apprised me of Ms Snow's supervisory skills and total dedication to duty and company. Upon coming to the unit I was not disappointed and found all they had told me concerning Ms Snow was true.

"Ms. Snow was one of my closing and weekend supervisors. She had an exceptional knowledge of the overall operation and excelled at running a difficult unit and she required little to no supervision. She could be counted on to work beyond what was normally considered an average work day without complaint. She always finished her assignments no matter how long her day was extended and this included weekends. She has excellent interpersonal skills which you need supervising the diverse workforce at Bicentennial Station. Ms Snow exceeded my expectations relative to handling my business customers and resolving complaints. In addition to all of this, Ms. Snow would routinely call the office on her scheduled off day to see how things were going and offer her assistance if needed.

"Joanne Snow proved to be an invaluable asset and even now in retirement, I often think of her and thank her when I talk to her for helping make my tour at Bicentennial successful."

Eugene Jeffries

At this writing Ms Snow has voluntarily postponed a long needed vacation in order to train her own replacement so the postal service and the people they serve won't be negatively impacted by her departure. My response to that was to ask her if she was insane - but then, she lives by a different code of moral responsibility than I do.

So I think that answers the question of why our government, and particularly the postal service, is so dysfunctional. It's clear - because the wrong people are in positions of responsibility.

Regarding OIG Response

Agent Robbins handled this matter atrociously - both unprofessionally, and unethically. His actions in this matter is a perfect example of the government's gross hypocrisy in the way that it relates to the poor and middle-class in this country. While this government profess to be so appreciative  veterans, Ms. Snow's only son is a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force. Thus, while he's off defending this nation, his very own government is both robbing and abusing his single mother who he's left behind at home.

In addition, the OIG is thumbing its nose at the law of the land. 18 U.S.C. § 1001 makes the behavior of these managers a crime punishable by five years in prison, yet, while the postal service have offered to repay Ms. Snow thousands of dollars (the Labor Relations Manager said, "That's just the right thing to do"), her repayment offer was  based on her agreeing to drop her demand that the manager and area manager involved be fired.  Ms. Snow has refused the offer.  She said that she wants to set a precedent insuring that any manager or supervisor who steals from an employee must be fired. 

While an employee will be immediately fired, on the spot, by getting a coupon out of the trash and redeeming it at Walmart, managers who steal millions of dollars a day from postal employees across this country, do it with complete impunity. Currently, in spite of the fact that the postal service has documented evidence in hand, the manager involved stealing her time is still in place, and the area manager who Ms. Snow says she personally heard order the crime against her has been promoted!

So Ms. Snow said that allowing the agency to pay her a few thousand dollars to sweep her case under the rug will only serve to insure business as usual, and that's unacceptable.

So again, Mr. President, where are you, and where is that change that we're suppose to believe in?

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

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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Postal Service Gets Break, Union Officials Get Paid, And Workers Get the Shaft - Again

BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

Postal Service Gets Break, Union Officials Get Paid, And Workers Get the Shaft - Again

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The following report comes directly from an audit by the Office of Inspector General. It was released on July 1, 2010. Further comment is not required. It speaks for itself:

"We also found that union representatives received excessive payments from grievance settlements. Union representatives in four districts (Colorado/Wyoming, Alabama, Mid-America, and Capital) were involved with the allocation of class-action grievance settlements for six grievances that resulted in union representatives receiving payments that were significantly more than other members of the class. Specifically, union representatives received $33,447 (or 24 percent) of $141,639 in settlements for these six grievances. One union representative in the Mid-America District received as much as 35 percent of a grievance settlement, while other payees received less than 1 percent.

"This occurred because the Postal Service has not established procedures for reviewing the allocation of settlements to ensure that payees whom the union identifies are part of a class action. Once the Postal Service negotiates a settlement, they often have no involvement with its allocation. As a result, union representatives may be receiving payments to which they are not entitled.

Payments to Union Representatives

"We noted during our audit that union representatives received excessive payments resulting from grievance settlements. Union representatives at four districts were involved with allocating class-action grievance settlements for six grievances that resulted in union representatives receiving a significant percentage of the settlement amounts, while the grievants received very small percentages of the settlement amounts. A union representative in the received as much as 35 percent of one grievance settlement, while other payees received less than 1 percent. For the grievances we reviewed, union representatives received $33,447 (or 24 percent) of $141,639 in settlements for these six grievances. The following items describe theindividual examples of union representatives receiving more than most of the grievants.

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  "In the [Name Withheld] a class-action grievance paid the local American Postal Workers Union president $16,934 (or 30 percent) of the total settlement of $56,448, which was more than the amount most other grievants received. The grievance was settled through arbitration. To abide by the settlement, two local unions and the postmaster negotiated a total settlement amount. Once the amount was determined, the union president decided who to include in the settlement and how much each grievant would be paid. The local union president allocated 30 percent of the total settlement ($16,934) to himself. In addition to the president, there were eight other grievants. Four grievants received $1,128.96 each (or 2 percent); two grievants received $5,644.80 each (or 10 percent), and one received $22,579.20 (or 40 percent). One grievant filed an unfair labor practice complaint based on allocation of the payment. The union settled the case out of court for the amount paid to the local union president, according to Western area officials.

• 
  
  "In the [Name Withheld] in FY 2009, we found the local union president received $9,000 from two class-action payment settlements. He received $4,000 of a $25,000 settlement and $5,000 of $30,000 settlement for union expenses. The Postal Service' Labor Relations team settled this grievance at a significant discount for the Postal Service, but the union also allocated the payments, including the payment of union expenses to the local president.

• 
  
  "In the [Name Withheld] a local union president received $5,850 (or 35 percent) of a $16,928.73 settlement. The person most affected by the contract violation received $2,000.73 and 67 other individuals received between $110 and $1,000 each.

• 
  
  "In the [Name Withheld] we noted a union steward named in two class-action grievances received the highest payments —$805.46 (or 18 percent) of a total settlement of $4,457.32 for 25 grievants and $857.56 (or 10 percent) of a total settlement of $8,805.28 for 34 grievants. For one of the grievances, he received almost twice the amount of the next highest payee. We determined that, although the Postal Service calculated the settlement, it was the union steward who identified the individuals eligible to receive payment based on his knowledge of who was available for overtime and the documentation provide to the dispute resolution team (DRT). The DRT settled the grievance but did not receive any additional information from local management to dispute the union' information, so there is no way to know whether the allocation was distributed accurately.

• 
  
  "The Postal Service has no procedures in place to review the allocation of settlements and ensure the payees identified by the union are part of the class action. Once the Postal Service negotiates a settlement they often have no involvement with its allocation. Union representatives may be receiving unwarranted payments by filing grievances and potentially violating fair labor practices with regard to Postal Service employees."

It is clear that many within the institutions that the poor and middle-class have depended on to protect them in the past can no longer be relied upon. At best, they're turning a blind to our best interest, and at worst, they're picking our pockets while we sleep. That isn't to say that all politicians or all unions are corrupt, but too many of their number are beginning to reflect the corrupt nature of our society for us not to come together to protect our own interest.

I've been contacted by Lewis Maltby in response to the series of articles that I've been doing on the Postal Service since March of this year. Mr. Maltby is an attorney, former Director of the Employment Rights Division of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), author of the book, "Can They Do That," and current president of the National Workrights Institute.

He indicated that he was aghast at what he read was going on in the postal service, and that he's prepared to bring a class action lawsuit against the postal service that could very easily reap tens of millions of dollars on behalf of postal employees. From there he intends to broaden his focus to address the assault on the middle-class as a whole.

So if you are a postal employee who are the victim of time fraud, being forced to work without pay, or have been intimidated into working through your lunch and breaks, he wants to hear from you. He's setting up an organization called Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA) to fight this kind of abuse both in the courts, and with the help of your numbers, in Washington, D.C.

If you're ready to fight back, please contact the e-mail address below in order to create a data base. It's time for the poor and middle-class to convert their vast numbers into political clout.

Eric L. Wattree

wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.

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