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by Eric
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Jackson
JULY 2014 Summer's here! Along with this time of year come management's new and old to harass and poke us. One of
the latest stupidities is an order for them to investigate any deviations of 15 minutes or more from one scan point to the next.
Absurd yes; surprising, no! Bull*1! Sorry, I just coughed. This as everything they do to harm us, only makes us stronger.
We will adjust and get better at working around management's negative attacks on our domain on the street. After all, they
where we are. We are the backbone of this thing. But this is old news, right? Have you ever heard the adage? "Never
argue with a fool, because someone watching won't be able to tell who the fool is and who is not?" My point is, it takes two
to fight. The more knowledge we gain, the more can can a stress-free work environment. Fight for our rights, and
everything coming to us, yes. But fight with the "fools", no. They are just not worth our time. Most of us are just sitting back
and waiting for the next ridiculous thing. Maybe we can laugh our way through this thing all the way to retirement. If you are
reading this item, you are the well informed. You certainly care in a different way than others. The challenge is getting our
message of rights and responsibilities to the newer carriers. Much respect to all the unionists out there. Your challenge and
purpose has never been greater. But like mothers, you are to fix our boo-boos. Eric K. Jackson, Branch 725
JUNE 2014 Remember the movie Ghostbusters? The tag line was “who you gonna call?” This always rings true with Postal
management. Who you gonna blame? Why, the carriers of course. We still remain the most important limb to this beautiful
tree, but are constantly treated like the mold eroding the tree bark. Soon they will be back out tracking us like dogs with
rabies again. They know where we are. They have our clock rings, our scan points, and monitors on the cell phones. When
are they going to realize that about 99 percent of us are doing what we are supposed to do? Is this process cost effective?
So, how insulting is it for you to then come to us and ask us to develop sales for the customer connect program (timing?).
What doesn’t connect is their attitude towards us. You think we don’t realize you rigging the DOIS numbers, still expecting
us to deliver the oversized parcels, scanning everything we see and remain the best delivery company out there is
disrespectful? What about us? While they will never change their ways, we always have control of our destiny. They can
wrongly complain about our performance. We can smile. They can give us unrealistic expectations; we can relax and do
our best. At the end of the day, we go home to our families. And they, at some point, have to look at a mirror
(knowing…). We would like to thank all those who attended the retiree’s luncheon held biannually. It’s always a great time
sharing company with those whose shoulders we stand on. We would also like to welcome those members from the
recently merged Chester branch who attended. Next time bring another member. The next retiree’s luncheon is September
11, 2014. See you there! Eric K. Jackson, Branch 725
JUNE 2013 Management can dish it out, but they can’t take it. Summertime is here and our living is never easy as letter
carriers. Not with management always looking to harass us. A recent email went out went out to many postmasters. It
basically said that disciplinary action should be forwarded to the District Manager for every infraction found during driver
observations of the carriers. It further states “per the District Manager, you must stay with the driver until you find an
infraction”. Sounds crazy, well this is one of many similar emails. This incarnation left President McCullough fuming as he
had addressed this matter the first time it occurred. So, this time, the President sent the email with a letter to everyone
including our Congressman and Senator. Many postmasters called Jimmy (as they often do) to complain about the email.
“You have to help us”. Their cowardice shows no limit as their response to the President’s urging them to stand up for
themselves was “our union is not strong like yours”. So you break the contract daily and disrespect the office of President
McCullough, and then ask him to do your dirty work as you hide and wince from the bullies that are your bosses. A union
is only as strong as its members. So it’s not the lack of a strong union, it’s their absence of courage among other things! The
big picture here is those emails tells us how they really think about us. How do they expect us to respect them when they
obviously don’t respect themselves? Fight on 725! Congratulations to Jim Forrest and Fran Stellman on their recent
retirement. Jim, Special thanks to you for all the service and leadership you provided over the years to the Wayne Post
Office.
May 2013 I have recently been approached by a POOM to “make the jump”. Yes, to become a supervisor. While every
other member of our executive board has had this offer before, my main concern is why did the manager think his offer was
a good one? I would never consider going into management. I think people have to make decisions that are best for them
and their families. I just don’t think it’s a good opportunity for me. Let’s see what you think. The big “selling point” was
“money” as it relates to high-three for retirement and impending overtime lost opportunities with five-day delivery staring us
down the throat. My problem is how dare you assume that management is better without knowing all the facts. Why
assume because I’m a carrier, I don’t have other business interests that more than compensate for the difference in
retirement income. Because they wear a tie or dress does not make them smart. They don’t have any autonomy to do their
job. After I leave the office, my job is good. I’m respected in the community and liked by my customers. They get pooted
on by their bosses and don’t have any autonomy. They are forced to lie, bully, and cheat us out of our rights daily. We are
represented by one of the most powerful Unions in America. They have a little rinky-dink organization that is predicated on
politics. They have to kiss ass just to get the status quo, where we will get representation no matter what. In the end, it
comes down to character. Our job builds it and most of them lack it. I am proud to be a Letter Carrier. And they enjoy
their empty “titles” that are built on the backs of other people. Eric K. Jackson, Branch 725
April 2013 Just as we have endured another winter season, instead of getting thanks, we get more mistrust. What a
coincidence, cold and bad weather equals no street team to harass us. Instead they order their local bullies to question our
every move on the street. And as usual, it’s guilty until proven innocent. The norm nowadays is to give us a PDI to ask us
routine questions about our street time. Only to find out that we hit the clock on other pieces for the time in question. I
know they are lazy and I know they can be dumb but I think this is all on purpose just to try and make us run. My office
just received the new “smart phones” to get our scanning information to our customers in real time. Overall, I think it’s a
good thing. They do not make calls, receive calls, or have any texting ability. They just supplement (via blue-tooth
technology) our scanners. So, now when you go to scan something, you have to wait sometimes because the scanner is
uploading the information. This takes even more time and gives our customers more reason to do business with us. But of
course the idiot supervisors try to downplay the time this adds to our job. There is a price for quality. It takes time to set it
up in the morning, time to wait for uploads on the street, time to get it back in the cradle for charging properly. This is just a
few small examples of why the street is ours. If we do the job right, it takes time. Every day the street time could
reasonably be different. Our obligation is to let them know when we will not be able to complete our assignment. Eric K.
Jackson, Branch 725
March 2013 Just when we thought that these people at the District couldn’t get any worse, they reach new levels of
ignorance and shortsightedness. Of course none of it makes any sense. The Philadelphia District is replacing POOMs and
Postmasters who they feel are underperforming. They are ordering their people to discipline carriers for as little as 5-10
minutes over on the street. Internal emails have revealed that they are telling their supervisors to find some violation on their
point-to-point observations. What this amounts to is if someone is over on the street, they come out and observes you on
the street over and over again until they find something you did wrong. They are also sending neighboring supervisors and
postmaster to do these observations. Yes, that makes it easy for them to make something up if they are not “your” direct
supervisor. I guess they feel like they can intimidate us into running our routes. Please keep your composure, follow the
rules and then fight like hell for every right that you have. You have earned those rights. They should be the minimum that
you demand. The “actual fight” will come through this great union. Your Steward will do his/her best for you but can only
help you if you report any unfair treatment or violations to the contract. We recently lost one of our great leaders. NALC
President Emeritus Vince Sombrotto passed away. His legacy is one of fighting for our rights through the direst of
circumstances. All of our successes as a union have come on the shoulders of people like him. So, when people say “the
Union”, they should be saying us, we, I, because we are forever tied together in this struggle against the weak,
inconsiderate, weasels that are most Postal management. Eric K. Jackson, Branch 725
January 2013 2013 promises to be a year of adjustment and tumult due to the company’s financial state. This month we
should get the results for our new contract. This year, Postal reform most likely will get addressed by Congress. But the
more things change, the more they remain the same for carriers. In the end, if we follow the rules set forth by the USPS, we
benefit the most. The thing is, our membership always wants to do things in a more efficient and better way. We used to
have that freedom. But now management at the district level is examining every route in offices that are not performing well.
Postmasters in those offices have to send in reports explaining every route’s street time over 15 minutes. They are also
comparing gaps in time between MSP points. These offices are checking on carriers daily. Again, we deal with the idiot
factor! Of course most routes will be over on the street during the holidays with the high volume of oversized parcels, and
the scanning associated with them. Big secret, it takes time to scan you big dummies. Okay, so the company has recently
set records for parcel deliveries. We are also in the midst of a trial run for obtaining a contract with Amazon that would put
us financially in the driver’s seat. You see, if we got that contract, we could potentially get any contract. Nobody can do it
like us. Our door-to-door daily delivery gives us an advantage over everyone. So, that being said, why would these fools
not see that it takes time to do this? More loading and delivery time along with the scanning. They certainly can dish out the
stress but they crack like your favorite plumber on a house call. Eric Jackson, Branch 725