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It's Time for a Change · United We Scan

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Welcome to the United We Scan Podcast, the podcast by rural
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carriers. For rural carriers, the views
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presenters only and do not represent the views, opinions,
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or strategies of the United States Postal Service or the
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Now here are the hosts of the United We Scan Podcast.
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Welcome back, everybody. Episode 74, and we're going to
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get a little campaignish tonight.
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It's time for a change. So let's start off.
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James, how was your week? Oh, the week was normal at the
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post office. The first four days of the week
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were actually pretty light. Even Monday was kind of light.
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I got out an hour under my normal Monday time.
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Then Friday was the day from hell it seemed.
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Lots of packages. Lots of lots of DPS.
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Last one back to the office. Don't know why I got punished on
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Friday, but it just happened. But then the weekend came,
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started working on housework, and blew out my air conditioner
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unit, cut the line on it while I was trimming the hedges around
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the air conditioner unit to keep it clear so that the air could
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flow through it, and ended up flowing the air conditioning out
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of it instead. So I'm going to have to have a
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repair guy come out tomorrow and give me an estimate on how much
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that's going to cost to fix. But everything else I got done
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with my housework and chores and things like that for the
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weekend. So I'm ready to start a new
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week, and I did want to shamelessly plugged that Ron
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from Fed Up With Ron. Speakman did finally published
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the episode of my interview with him on Saturday.
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So if you haven't had a chance to listen to it, head on over
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there after you're done listening to this episode and
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check it out. How about you, Bill?
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How was your week? Oh, Monday's filed, you know, up
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to the roof. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
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you know nominal across the board packages and and mail and
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it's it's funny in in our office where some people you know I'll
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I'll start off with six or seven trays of DPS on a Monday and
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drop down to a nominal 4 plus on you know the rest of the week.
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And this week for some reason they decided that everything
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they could put in ADPS tray going in the DPS tray and it was
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all the fine little stuff that you know, single sheet oversized
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you know postcard type material sticking to each other and and
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no matter yo I case my mail because I I have so much what we
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call dirt a dirty a dirty DPS in my truck is that I'll end up
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with a a tray and 1/2 at the end of the day if I don't and I
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don't I don't need that blowing around my truck.
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So I turned around and and filled a tray and a quarter out
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of every day with dirty DPS and it's just it's so frustrating
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because they're they're only doing single passes and that is
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the correct word single passes. When they run DPS it used to do
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double passes and eliminate a lot of this.
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Now they do you know they do the single passes because they're
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the people off the DPS machine and allocating their resources
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towards parcel short sorting. So Friday I I explained pre show
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what happened and I'm still you know, upset about that and I got
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my little grandson on Friday night and into Saturday.
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That was fun and it's been a a quiet drizzly week here.
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But Oh no not a bad week at all. About you, Kristen.
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Monday was the Monday from hell as usual, another 11 hour day
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for me and then Tuesday was fairly light.
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I was done. I hit return to unit at 1358 and
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then I spent the next two hours redoing my case with my new case
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labels. And then I clocked out at like
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four O 6 and then took off and drove 2 hours to go watch my
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youngest spring band concert. And then I had Wednesday off for
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Ruby's appointment and we have to go back in three weeks for a
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secondary ultrasound because things raise some eyebrows so
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they want to double check some stuff.
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And then Thursday and Friday I was training our new RCA and I
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was off on Saturday. Yeah, it was pretty much my
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week. I got my I.
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Was like a lot of fun. It's been non-stop all week is
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what it has been for me, so that's pretty normal.
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Let's go in. I'll work my 11 hour day
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tomorrow and I'll be back in the LLV right in with the new RCA
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for their final day of OJT. All right, so a lot of states
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are getting their delegate ballots out now.
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The ones that like Michigan are out right now.
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I thought Iowa was just out and you got to vote for the people
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who you believe will make the change that you want to see in
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the Postal Service. So make sure you do your
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ballots, make sure you mail them back in a timely manner.
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Expect at least a week for them to get there.
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You know, just in case the Delivery for America plan delays
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the mail getting there. I know it took four days for an
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express to go from here to Virginia.
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One day, express 4 days. So plan accordingly in your
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area. But with that, it's time for us
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to tell you why we are running for these positions.
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And now it is too late for the National Board to take our ideas
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and run with them. We can finally actually tell you
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our plans. So let's start with you, Bill.
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Tell us exactly why you believe we need this change at the
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national board. Well, the first thing I would
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say is that complacency is the worst possible Ave. to continue
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on complacency in regards to national board, we're we're
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complacent about the individuals that we keep the latter the
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position of president, Vice President, a Secretary of
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Treasurer, the Director of Labor Operations and Director of
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Seward Operations. The executive committee
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positions or more or less stepping stones onto the
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national board. This is going on for oh at least
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the last four in our union. The problem of this is that like
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Washington DC, all we're doing Realty politicians sending our
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views who have no idea what we do on a day-to-day basis, what
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we're subject to on a day-to-day basis.
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And as a prime example, I'll give you our national President,
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Don Matson. Don Matson lives 3 to 20 miles
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away from his route. Most people would say well you
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must have done that wrong. No.
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His route is in Super California, 320 miles away from
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his primary residence in California.
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Reason not has is he is on his height for his route over they
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put on their daily basis and with the adjustments coming in,
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it's going to be difficult to do it in Sonora, CA because they
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have limited space to expand. They have no room, more
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equipment or another carrier or any other situation that they're
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addressing. Right now though his route might
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not get adjusted, so he'll he'll carry that high 3 for a little
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more. That's not the purpose of
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bidding on a route. Bump up your high threes.
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That's not the purpose of, you know, selecting an office 300
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miles a week. So what?
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What? What is your goal, Don, in
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regards to taking care of the carriers?
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Or are you more interested in taking care of yourself?
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The reason I'm running so is because I'm like everybody else
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of the 130,000 carriers to go to work every day.
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I'm around per Southeast and I see the situations, I've
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addressed these situations, I've grieved these situations.
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These are the type of situations that have to be handled day in
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and day out and utilizing the new Director of Steward
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Operations we will be addressing this these situations.
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The fact that people can't get their radar reports.
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The fact that they can't get a package tracking report that
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districts come out with. Oh, you have to use a load truck
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feature so we can verify what you're putting in your truck and
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then you know come after you for disciplinary reasons if a
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package isn't delivered. All the one bullshit and air
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quotes bullshit because it's huge.
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Management is coming from the district level bases on
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national, even even at the local level, postmaster supervisors
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who have no idea of the contract, half of them don't
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even know what the R Cam is and they're instituting policy on a
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craft that they have no knowledge of.
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This is what's causing people to go, I'll say wacko on on the
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Internet. This is what's causing people
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who are dropping out of the union, people who are
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considering retirement earlier, years before they they actually
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plan to because of the fact that it's such a hostile, toxic
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workplace, they don't want to do it anymore.
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I've seen where people have 28 and 30 years who are bailing
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because of the situation within the post office.
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And for the for the life of me, I cannot understand how every
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level of the post office isn't aware of this.
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And it makes me think that there's got to be some kind of
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coordinated effort to basically break the union, break the
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union, as far as, you know, having it dissolved, but break
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the union's will fight. And I'm here to fight each and
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every carrier, Not for the NSS, not for national board, not for
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the executive committee, people for the carriers.
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There is only one reason you should be on the national board,
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and that is promote, educate and protect your carriers.
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And they have lost sight of that.
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And there's no accountability whatsoever.
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It's for at the national connection, where we are given
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the opportunity to stand up there and say the king has no
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clothes. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm Madsen
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has no clothes, has no concern for us, never has, never will.
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He has got to go him and every long time member of the national
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board. Basically a cancer in our union
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and we have to operate. You want?
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You want to tell us your reason for running for vice president?
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Oh, my reason for running for vice president.
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Well, thanks for putting me on the spot.
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James wasn't totally prepared. For that, after what Bill just
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said, it's kind of hard to follow that, but.
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It really, it really is. That's why I'm kind of like
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well. He really, he really hit the
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nail on the head with a lot of the reasons why a lot of us are
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running and and the the support of people is the biggest part of
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it, supporting the craft and supporting the carriers.
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But I want to know the exact reason you believe that you're
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the best candidate for vice president of the NRLCA.
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Well, as Vice President #1 jobs, to have the back of the
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President. In the event of something
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happens to where the President cannot fulfill their duties, the
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Vice President must step up again.
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I am here for the craft. This, you know, I don't have to
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do this. I want to do this almost to the
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point where I feel like I have to do it for the entire craft.
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It's, you know, these guys call me Mama Bear for a reason.
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I, you know, I I take care of people.
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I take care of my craft family, whether it's in my office or you
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know, the phone calls I get or my former office or at at
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conferences and conventions. I am always on the lookout and
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taking care of everybody in one form or another.
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And you know, I I I'll give credit where credit was due.
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It's taken over five years for Academy training materials to be
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updated as well as OGI materials.
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Especially with Rex, it's, you know, finally happening.
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I'll give credit or credit to due because obviously the past
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Vice President was unable to take care of that, whereas the
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current Vice President has and I'm very, very happy on that.
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him and I have similar thoughts on how we view RC as being the
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backbone of the craft in which they absolutely are.
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I mean, if it wasn't for our RC as we wouldn't have our relief
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days, we wouldn't have our vacation days.
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And I know there are many, many offices out there right now that
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don't have Rcas and people are working six days a week and
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seven in some places and they're getting denied their vacation
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and that's not right. You know, a lot of it comes down
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to I think retaining, it's not necessarily the hiring, it's the
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retaining again. And that comes down to the way
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management, number one reason Rcas leave is because of
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management. I've seen it in my office like a
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revolving door. Because of management.
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I'm doing what I can to keep our one RCA there instead of walking
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out because she's already mentioned that she won't fire
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him because we're already short as it is.
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But that doesn't mean she won't rag on him and push him to a
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point where he's going to walk out that door and I'm doing
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everything I can to keep him from doing that.
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I've got it to a point, if I notice it's a training issue
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because I did not train him myself, that she pretty much
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just tells him to go talk to me and walks away.
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So or I hear her dogging on him and then I when she walks away,
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I go over and go, you know, and explain it to him in a way.
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I know that he's going to understand it.
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And then oh Oh yeah. And then coming to find out he
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was never trained on a lot of just the basic office duties.
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So that's where I'm at now is training him on those basic
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office duties before and after. And you know, he's got six
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months in, but I'm still taking care of him.
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I have to, you know, that's just who I am and that's, you know,
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I, and I mentioned this at Mid States during my speech was, you
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know, I'm thrilled that there's going to be new Academy
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materials and Oji training guide and whatnot.
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I think that's absolutely wonderful.
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When we actually see that, we don't know.
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But why I don't want to wait five plus years to have that
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stuff updated. I would be as soon as new stuff
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comes out, I'm going to be hounding USPS to get that
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updated. Even if it's an addendum add on
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sheet instead of printing out all brand new binders.
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Something to get it done when it needs to be done.
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I want to make sure Academies have all the equipment that they
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need for every class. There's a cat.
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I know there's some welly well stocked classes out there.
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They've got all the cases they need, all the scanners.
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But there are so many of them out there that don't have the
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scanners they need. They don't have the cases they
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need or the equipment or the proper facilities and training
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materials. I want every classroom to have
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exactly what they need for every class.
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You know, I would be on management left and right about
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treating these Rcas like human beings and it just, you know,
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they can't do that anymore. We are human beings.
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Whether it doesn't matter. But these brand new RC, as I
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mean I get it, you know, they tell us well things are
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different now than when you started, OK.
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But at the same time, with all the additional stuff that's been
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added on Rex activity scans being a big one, I mean a lot of
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change. And since I started nearly ten
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years ago as an RCA and three days is not enough time to fully
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cover, they may not cover everything in those three days.
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They may never see an express or a signature package or a
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certified or anything of or registered that you rarely see
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anymore. But all those things like that,
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those three days with an OJI, they may not see it all or any
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of it. And then then when they do see
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it, they don't know what they're supposed to be doing or how
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they're supposed to take care of it because it might have just
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been lightly covered over an Academy, but now they don't
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know. And it just I don't feel that 24
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hours, 3 days is proper training.
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I would try and work with you. Well, I wouldn't try.
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Excuse me? I would demand that USPS would
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accept. A full 40 hours of training up
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to 48, because three days is not enough at all.
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You know, I I see it as training, as training new Rcas
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and I I hear about it constantly.
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And yeah, I that's the one thing.
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You know, there are several different publications out there
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that specifically say management is supposed to treat us with
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dignity, fairness and respect. But how often do they actually
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do that, and especially with the newbies when they want to just
20:46
throw it on to them so quickly and that needs to stop.
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And then of course. So that's the big one is the
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Academy, the RCA's, all that good stuff.
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I think to me, it's probably one of the most important ones.
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And then Vice President is also the ones that sat and planned
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the conventions and yeah, that's definitely a daunting task.
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I am familiar with that after having 15 years experience in
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hotels and resorts. So yeah, you know I want to see,
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you know we've got keep bouncing back and forth to the same
21:29
locations. I want input from everybody to
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say, hey, why don't we have it. You know, there's this new place
21:36
here or hey, this place is willing to cut us a deal.
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I want my carriers to reach out to me and say, hey, look at this
21:44
place, how about this one or something different So we're not
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bouncing back and forth for the most part between the same
21:51
locations. I know I'd want to go someplace
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different, but you know, definitely that's the focus.
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We'll wait and see if that resolution, if they introduce it
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again for every two years, even passes, we'll see what happens
22:05
there. But you know, conventions and
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Rcas. Oh yeah, and editor of the
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magazine. I want to see stuff that
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pertains to what is going on currently.
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More often I am over the republishing the same article
22:26
every season. Let's update that article.
22:30
Let's make it a little bit more appealing.
22:32
So it's not the exact same thing word for word.
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When they come out a year apart from each other, I want new
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inputs. I want new, you know, more up to
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I want to find out more ways to reach out to the craft to get
23:02
better training and overall coverage of training for our new
23:06
RC as and of course have the back of my President.
23:14
And this is I'm running for director of Steward Operations.
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I'm going to tell you exactly why I'm running for this
23:21
position and it started a few years ago when I was trying to
23:30
get help and the only person responding back to me was my ADR
23:36
and she is an overloaded worker. She worked for Tail Off for the
23:41
craft and I got to give a shout out to her because she's been
23:44
one of the biggest inspirations behind me learning all this
23:47
stuff for the union, but I know there's a lot of lacking in that
23:53
as well. We have AD Rs that are working
23:56
100 plus hours a week on top of doing a mail route as a part
24:01
time ADR. We have carriers out there that
24:06
have 10-15 years that don't even know who their union steward is,
24:10
let alone how to get a hold of the union or any of that
24:14
information. You know they they say, oh you
24:17
get that information at the Academy.
24:19
They show you that stuff at the Academy.
24:22
I can tell you in a logical sense, most people forget 3/4 of
24:28
the stuff they heard at the Academy.
24:32
And the problem is, the union stuff is just one day of it and
24:38
they have to learn their job. Plus they get all this union
24:41
information, they're signing all these papers and even the
24:45
newspaper that they sign at at The Academy Is just another form
24:50
that they just sign off on most of the time.
24:54
But our craft needs to be informed more so than it is, and
25:03
more so than it has been. We have so many manuals and the
25:10
contract and step fours and mous that come out all the time, and
25:16
carriers on the ground don't get this information.
25:21
It's not readily available to them.
25:25
You have a social media presence for the NRLCA, but with the fact
25:29
that they turned off the commenting on it means it's not
25:32
getting exposure. That means people are not seeing
25:37
it on their wall. The only way they get to see it
25:40
is if they turn around and they go to the union site to see it.
25:47
So how do we get more people informed?
25:52
How do we get more people involved?
25:55
How do we get more people understanding that management is
25:58
behind the 8 ball in this situation instead of the
26:01
carrier? How do we do that with more
26:06
information? Getting to the carriers Right
26:09
now, As it stands, our current leadership has the mindset that
26:14
if a carrier wants information, they have to reach out to the
26:18
union officials. They have to seek out the
26:21
information. They have to go here, go there,
26:24
and if they're not a dues paying member, Oh well, good luck.
26:29
But you can get your steward information on the union website
26:32
without having to log in. That is one of the things that
26:35
they did allow. Finally, when they switched over
26:38
to requiring everybody to log in to see stuff on the website, but
26:44
you should know exactly who your steward is, You should have
26:48
their business card. You should be able to ask them
26:51
any question and get an answer. And that's not happening.
26:56
And there are there are stewards out there that'll answer the
26:58
same question 789 times for the same person.
27:03
But I'm going to use an air traffic controller situation in
27:07
this. There's a little Cessna plane
27:10
flying along, and it's asking for its airspeed because it
27:14
doesn't have an airspeed indicator in the cockpit.
27:17
That air traffic controller is going to say his airspeed the
27:20
exact same way the first time to the same way the 10th time.
27:25
Why? Because that is that air traffic
27:28
controller's job, to answer the carrier's questions is what the
27:33
steward's job is. So it's time for our stewards to
27:38
step up even more so than they did before.
27:41
It's time for the Director of Steward operations to step up
27:45
for our stewards and it's time for the lines of communication
27:49
to be open for the craft to everybody in the steward system
27:55
because no matter what they need the answers.
28:01
So Bill, next question. I the next question I have for
28:07
you, you've gotten settled in at the union office as president.
28:12
What is your first task that you're going to do after you've
28:16
gotten settled in figured out where everything is?
28:19
What is your first task? That's contingent on the basis
28:25
of where we are in contract negotiations.
28:30
If we're still in the midst of contract negotiations, that
28:34
would take precedent over every and anything else right off the
28:38
bat for me. The reason being is that some of
28:42
the things that topics that were brought up to me in regards to
28:46
Rcas, new hires and everything else, especially the people who
28:51
signed up for the union where we're taking dues out, why we
28:55
can't represent them. So that would be like one of the
29:01
resolutions that need to be passed that if you join the
29:04
union you're automatically represented as soon as they
29:07
start taking dues out, none of this 90 day crap and negotiate
29:11
that with the post office. Also I would have to say after
29:17
that is you know there's going to be a brainstorming of
29:21
everybody of the National Board in regards to where we're going,
29:27
how we're getting there and what is of importance.
29:33
And I would want everybody's input on that because of the
29:36
fact that since we are a union of 130,000, there is no one
29:41
person that has every answer. And as in our comments section
29:45
was earlier stated, many people can have the same view in
29:51
regards to stealing our ideas for, you know, election.
29:55
But it's not the way that you see it and it's not the way that
30:00
you know, the issue is presented.
30:01
It's the way everybody sees it differently and you can have one
30:05
opinion on the on the subject, but you'll have nine different,
30:10
you know, objections to that. Everybody has merit to that in
30:16
their own eyes to to their objection to something that
30:18
you're presenting. So say we are in stasis per SE
30:25
for the contract. The contract takes precedent
30:29
After that. It is getting down with the
30:33
Director Stewart Operations and the Director of Labor Operations
30:37
taking a hammer to the United States Postal Service about how
30:42
our carriers are treated. Talk about the J440 where you're
30:47
supposed to be treated with respect and dignity.
30:51
Every RCA ought to get a copy of that as they come out of the
30:54
Academy so that they know that they have the right to be
30:58
protected. Unfortunately, because of that
31:00
90 day rule and it's 90 work days or one year, one calendar
31:05
year, many of them are intimidated and don't want to
31:09
end up or speak out. That's got to stop.
31:12
That's where we have to turn around and we have to be the
31:17
biggest bully on the block and we are going to take it to the
31:21
United States Postal Service in regards to how they treat our
31:25
craft. Once you demonstrate that for
31:29
the craft, for the individuals in all offices across the
31:33
country, once you demonstrate that you're willing to back
31:36
them, won't forsake them. They'll start standing up for
31:41
themselves. Not everybody is a bill or James
31:47
or Kristen or many of the other people have stood up the craft.
31:54
But we're going to help you grow a backbone and we're going to,
31:57
we'll make you confident in what you're doing, how you're doing
32:00
it. We have your back.
32:05
That is probably the biggest concern I have after the
32:08
contract is the way our carriers are treated, the way the
32:12
districts come out with these arbitrary rules, such as in
32:16
Philadelphia, in my district where a postmaster puts out a
32:20
memo saying that all carriers have to use the truckload
32:24
feature. No, no, we don't.
32:28
Then the postmaster, because somebody from Philadelphia said
32:31
so, says we have to do it. No, we don't.
32:34
It's not in the wrecks. We don't have to do it.
32:37
Everybody has their own style of loading and unloading the trucks
32:41
and you know, staging their parcels and everything.
32:43
It's not a requirement in wrecks.
32:46
So as soon as that comes out, Dang, it's handled OK.
32:50
As soon as somebody gets disciplined, Dang, it's handled.
32:54
You know in our office we just had three RC as in for PD is
33:00
without union representation as management failed to tell the
33:05
carriers they were entitled to it.
33:09
And then after confronted about that, management said that's not
33:14
our responsibility, it's their problem.
33:16
If they don't know that long, you're to give them that
33:22
opportunity. They weren't given that
33:25
opportunity. Luckily we didn't lose anybody.
33:29
But now we have intimidated carriers who are afraid to do
33:33
anything, say anything, look a certain way.
33:37
Enough of this horseshit. It's time for us to become the
33:41
the bully on the block and take care of these people in all
33:45
these offices across the country who are abusing our carriers.
33:53
After that, I I really don't know.
33:57
I have to see where else we're going.
33:59
One of the things I would be looking at is the books in
34:02
regards to board policy for expenditures for national board
34:08
members and executive committee people.
34:11
Because there's a lot of money going out the door for 9 people
34:18
and I just can't justify it's almost $2,000,000 for nine
34:23
people every year. The numbers guy and I'll be
34:28
crunching them with Turner if he's still in the office,
34:32
whoever becomes the secretary, treasurer and I'm going to make
34:37
everybody accountable for what they're spending, how they're
34:40
spending and why. So contract carrier protection,
34:49
fiscal accountability I. Think after you've settled in,
34:56
you've figured out where everything is, how everything's
34:59
going, what is the very first things that you're going to work
35:02
on. Well, well, depends like Bill
35:06
said. You're muted.
35:08
Yes, I was muted like like Bill said, see where we're at in
35:13
contract negotiations because that takes precedent.
35:17
And following that would be where the Hell's the new
35:23
material for The Academy Is. Last I heard it was going to the
35:29
printer. So you know, that would
35:34
definitely be the top one there. And then I think putting a topic
35:47
agenda together for new topics and articles for the magazine,
35:53
and then follow up with the convention stuff for anything
35:57
else the president wanted me to do.
36:02
Well, I I want to make sure that you get all the equipment
36:05
needed. Absolutely, yes, absolutely.
36:11
And I would like to see, I would you know we had a round table at
36:18
Spring Booster with Academies and OJ is I'd like to see a
36:22
round table split up via Zoom with our and and then the
36:26
different areas with all of our Academy instructors.
36:30
And OJ is and doing like a round, round table zoom with
36:35
everybody together to feed off of each other and see where
36:38
everybody's at, 'cause I would like to see a, you know, the
36:42
same curriculum across the board, no matter who's teaching
36:47
it or who's training that RCA. I want to make sure that the
36:51
same things are being covered and HRCA is given the same
36:55
chance. And I think like one of our past
36:58
episodes talking about the different ways of learning,
37:01
making sure that OJ is are the compassionate type of people
37:05
that take their time to listen and find out how that RCA learns
37:10
and what's the best way to continue training them in a way
37:14
that they understand it can pick it up easier.
37:17
I think we definitely need something like that included in
37:20
with our trainings when it comes for Academy instructors.
37:23
And OJ is yeah. I agree with you, Jean.
37:29
What would you do in the 1st 90 days as Director of Stewart
37:33
Operations? Well, in my probationary period,
37:37
as the Director of Stewart Operations, do you know the very
37:43
first thing, of course is the contract negotiations.
37:47
All the board members are supposed to be involved in the
37:50
contract negotiations. So I want to know exactly where
37:53
we stand because for two reasons.
37:56
The first part is, number one, our craft needs a good contract
38:01
this year. Every other union in the nation
38:04
has gotten a good contract and it's time for the NRLCA to have
38:10
a very good contract, one that when the stewards step up to
38:15
fight management and their wonderful infinite wisdom of,
38:21
oh, I didn't learn that yet because I wasn't required to
38:26
learn that by my regional officer.
38:31
It's time for stewards to step up and fight with a good
38:35
contract. So the contract is top, top, top
38:39
priority for everybody on the national board.
38:41
And it doesn't matter if it's us or somebody else.
38:44
But the very next thing I'm going to be doing is I'm going
38:48
to be going through all the grievances that we have in the
38:53
nation and finding every single one that involves workplace
38:57
harassment and abuse by management.
39:01
Because we have a wonderful Mou 25 that I have yet to hear be
39:07
enforced. MOU 25 is the first step to
39:12
getting management removed from rural carrier supervision and
39:19
it's not being utilized by our leadership because we're
39:24
settling for language too much. So my first order of business is
39:29
there's always going to be some monetary compensation for
39:34
carriers or any contractual violation because it is not an
39:40
honest mistake. It is not ignorance.
39:46
It is stupidity to think that management that sits on their
39:51
butts in the office all day long, staring at a computer
39:54
telling carriers that they're sitting stationary too long on a
39:58
hot day could instead be studying the rural carrier
40:02
contract. It could be studying the city
40:05
carrier contract and one of the biggest things that I've done
40:12
this year. Was 21 resolutions to the
40:16
National 2 convention. 21 resolutions are heading to the
40:22
Michigan State Convention penned by me.
40:26
One of those resolutions is a management tracking system for
40:33
the union to design one and have one readily available for
40:39
stewards and national leadership.
40:45
Because we need to figure out where these bad managers are,
40:49
where they move to, who they're supervising.
40:54
Because we want to get them away from rural carriers until they
40:59
can learn to be a proper manager.
41:04
Because the hostile work environment with harassment
41:09
needs to stop. And that is going to be my first
41:12
goal is to work on getting rid of the hostile work environments
41:16
that our carriers deal with. I'm going to work with my
41:21
Director of Labor Relations, my national regional officers or
41:26
executive committeeman and the rest of the national Steward
41:30
System to find and remove as many bad managers from the USPS
41:43
as I can. They will no longer supervise
41:47
rural carriers. If I can help it, and if that
41:51
means I have to go like Memphis with the City side where they
41:54
had them actually fired by an arbitrator, or if I can get
41:59
national USPS management to do it with all the without all that
42:05
paperwork one way or the other, we're going to get rid of the I
42:13
don't Care managers, the ones who don't want to learn their
42:16
job and are just there to collect a paycheck and we're
42:20
going to get good management. I'm tired of hearing carriers
42:26
say my manager is a Unicorn, my manager is a diamond in the
42:30
rough. I want the Unicorn to be a bad
42:34
manager. I want the rare postmaster or
42:39
supervisor to be the one that we're working on to get removed,
42:44
but right now it's the other way around and it's time to change.
42:52
Can I add add to that, James, It's not only the bad managers
42:57
and supervisors, it's the ones who are supporting postmasters
43:02
and district managers just because they said so.
43:07
I'm following orders just like you have to follow orders.
43:10
No, you don't. If you're knowledgeable in the
43:13
contract, if you're knowledgeable of Arcam, if
43:16
you're knowledgeable about how to treat people respectfully,
43:21
and you shouldn't be following those orders.
43:25
And just like I once had a supervisor who fought for us,
43:30
you could become that person, that individual that fights for
43:33
your carriers, your craft, defend them.
43:38
But you can't do that when you're in fear of losing your
43:41
job every day. If you said no to your PM or
43:44
your poo. And that's that's an attitude
43:48
and mindset that has to be changed too.
43:51
Now we can't actively go in and have management fired.
43:57
We can make life so miserable for them that they'll want to
44:01
quit. They'll want to move on and we
44:04
want them to quit. We don't want them moving to
44:05
another office and creating the same scenario there.
44:10
But we're not going to tolerate this horseshit and we're not
44:13
going to tolerate settling for language.
44:17
That is one thing I want you as director of Stewart operations,
44:20
to eliminate from our grievance process, settling for language.
44:27
The only language we're going to settle for is abide by the
44:31
contract, pay a financial penalty and it accelerates every
44:35
time you violate it in the future.
44:38
And I will agree with you on that.
44:40
And I have said this, I said this on grounds platforms.
44:45
If there are managers out there that are supporting their
44:48
carriers and it's coming down from above them, I want to know
44:52
who it's coming down from. I will.
44:54
I don't want to be going after a postmaster or supervisor that
44:58
doesn't deserve it. If they're getting it from their
45:03
district manager, I'm going to go after the district manager.
45:07
If it's coming from the regional manager, I'm going after the
45:11
regional manager because I want it to stop at the source because
45:18
as they say, one bad apple spoils the bunch.
45:23
So we're going to remove the bad apples.
45:26
And I don't care if you've been with the post office 30 years,
45:30
whatever, if you're treating my rural carriers, my brothers and
45:35
sisters on of the craft terribly, or you're forcing
45:40
people to treat my brothers and sisters of the craft terribly,
45:44
I'm going to bury you in paperwork.
45:47
I'm going to make you wish that you had decided to retire long
45:52
ago when the going was good because the paperwork's coming
45:58
because our carriers have been harassed for too long,
46:03
management has had it too good for too long, and I will stick
46:10
by that statement. That is one thing that we will
46:12
say is management has had it too good for too long.
46:16
And I'll steal that quote from Masen and change it a little
46:19
bit. All right.
46:24
Next. Thing it was that with or
46:26
without the salted caramel macchiato.
46:33
So the next thing I want on you is what is your focus in terms
46:42
of long term sustainability of the rural craft Bill?
46:50
Oh, this is a difficult one. There's that the the first
46:57
problem with long, long term sustainability of the rural
47:00
craft is the financial stability of the post office and and
47:12
that's that's a big deal here. Hold on, I got I got two dogs
47:16
visiting me right now. Puppies.
47:21
They're my neighbor's dogs. They come up for biscuits.
47:24
Let me get back to you, OK? I got to address these dogs
47:26
here. Hold on.
47:31
All right, Kristen, we'll give you that question then.
47:33
What do you see? If you were the Vice President,
47:38
how would you ensure a longer term viability of the rural
47:43
craft? Oh, wow.
47:46
That is a tough one. A longer term viability of the
47:50
rural craft means rural carriers need to stand up for themselves.
47:54
Number one, we're not going to roll over.
47:58
We're not going to become a city.
47:59
God forbid we have to go through that micromanagement.
48:04
I, I, you know, the post office is changing.
48:08
We we all know that the the amount of mail that we handle
48:11
today is definitely not what we were handling 510 years ago and
48:16
we're definitely more on the partial side, you know and
48:19
that's going to break us down even more physically.
48:22
I mean this for the longevity of the rural craft.
48:25
It's just it is so hard to try and call on what you want to see
48:30
for other than everybody standing together to not allow
48:39
management to bust us down any more than we already have been.
48:43
I'm. I'm back now.
48:48
Bill, what do you see as the way to make long term sustainability
48:52
of the rural craft? OK.
48:57
Long term, sustainability of the rural craft is a, better pay, B,
49:04
better treatment and training. C continuous education.
49:13
Like Kristen has said, you can't learn everything in 90 days.
49:20
When's the last time somebody's had a foreign COD?
49:22
Me. It's been almost 20 years.
49:26
Yeah, exactly. You're so you're not going to
49:29
learn everything in 90 days if you have a seasonal route like
49:32
you do, Kristen, right? Yes.
49:34
Are you going to learn everything in in 90 days when in
49:38
you know 90 extra days it's all going to change?
49:41
Yeah, I mean, you come in, in the middle of the, you start in
49:44
the middle of the summertime, everybody's there.
49:47
So you know, you're looking at October, November coming in and
49:51
that's when everybody's leaving. They're like, oh, what's going
49:53
on? So for the sustainability of the
49:57
craft itself, you have to have Subs.
50:01
It it, it's just it's nuts, nuts and bolts.
50:05
OK, the the bolt doesn't work unless you know you've got a nut
50:08
on there, OK? The thing about my problem is,
50:11
is that we don't have enough in office support for new RCAS and
50:20
there's a certain resentment towards RCAS from some carriers.
50:26
There's a certain amount of indifference for RCAS from
50:30
carriers. And then you have the few like
50:32
myself, Kristen and probably yourself, James and and and
50:36
others out there that are truly concerned about the welfare of
50:39
the RCAS. We have to encourage them, we
50:43
have to educate them. We have to support them.
50:47
And and that's one of the things that look like an an Oji or your
50:52
even your Academy instructors, they have to go back to be able
50:55
to get support and information and direction on how to do their
51:00
jobs, what their, you know, what their responsibilities are.
51:04
It's hard to make them go out and read the six O 3, which is
51:07
basically outdated right now but is still in effect or the
51:11
contract or Rex. I mean Rex is I I've got 400
51:18
pages on Rex. How many new people are going to
51:20
read that, let alone people who've been in the in the post
51:23
office for 20 years and have a career?
51:27
Not many. And that's where support comes
51:30
in from. The Vice President is, you know,
51:32
getting the Academy instructors up to speed from your your
51:36
director of Stewart operations. Making sure that Stewarts are
51:40
there for the support of the carriers.
51:43
That's where we get rid of the language.
51:45
Settling for the language, you know, settling for the language,
51:49
the sustainability of our craft, self dependent.
51:53
To me it's dependent on what the national board does for the
51:58
body, the entire body union and non union, because as we have
52:05
seen at SWAC 240 carriers bailed on the union.
52:12
That says a lot because it says they've given up.
52:17
So how do you expect new people to come in there and and support
52:22
the union, support the craft when all they're looking at is
52:27
getting a paycheck? We have to make them see that
52:29
there is more beyond the paycheck, that there's a future,
52:33
there's a career. And all these are mitigated with
52:39
our association with the United States Postal Service and their
52:44
forecast, their their vision, their Delivery for America
52:50
initiative. The fact that we have now seen
52:54
that the joy is suspending any more consolidations in the SD
52:58
and CS because of the pressure he's getting from government
53:02
officials. So everybody has to work
53:05
together to sustain our craft and sustain the United States
53:12
Postal Service. We are moving away from being a
53:16
mail delivery service, being a parcel delivery service that
53:20
does not give us any leeway in still performing our jobs,
53:25
delivering the checks, the diplomas, the birth
53:28
certificates, the Social Security cards, all the other
53:34
material that the United States Postal Service has been depended
53:37
on on a daily basis. As the Postal Service itself is
53:45
changing, as the direction of our industry is changing, we
53:50
must adapt too, and in doing so the post office has to adapt
53:55
with it. So therefore, we have to work
53:59
with them on one hand, make sure that the Postal Service is
54:03
sustainable so that the craft is sustainable, does not mean we
54:08
have to kiss their ass and does not mean we have to tolerate
54:13
their attitude in regards to how they treat us.
54:18
And like I said before, when I become president, we're going to
54:23
go in there with a big stick and we're going to stand up for our
54:28
craft and show them we are will not be pushed around anymore.
54:35
I agree with both of you on that.
54:37
And the biggest thing that I can see us to be able to sustain the
54:43
rural craft is of course remembering that we are not a
54:50
business, we are a service, a government service.
54:56
Granted, we currently do not get tax dollars to support the
55:00
Postal Service, but yet we still have been able to maintain our
55:06
service while continuously losing money.
55:12
And one of the biggest things I hear is we're going from a parse
55:19
from a mail delivery service to a parcel delivery service.
55:23
The most interesting aspect I can see from that specifically
55:27
is when we initially started doing parcel delivery service,
55:33
Congress approved it on the basis that what we charge for
55:38
parcels was the cost it was going to be to deliver those
55:43
parcels. And if we have contracts out
55:47
there with agencies that are costing us money to deliver
55:53
their stuff versus breaking even or even making a small amount of
55:58
profit off of it, then obviously we've done something wrong.
56:05
This Delivery for America plan on a whole is not going to be
56:13
cost efficient in the grand scheme of things.
56:19
Sure, centralizing delivery is a great way to remove a lot of the
56:25
overhead costs associated with maintaining buildings and
56:31
structures and parking lots for carriers.
56:36
But the cost of moving all those people to these centralized
56:41
locations, Sending all these vehicles from this centralized
56:46
location out to all these routes, is going to cost a lot
56:49
more money in the long run than one truck running from building
56:54
to building to building. But you can centralized a few
57:00
items in the Postal Service to save money, but not all of them.
57:07
Just like Rex could be a good system if people did it the
57:12
right way, so could the Delivery for America plan.
57:16
The current plan as it is, is not financially sound, and if we
57:21
were to continue with it and find out later on down the road,
57:25
it's not financially sound. What's the first thing they're
57:28
going to cut out? The last mile delivery?
57:35
Because delivering 2 houses in the middle of nowhere costs a
57:43
lot of money. That is why FedEx UPSDHL have
57:50
used the Postal Service for a lot of their last mile
57:52
deliveries plus their overages in areas that they do deliver
57:56
to. Because it's cheaper to send it
58:00
with the Postal Service than to send one of their drivers out
58:03
there to deliver that package. We still can capitalize on that
58:09
market and if we don't, then we turn around and we become just
58:15
like FedEx, UPSDHL and the rest of them and we literally lose
58:21
our one piece of the country that makes us one of the best
58:27
services in the country. And that is, we deliver to every
58:31
single household, every day, real carriers and city carriers
58:36
delivered every single household.
58:40
People that we're going to cut out of the system especially are
58:44
your Amish communities. They use the Postal Service hate
58:50
to use the term religiously because it fits within their
58:55
religious values. So when we cut out last mile
59:02
deliveries, one of the biggest ones that are going to get
59:05
impacted is the Amish communities.
59:08
So we have to protect ourselves. We have to ensure that what
59:13
we're doing is a plan that keeps us the service that we are,
59:19
keeps the service that we maintain, lest we lose
59:24
everything we've accomplished so far in 120 years.
59:32
Our craft. Though a lot of people see us as
59:37
the redheaded stepchild of the post office.
59:39
In a lot of ways, at least that's what some other crafts
59:43
call us. We are one of the most important
59:47
parts of the Postal Service. Each and every one of my
59:51
brothers and sisters of this craft is an integral part of
59:54
what keeps this Postal Service the service it is.
1:00:01
So what for long term viability? Us being the best craft, the
1:00:07
most knowledgeable craft, the best protected craft, is the
1:00:11
only way the royal craft will continue beyond the next five
1:00:16
years. Then to add to that, James, you
1:00:22
got to remember the United States Postal Service guarantees
1:00:25
universal mail delivery. What are you?
1:00:28
Doing everybody, but that does not mean we have to give up an
1:00:33
advantage where we will be delivering in the rural areas
1:00:37
that FedEx, UPS and DHL won't deliver and Amazon, that's why
1:00:42
they do the handoffs that they do now.
1:00:45
With the recent contract with UPS, we're seeing an influx of
1:00:49
materials and packages from UPS because of the fact that they're
1:00:53
now holding almost all their drivers to a 40 hour work week
1:00:59
because of the fact that they are paying them out the ass with
1:01:03
this new contract. So again, we have an opportunity
1:01:08
here to take advantage of this situation.
1:01:12
There is no reason that we are giving Amazon a discount that we
1:01:16
have been giving them ever since I addressed the Postmaster
1:01:20
Brennan and the National Harbor saying they're getting $1.49
1:01:26
parcel discount and in that time parcels weren't boxes of dog
1:01:30
food because we wanted to get their business Well.
1:01:35
By doing so, not only did we create the market for Amazon, we
1:01:40
also created the foothold for them to see the viability of
1:01:44
delivering in focused, concentrated urban suburban
1:01:49
areas. Now they've taken that business
1:01:52
off of us while still maintaining the discount that we
1:01:55
give them. It's about time that they pay
1:01:58
their fair share. Reversal service only applies to
1:02:02
the mail when it comes to the packages you pay for the last
1:02:07
mile and that's one thing that the post office needs to do is
1:02:12
negotiate that that we are getting our due or our cost.
1:02:18
I I'm I'm getting to the point that I I'm very tired of the the
1:02:27
stories you see on online Facebook and the rural carrier,
1:02:31
rural regular carriers and rural carrier associates, all the all
1:02:37
the different groups where the people are being mistreated day
1:02:42
in and day out. I just saw one maybe 15 minutes
1:02:45
ago where somebody was apologizing to an office in
1:02:49
Florida because their PM is heading to Florida from
1:02:52
Michigan. And they elaborated on all the
1:02:57
things this person's done from falsifying records through the
1:03:02
desk, your you know, your case, you know, check out which I was
1:03:05
in there running around and manning trips on a Miss Miss
1:03:11
parcel. That's not purpose of secular
1:03:15
folks. I hate to tell you there's
1:03:19
clarification as far as second trips are concerned.
1:03:21
And to me, I I, I fight it and say yeah, I'm sorry if if it's a
1:03:26
sort, it's not a second trip, you take care of it.
1:03:29
And and I'm just sitting there going, we've got to start from
1:03:32
the ground floor up in regards to addressing these issues.
1:03:39
All I had for my questions pretty much.
1:03:43
I pretty much planned this out to be about an hour totals.
1:03:46
So, yeah, we're just about hitting that mark, right.
1:03:52
Yeah, we're roughly there. Let me look and see.
1:03:57
I'm. I'm just.
1:03:58
Recording for an hour and 5 minutes.
1:04:00
So yeah. I I'm just so disappointed in
1:04:06
the fact that for the last at least eight years we've seen the
1:04:12
National board, like I said, just, you know, push the next
1:04:15
chair up, push the next chair up.
1:04:18
And I have to tell you it it's not just the fact that the
1:04:24
people going to the conventions are the only ones voting, which
1:04:28
I disagree with, but the fact that your national board can go
1:04:32
out there and they can politic every time they visit a state
1:04:36
convention, you know, a what? What do you call those?
1:04:41
Regional conferences. No.
1:04:44
What do they call them? Boosters.
1:04:47
Yes, boosters, you know they, they they have people out there
1:04:51
and and a lot of these people at the state level, at the booster
1:04:54
level, at the conferences and all that, they're all tied in
1:04:57
with the people who are on the national board.
1:05:01
They get invited to Washington. We won't mention anybody that we
1:05:05
know who's been to Washington for a legislative, you know,
1:05:08
affair. But the thing of it is, is they
1:05:11
rope you in and then they, you know, garner your support
1:05:14
because, oh, we'll get you a trip.
1:05:16
We'll get you, you know, time off from work.
1:05:18
No, folks, this is not about that.
1:05:20
This is about promoting the crap.
1:05:22
This is about protecting the carriers.
1:05:25
This is about education and rights and decency and fair pay.
1:05:31
This is not about, oh, who gets to go to Washington or who gets
1:05:34
to go to Tacoma or or go to Hawaii to help out seven
1:05:38
carriers, you know, that are, you know, displaced by the
1:05:41
fires. Not that we know that all 7
1:05:43
carriers there were displaced by the fires.
1:05:46
What about all the carriers in the Midwest displaced by
1:05:48
tornadoes? We're the ones in Texas from,
1:05:51
you know, displaced from flooding.
1:05:53
I don't see anybody running out there.
1:05:57
And we have people from the state level who are already
1:06:01
there. So utilize the resources.
1:06:04
The last thing you do is you don't spend 2 days to travel to
1:06:08
Hawaii for a photo op, OK? You have people in place there
1:06:14
that can take care of the situation.
1:06:16
Don't you have something better to do with your time and the fly
1:06:21
to Hawaii for a photo op? Yes, as national officers, we
1:06:28
would be concerned. That does not mean that we get a
1:06:32
free trip out of it, nor does it mean that we build up our miles
1:06:36
so we can take our family to Hawaii for vacation.
1:06:41
Don, this is about service. If you're not going to serve the
1:06:49
craft, get the hell off the board.
1:06:54
I want boots on the ground doing things.
1:06:57
I want people stepping up and taking care of this craft.
1:07:01
I want my AD Rs, my D Rs, my regional reps on the ground
1:07:08
helping carriers. I want everything solved as soon
1:07:12
as possible. I want to be working with the
1:07:15
Director of Labor Relations and the President to be getting the
1:07:19
step fours that have been sitting there, one of them since
1:07:22
2017, 2018 that I've seen that have still not been resolved or
1:07:29
at least we haven't been told they've been resolved.
1:07:32
I want them to be resolved. Waiting 45678 years for things
1:07:40
to be resolved hurts carriers, especially if that Step 4 is
1:07:47
something that got the carrier terminated.
1:07:51
How would you like to be without your job for four years waiting
1:07:55
on that Step 4 to be resolved? It's not right.
1:08:01
Carriers shouldn't be waiting for a resolution anymore.
1:08:07
I want a streamlined process. I want it solved as quickly and
1:08:13
efficiently as possible. In the carrier's favor, because
1:08:20
our carriers are the reason the Postal Service exists.
1:08:25
It wasn't city delivery that started the Postal Service, it
1:08:28
was rural free delivery. The rural craft started the
1:08:32
Postal Service. So it's time for the rural craft
1:08:37
to be the strongest, meanest and best union in the in the Postal
1:08:43
Service. And it starts with a brand new
1:08:46
leadership change at the top. It starts with electing Bill May
1:08:52
President Kristen Wakeman, vice president, James Brennan,
1:08:58
director of Stewart operations, Jake Edel, executive
1:09:03
committeeman. It starts by electing people who
1:09:08
actually have been on the ground, dealt with what you've
1:09:11
dealt with, seen what you've seen, and will fight day in, day
1:09:18
out for every single carrier across this nation, not just the
1:09:24
majority of them. Yeah, I think we're gonna call
1:09:29
that a wrap, guys. I really don't have much to
1:09:34
follow up on between the two of them at all.
1:09:38
Wow. All right guys, everybody have a
1:09:43
safe week and we'll we'll be back next Sunday.
1:09:49
Everybody, be safe. You're the most important
1:09:51
delivery of the day. Especially.
1:10:12
Yeah, with summer coming up, you're going to get that
1:10:14
comment. Is this hot enough for you?
1:10:16
Oh no. I wanted another 20° yet, dumb
1:10:19
ass. Because I'm going to drive
1:10:20
around it. I'm going to drive around in my
1:10:22
pink thong and you'll and you'll stop coming out to the truck,
1:10:27
won't you? I don't want to say this, but
1:10:33
dude, if you're driving around with the pink thong, I got to
1:10:36
get a picture of you stand there and your pink thong next to the
1:10:38
mail truck, OK? Or or you get a picture from
1:10:43
behind, as I'm in the service certified at the front door.