[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]Don't laugh. Standing up for justice is no laughing matter. A federal statute regarding time fraud is on the books. It is clear. It is a federal crime. The time has come to see to it that adherence to that statute is not ignored. 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.”
I've quoted that law so many times in this series that you should know it by heart. The reason no one has been sent to jail, or at the very least, fired, under that statute is because the unions have been twiddling their thumbs in the administrative process instead of using the clout of the membership numbers to flex their political muscle.
Time fraud is not a grievance. It is a federal crime.
Filing grievances and EEOs plays right into the post office’s hands. The administrative process takes forever. Justice delayed is justice denied. The system is stacked against the grievant and/or complainant. It is designed to make you think you have rights while its actual function is to maintain the status quo. That is why you are paying thousands of dollars in union dues and still suffering. Have you ever wondered why an employee can pick up a Wal-Mart coupon out of the trash and be summarily fired while your manager can be caught falsifying thousands of dollars of employee clock rings and be promoted? Wake up.
If you want justice, and for your job to be secure, you are going to have to make sure that the jobs of your boss, your union officers and your politicians are insecure. You must shine a bright enough light on laziness, complacence and corruption to place their jobs in jeopardy.
In spite of that fact time fraud and falsifying government documents is a federal crime punishable by five years in federal prison, and the fact the United States Postal Service is stealing millions of dollars per day from its employees, you are not seeing anyone even fired. One acting CSO in the Los Angeles District was promoted while an allegation of time fraud is pending against him. Unions have been less than aggressive in pursuing your rights. They have been satisfied to get one or two people paid a year (just enough to look good on their resume), then letting the post office sweep the matter under the rug. One officer even told the grievant she'd have to pursue the matter through the EEOC and refused to return her calls.
As egregious as that sounds, I'm sure you know it’s not an unsubstantiated claim. You are living the consequences of that kind of reckless complacence on the part of some union officials on a daily basis. Complacence has made time fraud and many other abuses such a severe problem within the agency. The postal service knows that the unions are ineffective. So they feel free to rob, abuse and intimidate you with impunity. I know I'm being kind of hard on the unions, but before a problem can be corrected it must be faced in an honest, forthright manner.
What's so unconscionable about this particular situation, however, is it can be so easily addressed. A thief needs the cover of darkness to commit his crimes. All the unions have to do is shine a light on what is going on within the shadows of the postal service. Why haven’t they? I won't speculate. I will leave it for the membership to decide, and in a hurry, because not only is your hard-earned money disappearing, your jobs are, too.
The Boss Looked Away
The Office of the Inspector General, OIG, has been ignoring time fraud for years. But after the Los Angeles Sentinel, the Black Star News, Veterans Today, and the Postal Employee Network started shining a light on this criminal conduct back in March (http://wattree.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html), then continued hammering away at it and demanding that the OIG and Postmaster General be fired, sudden the OIG recognized the need for a national audit.
Back in February, in the Los Angeles District, when JoAnn Snow's time was stolen, OIG Special Agent Reid Robbins said “The OIG's office generally doesn't investigate time issues.” They have reconsidered that position. Years ago, why didn’t the unions do what these publications have in six months? That is something the membership needs to consider. It will be interesting to see just how much effort the unions put into organizing their membership to take advantage of this opportunity to correct this criminal conduct once and for all.
From the Post Service’s Office of the Inspector General:
Having Problems with Your Time and Attendance Records? The OIG Wants to Hear from You.
Recent news stories have identified a few instances where Postal Service employees have had time deleted from electronic time card records. There have also been other time and attendance instances where managers inaccurately calculated employee work hours for out–of-schedule work.
If you are a Postal Service employee and are experiencing similar problems or any other time and attendance issues at your work place, we would like to hear from you. Please take our brief survey or provide comments below.
This topic is hosted by the OIG’s Human Resources and Security audit team.
Don't be intimidated. Take advantage of this opportunity.
Mr. Wattree may be contacted at wattree.blogspot.com or Ewattree@Gmail.com
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