[img]583|left|Eric L. Wattree||no_popup[/img]The time has come for postal employees to flex their political muscle.
The record is clear. The United States Postal Service has been abusing, bullying and robbing their employees all over the country for years, with impunity.
It is time for both Postmaster General John E. Potter and Inspector General David C. Williams to go.
By overlooking blatant corruption, both easily could be charged with malfeasance at least. The Postal Service is running a plantation under Potter. They're forcing some employees to work as much as six hours a day without pay, and others to work without lunch or breaks. Then their official government clock rings are being falsified to reflect that the employees took three-hour lunches. Thereafter, if the employee reports the abuse to the Office of Inspector General, instead of investigating the matter (time fraud is a federal crime carrying a six- year sentence), the OIG not only turns a blind eye, but reports the employee to his or her manager.
This is going on routinely across the country:
“Washington— U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) called on the U. S. Postal Service today 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. 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 . . . 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.”
Arbitrator Sherrie Rose Talmadge said in a Dec. 2, 2009, ruling 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.”
The Office of Inspector General, politicians and in some union officials have been ignoring unconscionable crimes against middle-class and minority workers.
That doesn't bode well for the American worker. It shows that even the government has embraced the effort to lower the middle class standard of living.
As pointed out previously, unions are a mixed bag. Just as in postal management and the population as a whole, there are many people within the unions who bring a dedicated, ethical, and conscientious attitudes to their jobs.
Far too many, though, are content to benefit from their members' union dues while snuggling up with management. That is one reason this situation exists.
With that said, it becomes incumbent upon us to mention how delighted Ms. JoAnn Snow is with the way that President Larry Brown of Branch 24, NALC, responded.
Ms. Snow said the following:
“It took a little fence-rattling, but I'm very happy with the way President Brown stepped up to the plate when he became personally involved in my case. I also want to thank Anita Guzik. She created a legal document on my behalf that looks like Johnnie Cochran came back and wrote it.
“But we have a ways to go yet because the postal service was willing to pay me $8,000 to drop my case, but they're trying to protect their system of corruption by protecting the people who conspired to steal from me. I'm not going to let that happen.
“If an employee picks up a coupon from waste mail that's been thrown in the trash, that's a removable offense; but managers can steal thousands of dollars from their employees' earnings, and the postal service fights to keep those managers in place. That's got to change. I intend to personally see to it that it does.”
These crimes are easily accomplished by the Postal Service because the employees and unions have been trying to address them administratively, if at all. Grievances go on forever, placing time on the side of the Postal Service. The time involved allows the Postal Service to harass potential witnesses and create hardships for the grievant.
The victim of time fraud shouldn't even have to grieve it. Time fraud is not a contractual issue; it's a federal crime.
If the Postal Service were as pristine as it claims, victims would need do no more than contact the Office of the Inspector General. The OIG would simply investigate the matter, and if the allegation were found to be valid, the victim would be reimbursed. Perpetrators would be fired, possibly prosecuted and jailed. Unfortunately, justice within the Postal Service is an illusion.
There is an upside to the ledger. Postal employees don't have to beg for justice. They can demand it. They have the law, and the numbers on their side.
With 600,000 postal employees in America, when you add their families and friends, that is a formidable political group.
In today's political environment, three-quarters of Americans are unhappy with incumbents.
Postal employees easily can pull together to make a politician's willingness to fight for workers' rights a litmus test to be elected. That goes for your union officials as well. Your first test of clout should be to contact the number below and demand the firing of the two officials named above. Go right down the chain of command to have anyone removed who has presided over a crime against you.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson will be holding a Los Angeles Roundtable on postal employee abuse in the near future. Postal officials, the OIG and union leaders will be invited. When a date is established, it will be published in the Los Angeles Sentinel. If you want to change your working life, please attend. In the meantime, contact the number below:
Chairman Edolphus Towns
U.S. House of Representatives
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202.225.5051
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.
