18. April 2008 by Steve Topel.

The Postal Service of 2008 is as poorly managed now as it was 25 years ago when numerous shootings occurred and many employees were killed. I left the Post Office in November of 2007 and got out shaken but alive. How many more shootings will occur before Congress steps in and legislates how Post Offices can create less hostile environments? The Post Office would like all to believe that most of the problems of the 80’s have been resolved with implementation of policy to prevent violence. What really has happened is the Postal Service is preventing any incident to get any media attention. In 2006 their were 2 seperate shootings where Postal employees were killed again by disgruntled colleagues. These incidences were kept out of the mainstream news agencies. I came across them by accident searching on the internet. Another incident in Baltimore where a Supervisor was attacked and beaten by employees but luckily not shot was kept out of the media. How many of these type of incidences have been covered up by the Postal Service since the violence of the 80’s? I believe the number to be excessive. This comes to be no surprise to me. When I left the Postal Service, Management maintained their rigid, overbearing and disrespectful style of managing employees. Supervisors were instructed to instill fear of discipline which included loss of pay to motivate employees. Rarely were employees thanked or rewarded for their efforts. Morale at many offices that were poorly supervised or understaffed were totally stressed out and were hoping to find a way out. As I read commentary online from Postal Blog sites I see that this has become a cancer that has continued to spread to many locations throughout the country. The job of sorting and delivering the mail is difficult enough do to Postal downsizing, and all employees being tasked to carry more weight then ever. Mail carriers struggle to get out of the office on time and get back before their shift is over. Clerks have more and more mail to sort with fewer people. Lines at Post Office window service continue due to clerks trying to juggle good customer service with multiple tasks on the workfloor. When you add in the additional stress component of incompetent,abusive supervisors constantly pummeling employees with negative criticism it becomes overwhelming for many. The supervisors are tasked by upper management to meet certain benchmarks at all cost. These benchmarks or numerical goals are used to rate a district compared to others in the entire country. The top Districts get the top bonuses for upper management and National recognition. This is what drives all of Management and produces the stressors that ignite a workforce. When will the voice of the employees truly be heard. The Postal Service does a yearly survey to isolate problems and concerns of the employees. These surveys are rarely acted on and provide little to no relief. They provide Postal Management a tool they could use to make changes. In most cases it is done only to show Management is listening and communicating with all employees. It gives the appearance that employees have a voice but most employees will tell you their suggestions are never investigated or acted upon. Where can employees turn? I say Congress may be the only answer. The Post Office will never change until law suits from employees or deceased employees relatives reaches epidemic proportions. This could take years and more unnecessary incidences. Congress should act now. Postal employees need to write,phone and email their political leaders and demand a resolution. This may be the only way to prevent further massacres.

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15. April 2008 by Steve Topel.

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5. April 2008 by Steve Topel.

Craft employees and Supervisors, even Unit Manager’s can find comfort in retaining a Reasonable Lawyer. The Postal Service creates such an intolerable atmoshere in many locations that simply showing up at work creates anxiety and poor morale. The union is normally unable to provide the cure. The association’s for first level Management has little power. What can an employee do? Go Postal? Of course not. The employee can hire a reasonable lawyer. All Postal employees need this extra layer of protection to protect their right’s on the job. Have a letter sent to your Manager on your attorney’s letter-head explaining how the intolerable working conditions at your office is creating an environment that is unhealthy for all employees. You will get their attention immediately. The Postal Service wants no part of any lawsuit especially if word could leak out to the media and cause negative press. This could be devastating to the Postal Service who need only hear the word privatization to make upper Manager’s cringe. Your union’s do a good job but they can only affect certain areas of Postal life. The climate and atmoshere in the craft for the 22 years I worked never got better. God forbid another incident occurs. All postal employees that continue to deal with poor supervisors and managers, being overworked and not being treated with proper dignity and respect, you have a solution. Make a change for the better. Get legal advice on employment issues and find out how you can legally change the conditions of your work location. Get reasonable lawyers assistance, which is affordable for everyone and make the Post Office a better and safer employer for all employees.

See the Prepaid legal link in the sidebar or click on a banner to find out more info on getting an affordable reasonable lawyer.

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23. March 2008 by Steve Topel.

I retired from the Post Office in Baltimore Md. in November of 2007. I worked there 22 years and was a Supervisor of clerks and mail carriers for 20 years.

The Post Office’s Management style never changed in 22 years. When I started working at the Post Office it was in the middle of some of the most horrific massacres and violence in Postal and Corporate history. The term “Going Postal ” was coined during this period. Why does the Post Office feel that like war, casualties are a part of doing Post Office Business and although unfortunate, necessary to complete our mission.

Is this insanity at the helm of our Postal ship or a well thought out reasonable approach to keeping the Post Office in the black? I say insanity. We are talking about mail. Bills,checks,advertisements,magazines and parcels. How and when did these 5 postal services become more important then human life.

The Post Office in Baltimore daily manages through fear and intimidation. Upper Manager’s reward supervisor’s and unit Manager’s who give out the most discipline and incur the most grievances from angry, fed-up employees. Much of the time so few employees want the thankless job of supervisor that many get promoted who were difficult and unreliable as craft employees. These people have no Management skills and are put in charge of dozens of people. They buy into stressing out the employees to get maximum results, which is achieving numerical goals that allows upper management to get large yearly bonuses and bragging rights as a top District.

This has to change. People are too vital to the Post Office to be regarded as casualties of war when violence strikes. This Postal cover-up has to be exposed and extinguished. How has it been able to go on this long? Why do we need to have another massacre before this issue is resolved?

As a Postal employee for 22 years I needed guidance several times when legal employment issues surfaced. For the last 8 years through the help of PrePaid Legal and attorney’s Weinstock,Friedman and Friedman and Stephen Lebow I was able to have legal counsel without excessive cost.

See my links for more info on how you can be protected from employment issues with Reasonable Lawyers.

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