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Ask the President
Question:
At our last local membership meeting a few clerks said saving our jobs won’t happen in the halls of Congress, it will happen over the counter with customer service and on the street with delivery. These clerks said our customers are really mad, including some who have supported our efforts to keep offices open.
The clerks want to know what APWU is doing to stop management from “deliberately destroying” the post office. They feel that much of management is trying to dismantle the post office from the inside out. We try our best at the local level, but customer service seems to be going down the tube. We file grievances to stop management from doing our work, and from doing away with bid positions, but it takes a long time for the grievances to be heard.
These members want to know what APWU at the national level is doing to stop this sabotage. What more can we do at the local level other than file grievances?
John, Lake Geauga Area Local
President Burrus:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and those of your members regarding the future of the Postal Service. I do not agree that postal management is “deliberately destroying” the Post Office.
The union disagrees with many decisions made by management, and we often point out that postal policies will harm the USPS in the long term; however, I do not believe those decisions are intended to sabotage the Postal Service.
The uncertainty facing the USPS far into the future is the role of mail as a means of communications. Competing forms of communications are expanding in fields previously dominated by physical messages. Bill payment, personal messages, official notices, greetings, checks, and many other transactions have been converted to electronic messages at the expense of hard-copy mail. These conversions represent the normal progress of civilization, which constantly searches for new, faster and more efficient activities in every field.
Included among the union’s many efforts to protect and improve service are the following initiatives:
These and other activities ensure that the voice of employees and citizens are heard.
In response to the question, “What more can we do at the local level,” the response is straightforward: Support our efforts and organize your members to oppose cutbacks in service while protecting postal jobs
Feb. 3, 2010
If you have a question that you would like President Burrus to respond to on this page, please write to him at askthepresident@att.net. He will periodically respond to APWU members’ questions about union matters that are of general, nationwide interest. When submitting a question, please include your name and employee ID number. If you are a retiree, please include your name and the last four digits of your Social Security number. Responses will list only your first name and local. (Names will be withheld upon request.) Note: Questions about grievances or contract interpretation must be directed to the appropriate union representative — such as your steward, local president, or national business agent. Contact information for your local union officers and the Regional Coordinator and National Business Agents who represent you is available in the Members Only section. Select “My Local and Personal Info,” then log-in and visit the links under “My Local Profile.” Information about how to reach APWU national officers, as well as their areas of responsibility, can be found on the Contact Us page. |
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