I come from a postal family. My grandpa retired from the USPS along with two aunts. I currently have two other aunts and three cousins who work there. I also did my stint as a casual employee (6 months on, 6 months off, no benefits) during college. From my personal experience, the biggest problem is the postal union.
If you want overtime, for example, running a second route if a sub is not available, a USPS employee has to sign up for a three month approved overtime list. However, if someone who is not on the O.T. list accidentally gets a few extra hours, let's say, due to construction or an accident on their route, the union will make sure all the people on the O.T. list get paid those same hours even if they did not work!
To put this in better perspective,...we have a large nationally known festival that runs seven days every spring. The town goes haywire with traffic and street closings. Many people in that post office sign up on the O.T. list that month because surely the non-O.T. carriers will get delayed and rack up a few hours. I was appalled when a cousin told me she made over $700 extra dollars that week for hours she did not work,...all because of the union.
If you want overtime, for example, running a second route if a sub is not available, a USPS employee has to sign up for a three month approved overtime list. However, if someone who is not on the O.T. list accidentally gets a few extra hours, let's say, due to construction or an accident on their route, the union will make sure all the people on the O.T. list get paid those same hours even if they did not work!
To put this in better perspective,...we have a large nationally known festival that runs seven days every spring. The town goes haywire with traffic and street closings. Many people in that post office sign up on the O.T. list that month because surely the non-O.T. carriers will get delayed and rack up a few hours. I was appalled when a cousin told me she made over $700 extra dollars that week for hours she did not work,...all because of the union.
Comment