http://community.thomhartmann.com/service/getFeed.kickAction?mediaType=BLOG&quantity=25&as=93519 New blogs from Iringtwice on OFFICIAL THOM COMMUNITY Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:04:13 GMT Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:04:13 GMT webmaster@thomhartmann.com (thradio) webmaster@thomhartmann.com (thradio) KickApps Feed Builder 2010-03-09T02:04:13Z 1 http://community.thomhartmann.com/service/searchEverything.kickAction?as=93519&sortType=recent 0 http://community.thomhartmann.com/_Open-Letter-in-a-Broken-Mailbox/BLOG/1941176/93519.html Thom:      I only caught a portion of your program today that touched on the problems that the US Postal System is experiencing, but what I heard from that right-wing 'expert' from the, whatchamacallit, "Trust Us 'Foundation'"?- finally made me up and join your online commmunity to give my fellow listeners an idea of some of the things their Mailperson is going through during these tough times.      It's hard to know where to begin.  I guess the first place would be to say that NO taxes support the USPS: it's kind of an unholy hybrid of the Public and the Private, where revenues derive from the sale of services, but you work in an atmosphere-increasingly- of military discipline.  We have regulations that we MUST follow, in order to secure the safe delivery of the kind of mail that most people consider important: Gov't checks, business mail, official mail, parcels of all descriptions, and PERSONAL mail.  The people who do this job not only have to pass a written test and a 90-day probation period, but must have NO criminal background.  And then one begins the process of learning the Craft, involving all the ins 'n' outs of learning the Regulations; delivering the mail safely- and, SECURELY- under all kinds of weather conditions; learning to deliver the Routes in an efficient- yet, friendly- manner; and doing so under the East-German-like managerial conditions that exist everywhere in the USPS: yup, there's cameras (in those cute, dark semi-spheres on the ceilings) , EVERYWHERE, to make sure you don't pilfer or delay the mail.        Your right-wing guest may have derided our Service in all kinds of sub-rosa, fake 'Free Market' terms, but 'us grunts', see it in an entirely different way.  I've often heard you refer to "The Commons"; and we at the "Last Mile" of Delivery are living proof that the so-called "socialism"of Government mail-delivery is a rock-bottom Necessity: even in the 'E-Age', (not too catchy, is it?),  it is something viewed as a Right by the vast majority of people who still prefer "Snail Mail".  I think that a lot of these "Paid Patriots" would feel most comfortable in black uniforms and c***-caps, and would certainly look handsomest under torchlight.       As most of us see it, the REAL problem we have in USPS fiscal shortfalls is, of course, the 'Retirement Prefunding' mess, but, also, in more practical terms, the excess of MANAGEMENT we have in the USPS.  New 'Metrics' are being devised on a daily basis to justify the existence of these fine folks in 'The System": is the "Every Piece, Every Day" policy being followed strictly?  Are we making our 'Numbers'?  Well, there are folks who will pull a letter out of its Delivery Sequence, stick it somewhere else, and monitor whether or not you have RETURNED TO THE ADDRESS TO DELIVER THE SINGLE PIECE OF MAIL: ELSE YOU WILL BE PULLED INTO THE OFFICE FOR  A 'DISCUSSION' AND POSSIBLY A 'LETTER OF WARNING' (which will be put into your "Jacket [now available only "online"]), and you'll have to justify "Not following Postal Regulations."  Ya know, if you have to backtrack to deliver a piece of mail that has been deliberately pulled out of delivery-sequence, (in order to 'test' you), it takes more time and therefore MORE MONEY to deliver that deliberately "mis-sequenced" letter.  There is actually an official policy in place that is called, "Every Piece, Every Day", printed on a banner we pass under on our way out of our Office. (Immediately, the Wags in our office referenced it to the notorious motto over the entrance to Auschwitz. [Yikes!])      In other words, in a situation where the actual physical volume- and, thus, the Revenue- of mail is shrinking, Management will do every last thing in its power to justify their existence to keep their jobs .  For example, we routinely have "Safety Nazis", (our term), follow us on our street deliveries to determine whether or not we have our wheels blocked to the curb in the appropriate way (to prevent runaways), or, whether or not we have our mailbags on, (to help ward off dog-attacks).       There's a lot more examples, but let it simply be known that there are a lot of INVENTED  jobs in the USPS, mostly involving the self-interest of middle-managers and their cronies and pals...such as monitoring "Customer Interaction", (there shouldn't BE any, since friendliness and trust slow down the 'Delivery Process'.)  (People like to get to know if their Carrier is an OK person, BTW).  Or,"Can we show that the volume of mail is not being cased fast enough?"  Or, more perniciously, "Can we get rid of this long-term Carrier because age and/or injury has slowed him/her down?"  (Management actually gets Bonuses for "Sick Leave Not Used", "Letters of Warning Handed Out", and so forth.)  Or, how about, "Can we parse the living daylights out of the delivery of mail, and justify our paychecks by reporting on the failures of Carriers to live up to the increasingly complicated minefield of Regulations?"      The answer will always be, "Yes."     Carriers find ourselves, on a daily basis, having to estimate the time of delivery before we actually have an idea of how much mail we have to case and deliver, (not to mention the items that have to be signed for), without a clue as to how much mail we actually HAVE.   We are TOLD how much time we have, based on 'guesstimations." We are working in a system designed to intimidate Carriers into delivering mail as fast as they can- never mind inaccuracy of delivery or the potential for accidents- all with managerial plausible deniability of Harassment or breaking other Union Rules.  And, if you have an Accident while running your a** off?  Well, we'll fire you.      It's clever, sick, and wrong, and all part of a broader anti-Union movement that will eventually screw every person in Management as well as in Labor, as the "privatization" that will be inevitably be presented as an efficient, "market-driven" solution will, in the end, cost more, drive down wages, and compromise safe, secure and reliable delivery of the mail.  You mentioned that you didn't want someone who was not properly vetted- say, a pizza-delivery guy- with his hands on your important mail.  Well, if you'll go on over to the NALC website, or talk to our Union President, you'll find examples of how this 'outsourcing' of an important social function has failed with, "flying colors."      But let me just assure our customers: we Carriers will do every last thing in our power to get your mail through to you safe, secure, and on-time.  And, if delivery is sub-par, get on over to your Delivery Station and give the Postmaster your opinion.         Thanks,      Iringtwice         Thom:      I only caught a portion of your program today that touched on the problems that the US Postal System is experiencing, but what I heard from that right-wing 'expert' from the, whatchamacallit, "Trust Us 'Foundation'"?- finally made me up and join your online commmunity to give my fellow listeners an idea of some of the things their Mailperson is going through during these tough times.      It's hard to know where to begin.  I guess the first place would be to say that NO taxes support the USPS: it's kind of an unholy hybrid of the Public and the Private, where revenues derive from the sale of services, but you work in an atmosphere-increasingly- of military discipline.  We have regulations that we MUST follow, in order to secure the safe delivery of the kind of mail that most people consider important: Gov't checks, business mail, official mail, parcels of all descriptions, and PERSONAL mail.  The people who do this job not only have to pass a written test and a 90-day probation period, but must have NO criminal background.  And then one begins the process of learning the Craft, involving all the ins 'n' outs of learning the Regulations; delivering the mail safely- and, SECURELY- under all kinds of weather conditions; learning to deliver the Routes in an efficient- yet, friendly- manner; and doing so under the East-German-like managerial conditions that exist everywhere in the USPS: yup, there's cameras (in those cute, dark semi-spheres on the ceilings) , EVERYWHERE, to make sure you don't pilfer or delay the mail.        Your right-wing guest may have derided our Service in all kinds of sub-rosa, fake 'Free Market' terms, but 'us grunts', see it in an entirely different way.  I've often heard you refer to "The Commons"; and we at the "Last Mile" of Delivery are living proof that the so-called "socialism"of Government mail-delivery is a rock-bottom Necessity: even in the 'E-Age', (not too catchy, is it?),  it is something viewed as a Right by the vast majority of people who still prefer "Snail Mail".  I think that a lot of these "Paid Patriots" would feel most comfortable in black uniforms and c***-caps, and would certainly look handsomest under torchlight.       As most of us see it, the REAL problem we have in USPS fiscal shortfalls is, of course, the 'Retirement Prefunding' mess, but, also, in more practical terms, the excess of MANAGEMENT we have in the USPS.  New 'Metrics' are being devised on a daily basis to justify the existence of these fine folks in 'The System": is the "Every Piece, Every Day" policy being followed strictly?  Are we making our 'Numbers'?  Well, there are folks who will pull a letter out of its Delivery Sequence, stick it somewhere else, and monitor whether or not you have RETURNED TO THE ADDRESS TO DELIVER THE SINGLE PIECE OF MAIL: ELSE YOU WILL BE PULLED INTO THE OFFICE FOR  A 'DISCUSSION' AND POSSIBLY A 'LETTER OF WARNING' (which will be put into your "Jacket [now available only "online"]), and you'll have to justify "Not following Postal Regulations."  Ya know, if you have to backtrack to deliver a piece of mail that has been deliberately pulled out of delivery-sequence, (in order to 'test' you), it takes more time and therefore MORE MONEY to deliver that deliberately "mis-sequenced" letter.  There is actually an official policy in place that is called, "Every Piece, Every Day", printed on a banner we pass under on our way out of our Office. (Immediately, the Wags in our office referenced it to the notorious motto over the entrance to Auschwitz. [Yikes!])      In other words, in a situation where the actual physical volume- and, thus, the Revenue- of mail is shrinking, Management will do every last thing in its power to justify their existence to keep their jobs .  For example, we routinely have "Safety Nazis", (our term), follow us on our street deliveries to determine whether or not we have our wheels blocked to the curb in the appropriate way (to prevent runaways), or, whether or not we have our mailbags on, (to help ward off dog-attacks).       There's a lot more examples, but let it simply be known that there are a lot of INVENTED  jobs in the USPS, mostly involving the self-interest of middle-managers and their cronies and pals...such as monitoring "Customer Interaction", (there shouldn't BE any, since friendliness and trust slow down the 'Delivery Process'.)  (People like to get to know if their Carrier is an OK person, BTW).  Or,"Can we show that the volume of mail is not being cased fast enough?"  Or, more perniciously, "Can we get rid of this long-term Carrier because age and/or injury has slowed him/her down?"  (Management actually gets Bonuses for "Sick Leave Not Used", "Letters of Warning Handed Out", and so forth.)  Or, how about, "Can we parse the living daylights out of the delivery of mail, and justify our paychecks by reporting on the failures of Carriers to live up to the increasingly complicated minefield of Regulations?"      The answer will always be, "Yes."     Carriers find ourselves, on a daily basis, having to estimate the time of delivery before we actually have an idea of how much mail we have to case and deliver, (not to mention the items that have to be signed for), without a clue as to how much mail we actually HAVE.   We are TOLD how much time we have, based on 'guesstimations." We are working in a system designed to intimidate Carriers into delivering mail as fast as they can- never mind inaccuracy of delivery or the potential for accidents- all with managerial plausible deniability of Harassment or breaking other Union Rules.  And, if you have an Accident while running your a** off?  Well, we'll fire you.      It's clever, sick, and wrong, and all part of a broader anti-Union movement that will eventually screw every person in Management as well as in Labor, as the "privatization" that will be inevitably be presented as an efficient, "market-driven" solution will, in the end, cost more, drive down wages, and compromise safe, secure and reliable delivery of the mail.  You mentioned that you didn't want someone who was not properly vetted- say, a pizza-delivery guy- with his hands on your important mail.  Well, if you'll go on over to the NALC website, or talk to our Union President, you'll find examples of how this 'outsourcing' of an important social function has failed with, "flying colors."      But let me just assure our customers: we Carriers will do every last thing in our power to get your mail through to you safe, secure, and on-time.  And, if delivery is sub-par, get on over to your Delivery Station and give the Postmaster your opinion.         Thanks,      Iringtwice         Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:04:13 GMT http://community.thomhartmann.com/_Open-Letter-in-a-Broken-Mailbox/BLOG/1941176/93519.html Iringtwice 2010-03-09T02:04:13Z OFFICIAL THOM COMMUNITY Thom:      I only caught a portion of your program today that touched on the problems that the US Postal System is experiencing, but what I heard from that right-wing 'expert' from the, whatchamacallit, "Trust Us 'Foundation'"?- finally made me up and join your online commmunity to give my fellow listeners an idea of some of the things their Mailperson is going through during these tough times.      It's hard to know where to begin.  I guess the first place would be to say that NO taxes support the USPS: it's kind of an unholy hybrid of the Public and the Private, where revenues derive from the sale of services, but you work in an atmosphere-increasingly- of military discipline.  We have regulations that we MUST follow, in order to secure the safe delivery of the kind of mail that most people consider important: Gov't checks, business mail, official mail, parcels of all descriptions, and PERSONAL mail.  The people who do this job not only have to pass a written test and a 90-day probation period, but must have NO criminal background.  And then one begins the process of learning the Craft, involving all the ins 'n' outs of learning the Regulations; delivering the mail safely- and, SECURELY- under all kinds of weather conditions; learning to deliver the Routes in an efficient- yet, friendly- manner; and doing so under the East-German-like managerial conditions that exist everywhere in the USPS: yup, there's cameras (in those cute, dark semi-spheres on the ceilings) , EVERYWHERE, to make sure you don't pilfer or delay the mail.        Your right-wing guest may have derided our Service in all kinds of sub-rosa, fake 'Free Market' terms, but 'us grunts', see it in an entirely different way.  I've often heard you refer to "The Commons"; and we at the "Last Mile" of Delivery are living proof that the so-called "socialism"of Government mail-delivery is a rock-bottom Necessity: even in the 'E-Age', (not too catchy, is it?),  it is something viewed as a Right by the vast majority of people who still prefer "Snail Mail".  I think that a lot of these "Paid Patriots" would feel most comfortable in black uniforms and c***-caps, and would certainly look handsomest under torchlight.       As most of us see it, the REAL problem we have in USPS fiscal shortfalls is, of course, the 'Retirement Prefunding' mess, but, also, in more practical terms, the excess of MANAGEMENT we have in the USPS.  New 'Metrics' are being devised on a daily basis to justify the existence of these fine folks in 'The System": is the "Every Piece, Every Day" policy being followed strictly?  Are we making our 'Numbers'?  Well, there are folks who will pull a letter out of its Delivery Sequence, stick it somewhere else, and monitor whether or not you have RETURNED TO THE ADDRESS TO DELIVER THE SINGLE PIECE OF MAIL: ELSE YOU WILL BE PULLED INTO THE OFFICE FOR  A 'DISCUSSION' AND POSSIBLY A 'LETTER OF WARNING' (which will be put into your "Jacket [now available only "online"]), and you'll have to justify "Not following Postal Regulations."  Ya know, if you have to backtrack to deliver a piece of mail that has been deliberately pulled out of delivery-sequence, (in order to 'test' you), it takes more time and therefore MORE MONEY to deliver that deliberately "mis-sequenced" letter.  There is actually an official policy in place that is called, "Every Piece, Every Day", printed on a banner we pass under on our way out of our Office. (Immediately, the Wags in our office referenced it to the notorious motto over the entrance to Auschwitz. [Yikes!])      In other words, in a situation where the actual physical volume- and, thus, the Revenue- of mail is shrinking, Management will do every last thing in its power to justify their existence to keep their jobs .  For example, we routinely have "Safety Nazis", (our term), follow us on our street deliveries to determine whether or not we have our wheels blocked to the curb in the appropriate way (to prevent runaways), or, whether or not we have our mailbags on, (to help ward off dog-attacks).       There's a lot more examples, but let it simply be known that there are a lot of INVENTED  jobs in the USPS, mostly involving the self-interest of middle-managers and their cronies and pals...such as monitoring "Customer Interaction", (there shouldn't BE any, since friendliness and trust slow down the 'Delivery Process'.)  (People like to get to know if their Carrier is an OK person, BTW).  Or,"Can we show that the volume of mail is not being cased fast enough?"  Or, more perniciously, "Can we get rid of this long-term Carrier because age and/or injury has slowed him/her down?"  (Management actually gets Bonuses for "Sick Leave Not Used", "Letters of Warning Handed Out", and so forth.)  Or, how about, "Can we parse the living daylights out of the delivery of mail, and justify our paychecks by reporting on the failures of Carriers to live up to the increasingly complicated minefield of Regulations?"      The answer will always be, "Yes."     Carriers find ourselves, on a daily basis, having to estimate the time of delivery before we actually have an idea of how much mail we have to case and deliver, (not to mention the items that have to be signed for), without a clue as to how much mail we actually HAVE.   We are TOLD how much time we have, based on 'guesstimations." We are working in a system designed to intimidate Carriers into delivering mail as fast as they can- never mind inaccuracy of delivery or the potential for accidents- all with managerial plausible deniability of Harassment or breaking other Union Rules.  And, if you have an Accident while running your a** off?  Well, we'll fire you.      It's clever, sick, and wrong, and all part of a broader anti-Union movement that will eventually screw every person in Management as well as in Labor, as the "privatization" that will be inevitably be presented as an efficient, "market-driven" solution will, in the end, cost more, drive down wages, and compromise safe, secure and reliable delivery of the mail.  You mentioned that you didn't want someone who was not properly vetted- say, a pizza-delivery guy- with his hands on your important mail.  Well, if you'll go on over to the NALC website, or talk to our Union President, you'll find examples of how this 'outsourcing' of an important social function has failed with, "flying colors."      But let me just assure our customers: we Carriers will do every last thing in our power to get your mail through to you safe, secure, and on-time.  And, if delivery is sub-par, get on over to your Delivery Station and give the Postmaster your opinion.         Thanks,      Iringtwice         nonadult false Open Letter in a Broken Mailbox. text blog 54 0 0.0 http://community.thomhartmann.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=21070826&as=93519 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/user/defaultImage_160x120_E.jpg false 0 0 1941176 21070826 Member 0