Yesterday, I asked a simple question of my followers on Facebook. I asked them, “How many days of your annual leave or LWOP have you had to sacrifice for the sake of vehicle repairs?” This stirred a lot of rural carriers up BIG TIME. Of course most had used a lot of their annual/vacation days … Read more
I put these facts together because I am really growing tired of all of the anti-union rhetoric and propaganda that seems to be the popular opinion these days. Americans have forgotten that the middle class was built on unions. If you receive paid holidays, thank a union. If you receive vacation time, thank a union. … Read more
There was an article written in the Roanoke Times this week about rural carriers delivering from the right side while reaching across to the left to use the steering wheel and brake/gas controls. The reporter contacted me a couple of months ago asking if he could post on my message boards to solicit opinions from … Read more
Its that time again.. I always pull out my Christmas OT poem about this time every year.. I wrote this a few years ago, but nothing ever changes.. Twas the day after Christmas overtime and all around my case were piles and piles of catalogs with not an inch of floor in the place I … Read more
The 12 days things is going around FB, so I thought I would add our own special touch! On the 12th day of Christmas Overtime the USPS gave to me… 12 Migraine headaches 11 Busted knuckles 10 False directives 9 Letters of Warning 8 Managers freaking 7 Shoulders aching 6 Pre-D discussions Fiiiivvvveeee broken machines … Read more
1. No, you didnt get any mail. If you had any mail I would have put it in your box. Just because you didnt find any mail in your box DOES NOT mean someone stole your mail. There really are times when you do not get mail. I promise. 2. No, the USPS did … Read more
A Ruralinfo.net Editorial Social media and what employees can do and say is kind of a New Frontier. Basically, with the surge of Facebook, Twitter and all of the other social media websites out there, we are more or less, as a work force, stumbling in the dark. So what exactly are the rules concerning … Read more
A Ruralinfo.net Editorial In July 2011, the Postal Service announced that nearly 3700 post office’s would be studied for closure. There was major public outcry, especially from small rural communities who did not want to lose their post office. Public meetings were held, and from the feedback received at these public meetings, the USPS developed … Read more
Most people do not think of the job of a Postal worker as being a dangerous job. In reality, there are a lot of dangers Postal workers face both in the plants and post offices and on the street delivering mail. This brings me to the Ricin laced letters sent through the mail. These letters … Read more
From the start, letter carriers delivered mail six days a week, usually Monday through Saturday.6 In May and June 1947, Saturday deliveries were temporarily eliminated in some cities due to budget shortfalls. In 1957, Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield decided to end Saturday deliveries nationwide because of a budget crisis. On one Saturday – April … Read more
I wanted to help clear the fog on all of the rural carrier relief designations and titles. Most of today’s rural carrier relief carriers fall under one of these four designations Rural Carrier Associates (RCAs)—(Designation Code 78) – Rural carrier associates are those employees hired from a register or reassigned from rural carrier relief or … Read more
I have noticed a very disturbing thing in the last few years. LLV fires – Lots of them.. The aging fleet seems to be becoming a huge problem in regards to the safety of mail carriers. I looked at only the last year or so and specifically for LLV -Postal owned vehicle fires and it … Read more
Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega is the Dean of Engineering at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. With more than 8,500 students, 700 faculty and staff, and $129 million in annual research expenditures, NC State’s College of Engineering is internationally recognized for the excellence of its research, education and outreach programs. In 2008, the … Read more
Elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.[2] It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, … Read more
I spend a lot of time online and there are a lot of pages on the internet that I look at while scouring for news and information to share with everyone. I see a lot of crazy things posted by rural carriers, but there is nothing that gets me riled up more than to see … Read more
There are a lot of questions floating around lately about X days, the Guarantee period, and the Christmas Overtime period. Which is not surprising because the Evaluated system itself is confusing. I have been a rural carrier for quite a few years and still find things that surprise me once in a while about … Read more
An OLDIE BUT GOODIE!! The Piece Work Trap by John Dziubek former CTRLCA State Steward (written sometime after the Wells arbitration) Since 1896 rural letter carriers have been paid by an evaluated type system. After the wildcat postal strike in 1970, some very important things changed for postal workers. First the Post Office Department, which … Read more