At work in the real world, life in the trenches

I have been carrying mail for more than 20 years, and our working conditions have continually deteriorated. Our job is more difficult than when I started my career in 1984.

Most of the mail is sorted by machines now. When I started carrying mail we would case all of the mail. We could be sure of what we were delivering. With the advent of machines, management is unable to process the mail in a more reasonable time frame. Shouldn’t mechanization adjust to us, not the other way around?

I am also a Shop Steward for my union, and have been for about 20 years. Grievances have increased tremendously in the last 10 or 12 years. Management continually tries to change our working conditions unilaterally. There is no longer any respect for their employees from management. The real truth is that we can do the job without them.

My theory is that we send all the managers home for six months. We pay them to stay home instead of coming to work. I am certain that we will be able to prove that we can run the company more efficiently without them. Then we bring them all in for an interview and offer them real jobs in the crafts, or they can resign. It is time to stop the waste and the harassment.

The sad part is that I know that I am in better shape than most working people in this country. We must join together and turn this around. There is no way that my children, or yours, should have to live and work for a lower living standard then what we have enjoyed.

Why Unions matter in real life

One of my best friends was fired from her position as a manager and bartender after working for the same bar for about 20 years. There is no serverance pay, no vacation pay, no sick leave pay, and no health insurance. She showed up to work when she was sick, she showed up everyday, and she brought in customers because they liked the service they received. Her employer fired her because of her age, and because they wanted to hire someone for less money.

Unfortunately, our friend has never been able to have the security of a Union contract, or a “Just Cause,” clause with protections against wrongful termination. Only in the United States of America, out of all the other industrialized countries in the world, could this happen. Employers should not be able to take 20 years out of our lives without severance pay. No employer should be able to fire a worker just to be able to hire someone cheaper. This kind of action should be made criminal activity.

I am grateful that I am a member of one of the finest Unions in the world, The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Without my Union, I would have been fired because of my actions as an activist.

As a member of the NALC, I have health care, I have a retirement, I have job security, I have rights to work the same route as long as I want to, I have a uniform allowance, and so much more. Thank you to all of the activists that came before me. Thank you to all of the current officers and activists of the NALC. Thank you to the American people who still trust us to deliver your mail efficently and accurately.

Unions help workers. Support the Employees Free Choice Act by contacting your representatives. Demand to know which side your representatives are on. Ask them to support our right to form a Union. Demand that they vote for the Employees Free Choice Act. Isn’t it time for us to demand our rights to organize? Isn’t it time we stopped employers from firing workers without, “Just Cause?”

Ken Griffey Jr. returns to Seattle

Ken Griffey Jr. returned Seattle for the first time as a Cincinatti Red. All Mariner fans were glad to see him and his family again. We only wish he was still a Seattle Mariner. I will always remember him as the best Center Fielder of his generation. It’s unfortunate that he was not healthy for the last few years. We miss you Junior. Thank you for all the years of enjoyment you gave us.