Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Craft Employees who think Rules are not for them

How many of us out there work around someone who does not think the Post Office rules or regulations are something that they need to pay attention or follow?

Well, let me start off today with an easy one. I will pick on Maintenance again since they so often do not feel the need to follow the rules like all of us other employees. Just a few days ago, I brought up about how Maintenance Managers/Supervisors/204b's feel they "need" their own private entrance into MLS P&DC that has no security or control on it. Well, there is at least one craft employee that feels the same way. This employee is a support clerk in Maintenance for Tour 3. This employee's name is Veronica Phung. I would like for everyone to think back to when the last time this person actually walked into or out of the employee's entrance like all the other craft employee's. Why should she be any different than any other craft employee? Is it because she believes that this rule is one that does not pertain to her? Or is it maybe because of her relationship with Charles Sweet?

What do you think?

Now let me hear from all of you about employee's you work with that think that rules do not pertain to them. Or is she the only one like this in all of San Diego area?

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here at the post office, EVERYBODY is SPECIAL. There IS no teamwork! Everybody is out for themselves.

Blame it on management who does NOT promote teamwork, but rather promotes INDIVIDUALITY. Management has NO VISION, NO GOALS. Management does NOT treat everyone equally: as TEAM members. Mangement favors their special pets, spies, weasels, skates and slugs (and relatives.)

Get used to it. That's the way it is.

Postal organization (here in San Diego) sucks.

Anonymous said...

Its bad here but not as bad as in other postal facilities.

Yes, I agree that it isn't right to expect some to follow rules while allowing others to disregard regulations and policies, such as the instance you speak of.

However, in my line of business, which is getting people out of trouble, we call these things, "Get of of jail free cards". The wise representative quietly keeps track and documents the rule breakers, making sure that it can be proven that management is also aware but looks the other way.

Then when someone else breaks that same rule, gets popped and disciplined, you have some ammunition to fight the punishment.

Thats how you play the game.

And it is a game, because everyone around here breaks the rules and for the most part, gets away with it. Whether its an extra break, being out of your work area, calling in sick when you raelly aren't, you name it.

So you just have to know how to avoid the worst punishment, and gathering evidence against mgmt's favorites to use at Step 2 time is the ticket.

So, really, if you look at it that way, you should welcome these instances of management-approved rule breaking. It could help you or one of your co-workers sometime down the road.

Anonymous said...

I remember a time back when the BMEU clerks wre whining that they shouldn't have to use the employee entrace because it was so far away from where they actually work.

They got the stewards involved and they tried to change the rule, and citing that they saw postal inspectors coming through other doors. (That argument was laughed at, I think) Then they found someone who was using a different entrance and raised that issue, but it turned out that person had a physical disability and was being acomodated.

The BMEU clerks still have to come in thru the main entrance.

And maintenance really should too. I know a guy over there who got busted by Sweet for coming in the back door. Hopefully he used his get outa jail free card.

Marion Williams said...

Very true.. about the Union using the rules to their benefit to protect others. So nice of management to continue to disregard their own rules. Makes it much easier for the Union to win their cases.

Anonymous said...

The LORD gives strength to those who are weary. Even young people get tired, then stumble and fall. But those who trust the LORD will find new strength. They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings; they will walk and run without getting tired.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know what Sweet Jr. job is. Does he every work or just walk around and talk. He leave the building anytime he wants too and comes back anytime he wants too.
It must be nice to be the boss son.
He is on tour III I guess that the one he wanted.

Anonymous said...

Burrus Meets with Obama Transition Team. Putting his nose up Obama ass
to see if he can be on his team.

Another good Union Pres. kills it.
The collapse came after bipartisan talks on the auto rescue broke down over demands that the United Auto Workers union agree to steep wage cuts by 2009 to bring their pay into line with Japanese carmakers.

Take the pay cut!!
Its better to have a job. Ever if you get paid less.

Anonymous said...

The CFC (Combined Federal Campaign) banner outside MLS, just above the employees entrance is GREAT!!! We ALL see it daily when we arrive for work. I think the slogan should be engraved in STONE above the entrance PERMANENTLY.

(Unfortunately, management might fail to benefit from its message if they do not use that entrance. That might be OK, though, if the rest of us keep it in mind and follow it, and just keep it our little inside secret from management.)

Marion Williams said...

I am going to go off topic for a moment. I found this site with the help of a friend. I will recommend it to anyone who has been in the military or knows of someone in the military. Let me know what any of you think of this?

http://www.patriotguard.org/

Anonymous said...

Concessions by the UAW (United Auto Workers) union would establish a worrisome precedent for US, as OUR contract will be up for renegotiation in two years (Novenber 20, 2010.)

Anonymous said...

I know people may not like the son because of the father, but if you take the father out of the equation, the son doesn't do anything that everyone else doesn't get away with.

Don't know the sons schedule, but do know that he is one of the most effective ETs. And that in itself may make a few guys jealous.

I see custodians in the break room for much more than a 15 minutes break. I see people doing lots of things and getting away with it.

I see people running in here late for work most every day, what happens? And they don't have a dad of mom in supervision. No one says anything about them.

I guess if you have a parent in supervision, you are required to be a perfect employee?

Why, when the rest of us doing stuff wrong on any given day, and get away with it.

Cell phones on floor. Extra break time. Clocking in going to locker, then going to work. and then the maintenance and MVS don't have to clock for lunch rings. So the abuse is likely there.

But no body cares too much. Unless they have a personal bone to pick with somebody.

Anonymous said...

Yes, hate to say it, but the auto workers are gonna have to do the concenssion thing. And so will we very soon.

Stock up on rise, water, and canned goods.

Hide some cash around.

Keep it locked and loaded.

There are going to be riots in 2009 and 2010. When the banks limit their availability, when companies go under, when thousands get laid off every week, and when states go bankrupt and can't pay unemployment benefets.

It will be survival of the fittest baby. Prepare for the end times.

Anonymous said...

Will Anonymous December 12, 2008 8:36 PM
There are few of us maint. people that has to clock in and out for lunch. I'm on tour 2 I know a few people et ect. stays to long on the lunch and other breaks. I see mostly the back break room has a lot of et type and some mech. that set there for a hour or so at lunch and long breaks. I want say the country there from but you know. I have seen mr & mrs sweet take off for lunch for over a hour a lot of time she is still a craft
employee right with a half hour lunch. I guess I said to much they might find out who we are. I ready to leave anyway.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous December 12, 2008 8:36 PM.
You know the son so will tell us what he is so effective at, what is his job? That a real big statement.
but do know that he is one of the most effective ETs. And that in itself may make a few guys jealous.
mmmm sound like you oh ya....
Sorry...

Anonymous said...

yep, I lured you out. your jealous all right.

Not sure why tho. If everybody just concentrated on doing their job well and quit being nosy on other people, there would be less problems at work.

But that isn't the culture at the great PO, so there is no point in hoping for a higher caliber of people around there.

I am a person who appreciates a job done well. Even if its somebody sweeping up around the machines, an Et who can change out a belt in the time it takes another one to figure out the belt needs changing, or a supervisor who is somehow able to make a mailhandler do something more than just collect for the football pool. I like working with people who are worth keeping on the payroll.

And you my jealous anonymous friend, are you worth keeping there? Or is your job to whine gossip, snoop on people, and then complain that no one from your co-workers to your boss, can stand the sight of you?

I have no clue who you are, so this is just a question thrown out there to maybe provide you with something to think about other than Mr and Mrs Sweet and their long lunch breaks. Because believe it or not, there are actually other more important things going at the big house and its satilite station midway.

I have lost half my TSP this year and don't see getting it back before I retire. My million dollar retirement that mgmt during orientation hinted we would all end up with is down to $100,000. I don't think I will be able to double that in the next 6 years. can't retire on that little bit.

So, I am looking at extending my cruise on the good ship USPS an additional 10 years or more. And it don't matter how many long lunches the lovebirds take, they aren't the reason I lost my retirement money, or the reason I am stuck here another decade longer.

A longer stint at the grand old Eagle. Now thats something worth whining about, don't you think?

Anonymous said...

Will the reason you lost your money is your not that smart.

If you was to watch show like cnbc or read a good paper like the WSJ.
You know you can change to the G fund wend its going bad real quick!! Learn to read the charts and get back in quick too. I have lost a little but not much because I watch my money too.

I will be retiring soon with a good retirement. I don't know what your job is but!! Maybe your buddy can help you out with your money problem. See if he can get you a raise or does he!!!

Anonymous said...

I guess you get bad information but everyone keeps saying the market goes up down up down, it all comes out ahead in the long run, so keep your money in the stock market fund.

Okay, so I did, like many others we took the gamble and this time lost.

If I was any good at the finance end of life, you can get your butt I wouldn't be stuck in a blue collar job like I am in.

But I still ain't blaming anyone for my tsp fund except just bad circumstances.

What I don't get is people who like buttin around in other peoples business.

from my vantage point I know who is seeing who, who is divorcing who, who is sniffing around who.

Its all been funny to watch over 20 years, but thats all it is. something to make the time go faster in this joint. I seen people hitting people and people hitting on people. I seen guys making girls cry, and girls making guys crazy. I watch marriages falling apart, and the new girls getting the once over by the old pigs that have been through as many chicks a they could over the years. And yes I even seen supervisors picking out the new cuties, mostly immigrant gals newly hired. Thats the way it works with humans. No matter what kindof rules you wanta put out there to spoil the party.

Anonymous said...

The San Diego USPS: a USPS Mosh Pit.

(Except that the term "mosh pit" can be defined as "controlled violence," while in San Diego, the interpersonal abuses seem to be in epidemic, UNCONTROLLED, proportions.) No one seems to respect anyone else because no one else DESERVES the respect of anyone else. When did all of this start? Who were the original perpetrators? I think anyone with any kind of memory knows, and knows well. What a SENSATIONAL collection of DEVIATES and PERVERTS! And *some* even reaching the higher levels of management. Apparently that's what it took to get a promotion. Before. Up until recently.

Previously, in years past, the D & Ps all recognized each other and apparently formed alliances, groups and *gangs* to manipulate and control the naive and unsuspecting honest and innocent "fellow postal co-workers." Predatory behavior was the means to gain and maintain power, authority and CONTROL. Unfortunately for everyone, these D & Ps could not even control themselves, let alone exercise responsible authority over other NORMAL people.

I think a change has been taking place over just the past few years, as our fellow D & Ps are more and more being exposed, opposed, and simply no longer tolerated. Isolate these bastards and bitches and let them rot in their own soup. Ignore them, work around them, and keep your own dignity and integrity intact. Don't allow the D & Ps to trick you and pull you down to their level and play their game. Have some self-respect and know and exercise your rights.

Don't be bamboozled by these scheming tricksters.

Do an honest days work, receive your pay, and avoid others who try to bring you down.

I actually and really think I see the possible beginnings of a new era of enlightenment here at the USPS. The possibilities are genuine. Let's not screw this up and allow these opportunities to slip away.

Educate. Agitate. Organize.

Anonymous said...

the right will prevail, the wrong shall fail.

I have faith in myself.

I honor ethics.

If others choose not to, its not my concern. Its theirs.

Anonymous said...

the right will prevail, the wrong shall fail.

I have faith in myself.

I honor ethics.

If others choose not to, its not my concern. Its theirs.

Anonymous said...

I went to the Holiday party last week down at the union office. It was really nice, relaxing, lots of good food and Heineken.

I was hoping I would get to finally meet Marion along with Pete and Susan. We just always seem to never be at the same event at the same time! Like at the picnic a few months back. That was pretty fun too.

Maybe next time. I do like to attend the evening meetings, since I usually can't get away during the daytime ones.

Maybe we will all be at the same party one time next year! A New Years Resolution!!!

Anonymous said...

It's all about choices.

Anonymous said...

why Heineken beer?

Is it Union brewed in the U.S.A.?

Anonymous said...

We are witnesses. And like witnesses in a court, we are called to testify, to tell what we have seen and heard. And we are to speak truthfully. Our task is not to whitewash nor bloat the truth. Our task is to tell the truth. Period.

There is, however, one difference between the witness in court and the witness for Christ. The witness in court eventually steps down from the witness chair, but the witness for Christ never does. Since the claims of Christ are always on trial, court is perpetually in session, and we remain under oath.

Anonymous said...

Cuz heineken is pretty good beer,thats why. I would also like to see all those people pounding the table about buying american stuff, what they are driving to work in.

I see a lot of honda, toyota, and mercedes out there in the lot.

And what kind of TVs you all watching at home. All them imported Japanese products. Excellent products to be sure, but fure as hell ain't american, are they? Stereo systems, athletic shoes, clothing, etc

Anonymous said...

Federal Employees from duty on Dec. 26,

Employee holidays are governed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the 2006-2010 agreement, which was ratified by APWU members early in 2007, does not include provisions granting APWU-represented employees holidays simply because they have been granted to federal employees.

Postal employees who desire to be off will be required to use leave.

Anonymous said...

I think we all need to be thankful for the guaranteed holidays we do get. We also need to be reminded I guess that our business is in the moving of mail.

And Christmas mail needs to arrive at its destination ASAP. We can't all just take an extra day off during our most busy season like the bureocratic federal agencies that merely push papers around and arrange office parties can.

Do we really want our customers to get even madder at us than they already are?

And why are we the butt of jokes and why do people hate going to the post office to mail anything?

Simple: Here is what I hear from my non-postal friends and relatives across the country.

Window clerks who don't know how to do things like dinero seguro, and have to go get someone to help them. Window clerks whose accent is so thick the public can't understand a word they are muttering. Window clerks who don't greet the customer with a smile, or one who can't look a customer in the eye, which gives customers the creeps. Clerks who just don't seem to care too much about the job, the customer, etc.

So take a bad window experience, have your incoming mail delayed, and then witness the entire USPS getting still another paid holiday while service sucks and mail sits in a station somewhere, and you won't get much sympathy when mgmt goes in for the kill (consolidations and layoffs) and you want to then go to Mike Turko or the press to drum up community action to save your station and your job.

We need to take our jobs, our appearance to the public, and our self respect seriously. And we need to quit acting like welfare hounds, always looking for a new handout.

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous December 17, 2008 7:40 AM

I don't know what your job is, are you a mail handler that just have to move mail around? Or a machine clerk that all you have to do is put mail on the machine and take it off, not having to know anything. Or are you one of the special Employee in Maintenance. all you have to do is stand around and talk about how good you are?? You ever have to talk to the public? Stand in one place for hours and smile and not move in the wrong way wend you have an itch? They can be rude and say thing and you just have to smile.
They don't know what they want. You have tell just about everyone how to send there mail. You tell them there package is wrap bad and wrong or tell them there address is not good they think you mean and want you to fix it. They want you to fill out the forms and get mad if you don't. So many thing you don't know.
Walk a mile in my shoe and then tell me how bad we are.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

Heineken beer is brewed by 40 breweries in 39 countries around the world. Since 1975, most Heineken beer is brewed in the Heineken brewery in Zoeterwoude in the Netherlands. All U.S. Heineken beers are brewed and bottled in the Netherlands and shipped via sea to various demand points in the United States.

With an annual beer production of 139.2 million hectoliters, Heineken ranks as the third largest brewery in the world after SABMiller and InBev, based on revenue.

***Price fixing convictions***
On April 18, 2007 the European commission fined Heineken €219.3m , Grolsch €31.65m and Bavaria €22.85m for operating a price fixing cartel in the Netherlands, totalling €273.7m. InBev, (formerly Interbrew), escaped without a penalty because it provided "decisive information" about the cartel which operated between 1996 and 1999 and others in the EU market. The brewers controlled 95% of the Dutch market, with Heineken claiming a half and the three others 15% each.

“This is simply unacceptable: that major beer suppliers colluded to up prices and to carve up markets among themselves.” —EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes

Neelie Kroes said she was "very disappointed" that the collusion took place at the very highest (boardroom) level. She added, Heineken, Grolsch, Bavaria and InBev tried to cover their tracks by using code names and abbreviations for secret meetings to carve up the market for beer sold to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and cafes. The price fixing extended to cheaper own-brand labels and rebates for bars.

In 2004 Heineken and Kronenbourg, the two dominant brewers in France, were fined €2.5m - with the penalty reduced for co-operating.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Anonymous said...

It's all about choices.

Anonymous said...

Even after we’ve outgrown the belief in flying reindeer and Santa Claus, most of us still eagerly look forward to Christmas. For some, visions of laughing grandkids dance in their heads. For others, a much-needed break from the daily grind sounds like pure heaven. And for Christians, the advent season is a precious time to remember the infant King who was born to save us all.

In many homes and hearts this year, however, the holiday season has been clouded by worry and despair. During troubled times such as that which our country is facing, people are looking for hope. They’re desperate for peace, wondering what the new year will hold, worried about what the world will look like for their children and grandchildren.

The Christmas story is about far more than the baby Jesus. This season we celebrate Emmanuel, God with us. When times are hard, as they are for so many, it’s essential that we remember He is with us. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Only in Jesus Christ can we find what our hearts most urgently seek.

Hebrews 10:20 explains, “we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us.” Whether this Christmas finds you joyful, concerned, or a combination of both, He is the Way to your Heavenly Father, your Provider, your Comfort and Refuge.

Because Jesus is the Truth, you have the assurance of reliable guidance in 2009. No matter what happens with the new presidential administration or United States economy, we can place our trust in the God who not only gives us truth, but incarnates it.

If life seems confusing or difficult for you right now, consider what Simon Peter asked of Jesus in John 6:68…“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus has the words of hope and peace you crave because He is the Life. I am clinging to this truth day by day. As Christmas draws ever nearer, let’s join to celebrate our Savior God—the Way, the Truth, and the Life we need. God Bless you all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years

Anonymous said...

One of the things I love most about Christmas is the lights. My children love them as well. In fact during the month of December we will often take long meandering detours at night just to see all the lights.

There is something absolutely compelling about a light shining in the darkness.

When Jesus walked this earth, people flocked to Him. The gospels tells us that there were days when the crowds kept coming so fast and so thick that He didn’t have time to eat or rest. On one occasion he had to step into a boat and row away from shore to preach because the crowd was so massive. What were all these people so attracted to?

In a prophesy about Jesus’ coming, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2) Nothing, that is, except this Marvelous Light, the Light of life, the Light of the world.

This Christmas as you find your eyes drawn to the lights, take a moment to reflect on Him, the True Light that gives light to every man, and allow your heart to be drawn near to His heart and your soul to be illuminated by His life-giving Spirit.

God has given us the best gift of all. I Pray that you will accept it.
Jesus Christ is the best girt of all. Be happy and joyful for our savior is born.

Lets love one another in the true spirit of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all.......

Anonymous said...

Examples of faith abound at this time of year. There is the faith children put in Santa Claus to bring them stuff.

There is the messianic-like faith many have placed in Barack Obama, the faux messiah of our time, who has been sent by the political gods to deliver us, if not from our sins, than at least from George W. Bush. Those who place their faith in Obama see him as god-like and Bush as the devil. These metaphors serve them well as substitutes for the genuine articles, in whom they either do not believe or have re-created in their own image.

Faith is a gift, the ultimate gift. It is of far greater and eternal value than anything to be found under a Christmas tree. While clothes and toys wear out or are forgotten, faith lasts.

Christmas offers an opportunity to again consider what matters most. Especially this year with the anemic economy and multiple challenges to our misplaced faith in prosperity and politicians, now would be a good time to consider the song lyric: “Fame, if you win it, comes and goes in a minute. Where’s the real stuff in life to cling to?”

The answer to that question is to be found where it has always been: Start in the manger and then move to the cross and the empty tomb and consider the carol, “where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.”

God has given us the ultimate Christmas gift. It's the Child in the manger Jesus Christ His Son.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Years.

Anonymous said...

Last Friday, Dan McCaleb, Editor of the Northwest Herald newspaper in McHenry County, Illinois, published:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in a three-minute address, broadcast live today, professed his innocence, vowed to fight to his dying breath and, gentleman that he is, promised not to persecute his persecutors.

And, oh yeah, he quoted English author and poet Rudyard Kipling, too. It was quite the speech, short as it was.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, and blaming it on you,” Blagojevich said, quoting Kipling’s poem “If.” “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, and make allowance for their doubting, too. If you can wait, and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, don’t deal in lies. Or being hated. Don’t give way to hating.”

The poem itself didn’t do much for me. But I found some other Kipling quotes, perhaps more appropriate for Blago’s speech.

“Power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.”

Hmmm. Power without responsibility. Sound like anyone we know?

“Borrow trouble for yourself, if that’s your nature, but don’t lend it to your neighbors.”

Someone might argue that a certain other someone currently in trouble is dragging his neighbors through his mess because he, say, won’t step down.

Comments

Vet4Obama wrote on December 20, 2008 8:15 a.m.

"Dan You're on the right track. I've worked for the State DOT for 15yrs and this administration is full of alot. Their favorite saying is (I don't know you, I don't owe you) So if you aren't in the circle you are discriminated and harrassed by them. If you want more info you can call me. I don't think people want the truth. I've been fighting for my job since he was elected. And everyone I've gone to turn their backs."

*My* comments, today:

Great quotes!

“Power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.”
and
“Borrow trouble for yourself, if that’s your nature, but don’t lend it to your neighbors.”

I *love* working here at the San Diego USPS- it is such a COMMON place!

Anonymous said...

gosh I sure do have withdrawals still since old blog went down.

will miss this one too, but do I have agreement that nothing compares to what the original blog writer did to keep us all on pins and needles waiting for the next installment

Anonymous said...

This rain is surely God smiling upon us. Thank you, Lord, for all of this life-giving rain.

Anonymous said...

Tomorrow we celebrate the greatest miracle of all: God became man. He chose to leave his heavenly kingdom to dwell among humans. And to dwell among us in a life much harder than anything we could imagine. Instead of a life of privilege, He chose to endure a life of difficulties, so He could better understand our sorrow, our heartaches and our joys.

The gift of Jesus Christ is what Christmas is all about. Jesus came near to us so we could come near to Him.
The birth of Jesus Christ is a gift from God that came in simple wrapping, as well as a gift we don't deserve. But the gift of Christ also explains His purpose for humankind.

Christmas is not about tinsel or shopping or gifts under a tree. Christmas is about the gift God gave us. When He appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross for our sins. Giving us the best gift of all time eternal life.

That is what He has accomplished. This is the gift He extends. And if you receive it, you will experience the merriest Christmas of all.

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas to all

New Year around the corner. It does look to have some very trying times for our country, and for us postal workers.

Keep the faith. Work hard, spend less, love your families, be a good friend. And this too shall pass.

It always does.

And thank God we have seen the last of Rick Cornelius.

Anonymous said...

.


I hope that someone will continue to maintain this blog, past the announced December 30th closing date, as a service to themselves and all other local postal employees.


"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

- Thomas Jefferson


.

Anonymous said...

Better Or Better Off

1. The world would be better off,
if people tried
to become better.

2. And people would
become better
if they stopped trying
to be better off.

3. For when everybody tries
to become better off,
nobody is better off.

4. But when everybody tries
to become better,
everybody is better off.

5. Everybody would be rich
if nobody tried
to be richer.

6. And nobody would be poor
if everybody tried
to be the poorest.

7. And everybody would be
what he ought to be
if everybody tried to be
what he wants
the other fellow to be.

- Peter Maurin