Opinion: Is it management's mission to lose money now?

[jaymacgthree]

Do you think management is intentionally trying to lose more money than ever during a time when we are being warned that the Postal Service could run out of money? What are folks seeing out there?

Examples we are seeing here locally:

-Changing routing for Amazon Sunday to waste additional hours and gasoline while actually getting less packages delivered
-Additional use of custodians as clerks just to give them more hours
-Scheduling regulars and ptfs in place of available RCAs knowing that RCAs are the more economical choice
-Flurries of bogus route adjustments that are nonsensical and will vastly increase spending to support additional routes

 

[really]

I think its how you look at it. So in my office they have been splitting routes trying to save money.
When you look at it, the 2-3 people casing and 4 delivering. The total hours far exceed the evaluation. Should just call a RCA in.

 

[jaymacgthree]

I think its how you look at it. So in my office they have been splitting routes trying to save money.
When you look at it, the 2-3 people casing and 4 delivering. The total hours far exceed the evaluation. Should just call a RCA in.

Agreed! I can't imagine doing that if there was a RCA available.

 

[neciat]

I think its how you look at it. So in my office they have been splitting routes trying to save money.
When you look at it, the 2-3 people casing and 4 delivering. The total hours far exceed the evaluation. Should just call a RCA in.

Yeah, and then management has to justify those excess hours on the given route(s). It's not a good look. Then, as @jaymacgthree mentioned, paying RCAs for sitting home after they file on the issue. Heck, maybe even some regular carriers as well should they be on the RDWL. At the end of it all, it would be more economical to pay a Table 1 Step 12 carrier to work.

 

[Old Fart]

We aren't doing any of that crazy crap in our offices.......

 

[AtomWaffles]

For the last few days I’ve been back (gone about 2 months) they have split between 7-9 routes every day and they’re using regulars to assist on routes which have regulars who are on the OTDL. Apparently it’s been like this for weeks. I don’t know what this place and these peoples mission is anymore, but there is no way someone in a suit way high up isn’t noticing this, and taking note.

 

[hockey94]

This is nothing new. Mgt has to get the mail delivered & deal with the consequences later.

 

[EthelAnne]

AFAIK, there is no incentive for field management to reduce labor/OT costs, so that’s one reason why you don’t see a lot of attention to this issue. Add to that the complication of the various contracts, which decide when/where/who works, that management don’t understand. Meanwhile, you have lots of craft who know their contracts like the back of their hands and are ready to file grievances.

Not trying to generate sympathy at all for management, just pointing out there’s not a lot they want to do and very often there’s not much they can do.

 

[Shannonboy]

Most of po mgmt is too STUPID, and LAZY to care about wasting money, time or anything else...they are one of the main reasons we are on the decline...

 

[Surprise!]

I have not done my homework on this, but my feeling is that Management wants to create a scary disaster when they run out of money. A disaster that will appear to need fixing in the shortest time possible.


The point of doing this is to have us solve the problem with emotions and not clear thinking. To make it appear to Congress that they have done everything in there power to save the day.


Hopefully, this will mean a bailout from Congress likely for automation to make the Postal Service competitive. It may mean the retirement money that has been put aside temporarily will be given to the Postal Service. Also, more negotiation power to hold down wages and not hire substitutes.


They will get our unions to run around clucking that this must be done to save jobs. Which the Postal Service will try to replace with automation.


In the end I don’t expect much to really change while management prepares to do the same thing again.

 

[Rural-life-0323]

First off we are only "running out of money" once again to influence votes and because all union contracts are starting new negotiations. It's a complete lie.

If we were truly almost out of money they stop spending money on building SD&C's, cut back on supplies and fire a ton of useless management/departments. That's not happening. We aren't running out of money. The huge negative number you hear every quarter comes from the congressional mandates not put on ANY other federal budget. Look at the quarterly reports yourself. USPS makes enough money to cover all its operating expenses every quarter.

If USPS went to a pay-as-you-go health and pension mandate instead of prefunding the budget would be balanced again. Think about it. If you bought a car and they forced you to prefund every possible event that might happen to the car. Tire changes, brakes, transmissions, oil changes, wiper fluid, etc. your budget for the car would look horrible and most people could never afford the car. If you paid for those as you needed them it's a completely different story. We can afford pay-as-you-go.

USPS and Congress want a budget that looks bad so our union members concede to crappy contracts. Plain and simple.

 

[DB.Cooper]

For the last few days I’ve been back (gone about 2 months) they have split between 7-9 routes every day and they’re using regulars to assist on routes which have regulars who are on the OTDL. Apparently it’s been like this for weeks. I don’t know what this place and these peoples mission is anymore, but there is no way someone in a suit way high up isn’t noticing this, and taking note.

I sometimes wonder if they're not being crazy like a fox on all this route splitting stuff... my route often got split whenever I was off, and it seemed to me like it was totally screwing my eval under RRECS.... So.... maybe there's a method to their madness with all this Route splitting mess...

 

[ATCBigE]

First off we are only "running out of money" once again to influence votes and because all union contracts are starting new negotiations. It's a complete lie.

If we were truly almost out of money they stop spending money on building SD&C's, cut back on supplies and fire a ton of useless management/departments. That's not happening. We aren't running out of money. The huge negative number you hear every quarter comes from the congressional mandates not put on ANY other federal budget. Look at the quarterly reports yourself. USPS makes enough money to cover all its operating expenses every quarter.

If USPS went to a pay-as-you-go health and pension mandate instead of prefunding the budget would be balanced again. Think about it. If you bought a car and they forced you to prefund every possible event that might happen to the car. Tire changes, brakes, transmissions, oil changes, wiper fluid, etc. your budget for the car would look horrible and most people could never afford the car. If you paid for those as you needed them it's a completely different story. We can afford pay-as-you-go.

USPS and Congress want a budget that looks bad so our union members concede to crappy contracts. Plain and simple.

This has been point for last few years.

If money situation is that bad, everything would be stopped except the essential stuff.

Then you would move into closing smaller offices to save money especially if areas of several towns on top of each other. Example we have 3 RMPO within 4 miles of our main offices. Those 3 RMPO are within 3 miles of each in basically a straight line drive. You close them 3 offices you save almost 400k a year. You close other and add to rural route you could save nearly 600k a year.

The USPS isn't in as bad of shape as they claim IMO. Now if they stopped everything such as S&DC and other projects then I would be worried. But really should stop S&DC in general because they are dumb IMO.

 

[neciat]

I sometimes wonder if they're not being crazy like a fox on all this route splitting stuff... my route often got split whenever I was off, and it seemed to me like it was totally screwing my eval under RRECS.... So.... maybe there's a method to their madness with all this Route splitting mess...

You would be correct. 99% of the time when a route is split, it screws up the RRECS data. Many RCAs take their part with them and then go from their assigned route to do their part of the split route which IS NOT the line of travel which would be from the office. There are many other issues / collateral damage that occur most of the time when a route is split. And this is NOT a knock on any RCAs , it's just a byproduct of what occurs when RRECS is involved.

 

[Rural-life-0323]

This has been point for last few years.

If money situation is that bad, everything would be stopped except the essential stuff.

Then you would move into closing smaller offices to save money especially if areas of several towns on top of each other. Example we have 3 RMPO within 4 miles of our main offices. Those 3 RMPO are within 3 miles of each in basically a straight line drive. You close them 3 offices you save almost 400k a year. You close other and add to rural route you could save nearly 600k a year.

The USPS isn't in as bad of shape as they claim IMO. Now if they stopped everything such as S&DC and other projects then I would be worried. But really should stop S&DC in general because they are dumb IMO.

Rumor mill is saying they are finding the SD&C are actually adding to our costs and not saving any money at all.

 

[Rural-life-0323]

I sometimes wonder if they're not being crazy like a fox on all this route splitting stuff... my route often got split whenever I was off, and it seemed to me like it was totally screwing my eval under RRECS.... So.... maybe there's a method to their madness with all this Route splitting mess...

RRECS in general is a way to eliminate routes and carriers.

People need to file grievances on this if management has options to properly run the routes. I.E. call in subs, pull from other offices and such.

 

[jaymacgthree]

Rumor mill is saying they are finding the SD&C are actually adding to our costs and not saving any money at all.

Imagine that! Flushing millions of dollars down the toilet to try to reinvent the wheel.

 

[Rural-life-0323]

You would be correct. 99% of the time when a route is split, it screws up the RRECS data. Many RCAs take their part with them and then go from their assigned route to do their part of the split route which IS NOT the line of travel which would be from the office. There are many other issues / collateral damage that occur most of the time when a route is split. And this is NOT a knock on any RCAs , it's just a byproduct of what occurs when RRECS is involved.

People need to file grievances. That's what my office did. A sub MUST complete the route they are on first, including going back to the office, before starting another.

 

[neciat]

People need to file grievances. That's what my office did. A sub MUST complete the route they are on first, including going back to the office, before starting another.

Oh, I know. Back when I was working, I would try to instill that into every RCA.

 

[hockey94]

Rumor mill is saying they are finding the SD&C are actually adding to our costs and not saving any money at all.

I could have told you that when the latest plan to save money came out, it is/was the latest plan to backfire ! My best to all of you in the trenches !