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EAS Employees—AKA Santa's Postal Elves

EAS Employees—AKA Santa’s Postal Elves
By Dioenis D. Perez
New York Area Vice President

It’s that stressful time of year again. We all know who should receive most of the credit for delivering parcels and selling stamps: carriers and clerks. But what makes that all possible is every EAS employee—from the mail plants to Customer Service, which the general public does not see.

EAS employees are the forgotten elves who set the daily expectations, manage last-minute instructions, post schedules, authorize additional work, observe the workforce, issue corrective actions, deal with the unions and handle labor issues tossed into their laps.

EAS employees help our customers with their delivery inquiries, follow a litany of processes and SOPs that continually fluctuate, disseminate information to our craft employees, adhere to safety rules and practices, put up with hours-long Zoom meetings toward the end of the day and, at times, throughout the day.

EAS employees tolerate being verbally disrespected by higher-level EAS employees, while USPS and NAPS MOUs are not followed by upper-management. They have to deal with an overall lack of professional courtesy and respect from the upper ranks of facility heads to their EAS employees on the front lines.

That list should give nonpostal workers a brief idea of what EAS employees, Santa’s “other elves,” do on a daily basis behind the scenes—not just during the holiday season, but every day. I left out all the extra hours EAS employees put in to make this all come together and make it possible for the Postal Service to be successful. But then, EAS employees are questioned about the necessary extra hours they worked; worst yet, they are told they should not put in for the extra hours. The answer is simple: Bring back the Level-19 supervisor of Postal Operations positions, as well as relief positions.

The agency has changed dramatically, as well as its management philosophy. We are a statistics-driven organization, just like every other business. But we are a service—not a business; that’s the fundamental difference. Remember this quote: “Figures don’t lie, but liars do figures.”

The most recent RIF seemingly has made us more Headquarters-heavy than ever, with barely any middle-management to help in the field these days. Most of us in the field have no idea what these new job titles actually do. Who is responsible for what?

We do know they are great at sending emails, having Zoom meetings and telling us what needs to be done and when. Have they ever handled the same challenges themselves? What is clear is postmasters and their EAS staffs now are responsible for everything, but they still are not allowed to run their units as they see fit.

May you all be safe and have a merry Christmas. Enjoy the holiday you celebrate! God bless.