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What Age Is ‘Aging' in the USPS?

What Age Is ‘Aging’ in the USPS?
By Dee Perez
NAPS New York Area Vice President

The USPS addresses aging in the letter carrier craft but not in any other craft or its EAS employees. If a letter carrier is compensated for age 55 in the office and EAS employees mostly spend their time there, one could ask, “Why isn’t there something for aging EAS employees?”

There’s an obscure rule for letter carriers over age 55 with 25 years of service that hardly anyone discusses. The following rule makes no sense to me. Why would the USPS provide this relief in the office instead of the street?

M-39 rule: If you case slower than the 18 and 8 standard, management will evaluate your office time using 18 and 8. However, section 242.214 reads: “An exception may be made for carriers who have served continuously for 25 years or more or are over 55 years of age. Before making an exception, determine that the carrier cannot meet the standard office time and that his or her conduct and performance are otherwise satisfactory. The office time allowed for an exempted carrier must be reasonable and be determined by management.”

I wonder how the CRDO team will react to this when it affects 60 minutes in the office. Will they ignore it?

As we approach the yearly 3999 deadline—May 31, although in some districts it’s May 1—the 30-day difference between some districts’ deadlines doesn’t matter if offices take this seriously and begin doing their 3999 on Oct. 1. If you’re a Level 18-20, you should have completed this by now, depending on the weather in your area or other unforeseen circumstances.

The CRDO team handcuffed everyone this year, although they never could accept blame or admit they contributed to the late 3999s if you’re an office going past the deadline. How did the CRDO team drop the ball on this?

They wanted every EAS employee retrained to write a novel of notes and collect data during their 3999 and 1838c one-day route review. You couldn’t conduct these one-day reviews on Monday or Saturday and you weren’t allowed to bring a supervisor in on their nonscheduled day.

About a month ago, the handcuffs were removed from and we have been allowed to do 3999s Monday through Saturday and bring in our supervisor, Customer Service, on their nonscheduled day. It took them only five months to realize this; otherwise, they wouldn’t have made the deadline May 31. Then, they didn’t know if there were enough DCDs to use; if you didn’t have one, you had to order one for approximately $300.

I’ve received many emails regarding being forced to do 3999s. If you’re a supervisor, that’s your job, but it’s not unheard of to do this if you are a postmaster. However, if your concern is using your own car, you do not have to. Request an administrative district car or use a postal vehicle, provided you have been trained in using the vehicle or had refresher training if it has been years since you last drove this type of vehicle.

EAS employees age 60 with 30 years of service are more than likely not capable of walking six to seven hours or sitting down and being bounced around in the back of a vehicle for the same time. Where is the Postal Service’s concern for them?

It’s a shame nobody at USPS Headquarters has thought about aging EAS employees and the duties they may not be able to perform as they once did. What age is considered “aging in the USPS” as older EAS employees struggle to be as quick as their younger EAS counterparts regarding Dashboard reports, digesting data and the physical toll of conducting an 1838c and 3999 these days?

Perhaps our CRDO leadership could answer us if they walked routes for months, dealt with running an office interacted with employees, unions and customers and spent two hours a day on Zoom meetings.

I challenge each of our 269 NAPS branches to challenge themselves by signing three non-members a month.