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When Does the Rubber Meet the Road?

When Does the Rubber Meet the Road?
By Tim Ford
Southern Region Vice President

While this article was being written, NAPS received the final pay package from the Postal Service. Your Executive Board has voted to go to fact-finding. On July 6, NAPS filed for fact-finding in accordance with Title 39.

During consultations, every effort was made to ensure fair and adequate compensation for all the work every EAS employee does. But, in NAPS’ view, those efforts were not successful. While I do not know what the final outcome will be, I do have some thoughts on EAS compensation.

What I struggle with is the message we receive from postal officials when they address us at meetings and conventions: You are the backbone of the Postal Service, you are the glue that holds the Postal Service together, you are pressured between craft employees and upper-management and—my personal favorite—you are “where the rubber meets the road.”

Every one of those statements regarding EAS employees rings true; I believe the postal officials making these statements sincerely believe them. But how do you reconcile these words with the actions of Postal Headquarters?

The tires on your vehicle are where the rubber meets the road and your vehicle depends on those tires. If your tires are over- or under-inflated, your vehicle does not perform properly. When I listen to our members speak about the work they do, the efforts they make to ensure all mail is processed and delivered each and every day—regardless of the conditions—and the constant pressure to perform, I can assure you their “tires” are under-inflated, not over-inflated.

Every craft employee who comes to work and just does their job gets an annual pay increase; I applaud their efforts securing these benefits. But I find it insulting to tell EAS employees who come to work, do their jobs and guide our business every day that their efforts are not worthy of compensation and, even worse, result in them being labeled a non-contributor. It is just not right or fair. And that is the message being received in the field.

EAS employees do contribute, they do make a difference and you do need to inflate the EAS tires that meet the postal road with compensation—not air. EAS employees cannot pay their bills or feed their family with praise and words; it takes money—real money.

NAPS hears those under-inflated EAS tires squealing as they meet the road every day. NAPS will continue to pursue a fair and equitable compensation package that recognizes and adequately compensates those EAS employees who do their jobs, get the mail processed and delivered and manage their employees.

Postal Headquarters: Let your actions match your words and fairly compensate EAS employees. Quite simply, they’ve earned it.

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