An EAS Five-Day, 40-Hour Position Is a Seven-Day Responsibility
By Dee Perez
NAPS New York Area Vice President
"Workin’ for a livin,’ livin’ and workin,’ I’m taking what they giving ’cause I’m working for a livin.’”—Huey Lewis & The News
These lyrics resonate with the unwavering dedication of our frontline EAS employees. Whether you’re a supervisor, manager, postmaster, DSS, POSS or any other committed EAS employee, your role often is defined as a five-day, 40-hour workweek. Yet we all know this is a mere façade. You consistently put in over 40 hours a week and work additional day(s) to handle the workload mandated by Chief Retail and Delivery
Office (CRDO) leadership.
I’ve read all your emails and taken your phone calls on this subject. I know the additional, unpaid hours you dedicate throughout the week to meet the level of engagement and ownership that USPS Headquarters demands. This often means sacrificing your traditional lunch break to attend a leadership Zoom meeting—a testament to your commitment and dedication. With all these daily Zoom meetings, who has a conventional lunch hour at a set time anymore? None of these leaders appreciate your sacrifices.
EAS employees on the front lines sacrifice their lunch to keep up with their workload and use the opportunity to catch up on all their other daily tasks. USPS Headquarters has created this environment to keep you engaged throughout the day, every day. These leaders neither prioritize your lunch nor value your time. I understand why you stay much later without asking for extra pay to complete the tasks given.
It’s a simple answer because catching up is nearly impossible the next day when you first walk in and see the enormous number of emails waiting for you. I understand your challenges; they don’t. The excessive workload and lack of appreciation are taking a toll on your well-being and work-life balance, which needs to be addressed.
USPS Headquarters never will admit that all frontline EAS employees’ responsibilities are excessive; who’s kidding who? They were the ones who took away a half-hour lunch and made it an hour lunch and invented the 30-minute rule in the late ’90s. If you’re on the clock working past your tour less than 30 minutes, you’re not paid for it. It’s still an eight-hour day, but you’re still working!
When PMG Megan Brennan was in charge in the mid-2000s, USPS Headquarters authorized the Northeast Area to conduct a time study on how long each supervisor took to perform each daily task. Then-NAPS New York Area Vice President Tommy Roma assured the Postal Service his EAS employees were doing this task correctly because he knew the value of the study and had been calling for it for years!
The monthly study results showed that if USPS Headquarters wanted every EAS employee to complete every task daily, they would have needed several additional supervisors in each office to manage the workload back then. It is my understanding that, when Brennan received the final study, she dismissed it because the USPS couldn’t afford to hire all the new supervisors required by the study.
Imagine if that workload study was conducted today. How many more new supervisors would be working alongside you? But, then again, the USPS wouldn’t be able to hire them because CRDO leadership spends money while the agency loses $4-6 billion a year.
The dedicated EAS employees at each level, especially those in the fraternity known as frontline supervisors, share the most enormous burden of all EAS employees. Yet there are higher levels in USPS Headquarters districts that don’t have a quarter of their responsibilities and make a higher starting salary by sending emails throughout the day.
I’m not minimizing their worth whatsoever; there is value in what they provide. But you cannot compare their responsibilities to frontline EAS employees today. The prevailing thought is nobody wants to work as a frontline supervisor and deal with the craft, their unions and the extra hours they put in. I wonder why that is.
Frontline EAS employees are of higher value to the USPS every day, seven days a week; it is time for them to be compensated for that. Keep them at a Level-17, but compensate them with a higher starting, middle and top-end salary; their time has come! Remember this: MM—membership matters. Sign three new members today!
Categories: The Postal Supervisor
