‘A Rose by Any Other Name'

‘A Rose by Any Other Name’
By Beverly Torain
Retired Postmaster of Apex, NC, and President of Joseph Butler Winters Jr., Raleigh, Branch 177

Happy Valentine’s Day! As we settle into a new government administration, I’m reflecting on how much things have changed, but, in the same vein, how much they remain the same. As the old saying goes, “People who don’t know their history are subject to repeat it.”

The same holds true for the U.S. Postal Service. In my daily commitment as a branch president, but, more importantly, an advocate, I constantly encounter members who try to convince me things have changed. Have they really?

Don’t get me wrong. I have sense enough to know there have been tremendous technological advances. But have the core mission and goals of the Postal Service really changed? I listen to our current EAS staff and wonder if they understand the changes they say have occurred really are changes or just a rose by a different name.

We have made great strides technologically, but can you honestly say things have changed? Today, work that used to require hours now can be done with the stroke of a computer key. Do we process mail any differently?

No!

No more having to leave the office to find a carrier (city or rural) to observe to ensure they are working. You now can look at their actions through RIMS and observe street inactivity and stationary events, as well as see when and where a package was scanned. No more torturous mail counts having to count every piece of mail (letters, flats, parcels, dismounts, steps, etc.).

Now, this all can be done from the comfort of your computer. But (there’s always a “but”), how many current EAS employees embrace these changes and recognize how far we truly have come? Better still, how many know a lot of this new technology is nothing more than a rose by a different name? DCV is nothing more than CSDRS with a new name.

As I navigate through different situations as an advocate, this sentiment is the same from our current EAS employees: “We don’t have time to get everything done daily.” But you’re doing the same work you’ve always done, just with a different name.

Then I ask, “Have things really changed that much or is it just a rose by a different name?”