USPS Leaders Need to Understand Front-Line EAS Employee Challenges

USPS Leaders Need to Understand Front-Line EAS Employee Challenges
By Dee Perez
NAPS Northeast Region Vice President

Based on members’ shared concerns, EAS employees feel undervalued by their superiors. Given their daily responsibilities, they believe the USPS places all the blame for problems on them and expects them to bear complete responsibility for its $9 billion in losses.

During peak season, I received many emails and phone calls from EAS employees across many districts. Their concerns included:

Being required to attend Zoom meetings for 45-minute sessions multiple times a day, if not longer, when the discussion does not apply to their office. This makes it impossible to complete tasks in their eight-hour day after losing an hour and a half in Zoom meetings.

USPS leaders showing little to no understanding of or care about how busy EAS employees already are.

In Customer Service, the mail plant continues to deliver a product not according to the integrated operating plan (IOP). On Monday(s) or days after the holiday, the mail plant provides an additional trip carrying working mail that is not included in the agreed-on IOP.

This inconsistency makes an already difficult Customer Service job even more difficult and, at times, impossible to achieve Monday’s goals. Customer Service NPA suffers — not mail plant NPA. This is a significant problem of which USPS Headquarters is aware, but has not addressed for at least 36 years, if not longer.

USPS leaders daily prioritize compliance and NPA scores and expect EAS employees to become analytical, deep-dive experts on every program rolled out from RADAR. EAS employees do not have time to become drill-down experts.

The NPA push is understood and appreciated, but for whose benefit? After last year’s reduction in NPA boxes, it doesn’t appear to serve EAS employees.

A primary concern is there are far too many OICs/PMs, including supervisors, Customer Service, working open-to-close six days during the normal year and seven days a week during peak due to a lack of EAS staffing. The elimination of 204(b)s in some districts has created a significant emergency staffing problem that needs to be resolved now before these employees seek help from the EAP, then submit a doctor’s note for a month or two of absences.

I certainly do not want to see this happen, nor do I encourage it. However, these EAS employees must do what is right for their health. Now is the time for USPS leadership to address this issue and begin hiring new EAS employees at the required locations, along with relief supervisors.

Why are districts using EAS employees in positions not authorized when postmasters and supervisors, Customer Service, are working open to close, six and seven days a week, before and after peak season? Couldn’t these non-authorized positions be better used to support those working six and seven days?

Remember: Three new members per branch are required monthly. Has your branch achieved this? If not, why not? MM = membership matters!