Feelings from the President

By Carolyn Pierce

Sometimes it just gets to you.  As a unionist for so long I usually expect these feelings once in a while.  It hits me a lot less now than when I was young and green.  What's the feeling like?  It's a gnawing space in my stomach that is not from hunger.  It's a frustration and anger that only dealing with USPS management can cause.  I know that times have changed and the way we do business is a more "gentler" way, some of the time. . . but. . . I feel like I'm chewing on sand sometimes.  I have been a loyal APWU steward and officer for 25+ years.  You can't find too many subjects I have not used in representing our members over the years.  I know that after retirement I have a good fiction book in me about "us," only it would only be fiction to non-USPS employees and in order to write it I would have to relive the memories. . . forget that.  From past practice I know the only way to get this feeling out is to talk to my Creator about it, which I have, and write it down to share with my friends.

We have numerous APWU members who have been "called up" by the military to represent our country in many capacities.  Most are in a foreign land wondering if they will see their families, postal or blood, again.  My father was a Purple Heart veteran from WWII; my grandfather limped from an injury he received in WWI and I lost men close to me in Vietnam.  I spent my summers growing up on Army bases across America.  Yeah, I'm bias to our veterans.  Recent occurrences with some of our members have brought out the "old feeling" in me and it only made it perfectly clear that nothing really changes with our dealings with the USPS. . . that's really a shame.  There are a lot of good management in the postal service that do work with us and treat our members with dignity and respect but alas they have bosses too.

The APWU has been requesting that the USPS pay the employees' share of their health care premiums, up to 24 months, while they are away serving in military service.  The USPS agreed and the new policy took effect in March and is retroactive to December 28, 2002.  Active career employees are covered while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.  We are talking approximately $800 to $1,000 per year.  Good, huh!  APWU National President Burrus praised the Postal Service for their decision to pay the health plan premiums and he stated, "We applaud the sensitivity show by management supporting the postal heroes who are serving their country."  I got a copy of the USPS announcement stating that they would pay the health care employee share and made copies to give to the managers of the units where I knew we had members who were serving in the various military operations.  I asked them to make sure that the costs were not taken out of our member's checks if they returned from their service soon and the new system was not applied yet.  You know it takes forever for the USPS policies to take effect.  I guess by now you've guessed why I'm so frustrated.  When our veterans have returned from duty the health care premiums were taken out of their paychecks.  The APWU and USPS (via their web site) informed local management that the premiums would be taken care of by the employer but someone forgot to tell the department that processes the paychecks.  The members had $800 - $1,000 or more taken out of their pay and the USPS did not even offer a pay advance until the adjustments could be corrected.

It always looks good on paper, but who follows through?  Someone dropped the ball way above our heads. That's no consolation to our veterans who have been away protecting all of us and it's no consolation to your APWU stewards and officers who keep hitting their heads in frustration at the system.  The main lesson I've learned is not to let the anger take me over and say things that later I'll be sorry for.  That's a lesson for us all.  We must just keep on keeping on. . .

A final thought from a Southern girl . . 

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Last modified: August 16, 2008