* No one should have to get used to standing in long lines, especially for minor purchases, but that's the situation that management has created. The stations are so shorthanded that it doesn't matter where you go, you will encounter a long line.
Our union, locally and nationally, has been trying for several years to make postal management aware that customers do matter and deserve to be treated correctly.
Management is aware of this situation because it is occurring in stations all over the country, but instead of increasing staffing to assist the customers properly, they continually increase management jobs at headquarters (maybe they are the real "uninterested drones" that Stu referred to in his column).
* Our sales and service asso-
ciates aren't slow-motion clerks.
They are following the instructions of postal management by asking customers a list of questions that is directly related to the "Mystery Shopper Program."
If our clerks do not ask all those questions of every customer, they are subject to discipline that could lead to a removal from employment.
Employees are dedicated and conscientious workers who sometime voluntarily skip their breaks or shorten their lunches because they want to serve the customers and minimize their wait.
The horror stories about the Post Office, unfortunately, are misdirected toward the workers when, in fact, management is responsible for poor decisions that lead to dissatisfied customers.
Workers are following the directives of management, and if they don't, they're faced with discipline.
* The fact that a USPS spokes- man informed Stu that the goal for waiting in line is five minutes is insulting. We are not only postal workers - we are also customers.
