I’m wondering about the United States Postal Service.
In the eight years I have lived in NJ I have never had any problems with my mail service. My regular mail carrier is the greatest guy, he’s on time, he’s friendly, he knows his route, he’s helpful.
Stuff goes out, stuff comes in.
In the past 2 months all of that has changed.
There seems to be a new carrier every other day.
A package sent to me from NY was misrouted to San Jose, CA. It left NY on 3/24, arrived in San Jose on 3/26 and hasn’t been heard from since.
Makes me think of that Dionne Warwick song – ‘Do you know the way from San Jose?’
On April 4th I sent an order form to a company in upstate NY. Yesterday I called to check on my order – they never got it. The customer service rep said many orders from NJ had not arrived.
I sent a birthday card to Brooklyn. It took 12 days to get there.
My brother in Brooklyn sent me a letter; it took a week to get here.
My accountant has decided to use UPS – too many tax packages were being delayed.
This is all anecdotal and as a researcher I know that anecdotal evidence carries little weight. But it makes me wonder.
I did several Google searches:
USPS service delays
USPS job action
USPS work slowdown
Postal workers
Postal workers union
The most entertaining thing I found was a story about a cat in the Mid West. The cat sleeps all day except for the few moments each day when he awakes to terrorize the mail carrier.
I found the usual array of right wing sites demonizing the unions and the government. Comparing postal service to healthcare. Calling for privatization. Barking about big government.
I’m a union Mom. At one of my very first jobs I was part of an attempt to unionize the workers. We lost. I lost my job.
I also found some blogs and forums written by postal workers. The stories of mismanagement and budgets being played with and numbers being hidden and misrepresented were all too familiar to me.
I worked for a large corporation. I was on the board. We spent more time playing with the numbers and screwing the staff than we did on providing the services we advertised.
If I ever had to take a side my side will always be with the mail carriers. I know there may be some who are lazy, who are con artists, who have no motivation. That is humanity.
What is not humanity is this country’s continuous shift away from being a society that actually produces anything. Workers used to be regarded as the backbone of any company – now they’re digits on a profit and loss statement, there solely to be played with in Excel. There was a time when loyalty and hard work were rewarded.
Now – not so much.
Just look at Wall Street. Lie. Cheat. Get a bonus.
I will always believe that this ...
has more value than this ...
