The Local Line
“A PPA Award
Winning Publication”
The Official Voice Of
The
American Postal
Workers
Phone: 630-833-0088 Fax: 630-833-0248
Jackie Engelhart – President Alan Czerwinski - News Director
January 21, 2008
"O" is Olivia Norman, Our
Tour 1 Chief Steward at Palatine for the last few years. She recently resigned from
this position due to a disagreement with a member, where she felt that Vice
President Baskin and I did not
back her up. The member had words with Olivia about their discipline case, and told
Olivia how he/she thought she should handle it. Olivia called us to let us know
we would probably be getting a call from this member, and we did. The member
was upset and insisted that someone else handle the grievance. We agreed that
Dave take over the grievance from Olivia and when Dave told her, she resigned This
was never a case of the (Chief) Steward not doing her job, but a case of the
employee being very "upset" and having "words' with her. Dave and
I both apologized to Olivia, and
we asked her to reconsider her resignation. The final irony is that O had
discussed the grievance and resolved it before she resigned.
This story highlights the problem
in doing what Dave and I did. When a member calls us we are hearing their side,
and we cannot make a decision without first hearing both sides. If you have a problem
with your steward, talk to them first. The next person to speak to would be the
Chief Steward and then the Craft Director. When a member calls me or Dave we
will listen, but if you have not talked to the Chief Steward and/or the Craft Director
then you have not given them the courtesy to inform them of a problem on their
tour and/or in their craft. Whether or not you think they will agree with you and/or
resolve the problem, give them the courtesy
of talking to them. If the member had gone back and talked to Olivia the next
day, this entire mess could have been avoided. Dave and I should have talked to Olivia before taking any action, and we
have lost an excellent Chief Steward because we didn't.
We can all thank VOE for telling management how truly bad some of our bad offices are. The worst plant (surprise) in the Northern Illinois District is Palatine P&DC. After years of treating EAS and craft employees with disrespect, senior management has sown the seeds of the current (Quarter 1) VOE score of 48.3 points. Lowlights include a score of 34 for Dignity & Respect and 30 for Communication. This information is contained in the "FY 'O8 Quarter 1 VOE Trends & Analysis Report" from the Workplace Environment Improvement office. The report identifies the worst and best offices, and calls the worst offices "Vital Few or Greatest Opportunity" offices. Rockford was the best plant with a score of 68.1 or 20 points better than Palatine. Mike Cleary is the Plant Manager at Rockford and he is very decent to work with. This report confirms what we have been saying and hearing at Palatine from EAS and craft alike.
0n 1-7-07 senior management tasked Tim Anderson to "develop an
action plan to address the declining VOE scores at Palatine." Tim had been
on a long-term detail at Irving Park Road Facility (PR) but since IPR returned
to the Chicago District in October, Northern IL District Managers have left IPR.
Tim is now detailed as the Senior MDO for the vacationing A/Senior MDO Danny
Bracket. Tim's assignment is to improve morale (in two weeks) at a plant where
morale has been ignored for years. The good thing about VOE is that it shines a
spotlight on an otherwise ignored problem, and in a form that senior management
cares about because it's part of their score. We have talked to management over
and over about the lack of dignity and respect and the lack of communication.
These complaints fa1l on deaf ears as the same supervisors continue to generate
the same complaints. Dignity and respect and communication are a luxury these
managers do not think they cm afford and still get the mail out. Their jobs depend
on getting the mail out, not on how they treat employees. Management has hem
conducting quarterly VOE Surveys for years, and yet the workplace environment in
many places continues to deteriorate. Senior Management talks about VOE
participation and how important it is for them to know what they need to
improve, but where is the improvement. Tim has some good suggestions; such as
communicate changes with the employees as soon as known. He is also calling for
the Supervisor to conduct the VOE with MD0 involvement.
Northern IL District has the Worst
VOE in the Great Lakes Area. The
District improved to 59.6 but is now in last place because Chicago improved 2.4
points to 59.8. Our new District Manager Robert Hart speaks very positively
about "treating employees like gold" but that view has not translated
into action around the District. Carol Stream is 10 points higher than Palatine
but 10 points lower than Rockford. CS Plant Manager Greg Johnson does seem to
care about employee morale.
Glen Ellyn is the worst with a score of 35. Comments on this one are "Needs emergency help from H.R.; possibly a Climate Assessment to find out what's going on. Has the biggest drop in scores (minus 23.6 points). Nonexistent recognition (0); very low Dignity & Respect (10) and Communication (10) scores. I checked my Postmaster list to see if the Postmaster was who I thought it would be and it was. He was the OIC at Northbrook for awhile and he had the office in turmoil (Clerks & Carriers) until he left. How could they not know that this manager create a backlash wherever he goes? They titled him at Glen Ellyn a year ago, and now they need "a Climate Assessment to find out what's going on." Either they do not want to face the truth or they are not "smarter than a fifth grader".
There are several NWIAL AO's in the
VOE Hall of Shame and coincidentally, they all were targeted for excessing by
the District. Lake Forest had an overall score of 40.8, with a 6 for Recognition,
a 16 for Dignity & Respect and a 16 for Communication. Glenview had 43.4
overall, with 9, 30, and 36 in same categories. Mount Prospect had 46.7 with
same category scores of 18, 27 and 27.
WEA is the Workplace Environment Analyst, and he has made a list of
suggestions for management to improve their VOE scores. They run the gamut from
publicizing the success stories to sending managers and supervisors with
unacceptable dignity & respect
and communication scores for communications training. I’m sure these are all
good suggestions, but they don't solve the basic problem. Senior management
expects their subordinates to improve service scores and get the mail out as
they continually cut staffing. Is it a coincidence that the worst NWIAL VOE
offices have had excessing? When the pressure is on, aren't communication and
dignity and respect the first to go?
APWU is against VOE participation
for several reasons. One is that management tried to use our satisfaction with pay & benefits to argue against a pay raise. Another reason is
that VOE is regarded as an attempt to circumvent the union. What improvements
have you seen as a result of filling Our the VOE? Is management listening to
your concerns and correcting anything? Do you think they care about your
opinion or just the score? Their action plan is to improve the score but what
about the actual work environment? If you are at a bad VOE office has anyone
from management come to talk to you about problems in your office? If VOE is such
a concern why wait until 3 weeks before the next survey to address the
(problem) scores?