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Run'em Out The Office
36 Plays2 months ago
On today's episode of the Postal Blue Podcast, we speak about an article that was recently released stating that management wants to cut off the air conditioning in Post Offices in the summer in order to try to make carriers move faster in the offices and leave out the offices earlier. Which brings up safety concerns from OSHA and others.
#postoffice #usps #postalbluepodcast #nalc
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Transcript
Episode 5 Delays and Audio Changes
00:00:03
Speaker
Let's let that let that be coming in a little bit pause if necessary. What up? What up? What up? Apologies for the late episode. We did get it out where we did get the original one. Episode five recorded on time.
00:00:28
Speaker
But we had issues with the audio and then going through a new hosting provider. It didn't get up to you guys Monday morning. It did on YouTube, though, but it did not on on the streaming platforms. Right. So apologies about that. But in the midst of all that, we did recognize the audio issues and I decided to record it now.
00:00:56
Speaker
On this re-recording, we will be missing the other three people because we did have a full staff Sunday, right? We didn't have any video though. It was going to be our last episode of only audio.
00:01:10
Speaker
Um, and he's on my end. Um, but we did, um, record a full episode. Uh, sorry to say the audio is not, uh, up to standards of quality issues. Um, so I am re-recorded just to get this up for you guys before I record the point five tomorrow and get that uploaded. I wanted to get the actual five out. Right. So, um, welcome, welcome, welcome.
00:01:39
Speaker
episode five, the rerecording, the rerecording of episode five.
The Origin of Ice's Nickname
00:01:46
Speaker
Welcome to the postal blue podcast.
00:01:50
Speaker
I am your host, one of your hosts, L.A. Styles, AKA the L.A. Styles, also known as Ice. Now, a little backstory to that, because I don't want people to think I'm copying anything of that nature. Right. I'm going to give you a little backstory on a few, a couple of my names, really on the ice name, which is short for something else. Right. So when
00:02:16
Speaker
When I was a teenager and I thought I could rap, I really can. But it's not something I really want to do, right? So back when I thought I could rap and everybody taking they can rap when we kids or whatever the case and we freestyling whatever the case is. Back then, there was a thing called iceberg sweaters, right? I don't know if you guys know about that or whatever the case is. So because I was the cool and laid back one,
00:02:44
Speaker
And if you notice, I got stuff going on on the camera, paying attention to my audio and stuff like that. I got some things I got to read over there to my left on the screen. So don't kill me. Right.
00:02:57
Speaker
that moved in the neighborhood. Again, I'm a teenager. I can't remember the age per se, but moved into the neighborhood was some twins that didn't look alike. One was Chubby, one was Stan, any who, the bigger guy name was Lin. Now, anybody know to me, my real name is Leonard, right? His name was Leonard, right? So they went to call him Big Lin and just me Lin, right? So my first rap name was Playa Lin.
00:03:27
Speaker
Right. I wasn't a player, but you know what I mean? You couldn't tell me that. So my first name was Playa Lynn because I was smooth. You know what I'm saying? That's what came from. And then I forget what what Lynn ended up picking as his rap name. And I was like, no, that's that's too much. You know what I'm saying? So around that time, Xbox 360 came out.
00:03:46
Speaker
right? Xbox 360. And you had to pick a gamertag, create a gamertag. So I'm like, okay, what am I going to pick? What am I going to pick? You know what I'm saying? I'm cool. I'm saying at least that's what people say. I'm cool. I'm laid back. I'm kind of chill, right? At the same time, my raps.
00:04:04
Speaker
My raps used to be about, when I talk about guns, I used to talk about .38s a lot, like, you know what I'm saying? Revolvers, pretty much. Shout out to my Uncle Bud. May he rest in peace. He used to have a lot of different .38s, right? Like, he literally one day pulled out like a plastic bag of .38s, a plastic bag, different size, and he used to show them to me back home in Mississippi, right?
00:04:31
Speaker
So they used to use a lot of revolvers, right? So then I said, you know what I'm gonna do?
00:04:37
Speaker
I'm cool, and I like to shoot 38s. So I'm going to put them together. And I came up with on Xbox the name Ice Revolver, right? This is like what? Oh, oh, six, oh, seven, something like that, right? Is it for modern warfare, modern warfare, Call of Duty, for modern warfare, for a camera. This is just a little backstory. We're going to get into it.
00:05:02
Speaker
All right, so I was ice revolver. Needless to say in 0607 whenever the Xbox 360 release
00:05:11
Speaker
So a lot of people that I met on there started calling me ice for short. They never said my whole name. It was always ice. Right. Fast forward. It kind of goes from ice revolver to iceberg. And then in other circles, L.A., you call me by my initials, L.A. Right. And it's L.A. got style. So they went to L.A. styles as I got to L.A. styles. Right.
00:05:38
Speaker
So, when I say ice, a lot of people that met me on Xbox called me ice for short. And people that don't know me, that was introduced to me through gaming called me ice. So you hear people who call me ice, they don't call me. If you hear them call me by my real name, most likely I did something.
00:05:57
Speaker
and that's their way of correcting it. You know what I'm saying? I done did something. So that's why I got the name Ice from. It was like 0607. This is 2024. So I've had the name Ice for a long time. LA styles is self-explanatory.
00:06:13
Speaker
All right. Anywho, we're here. Episode five. Shout out to my sister, Fe. Shout out to Watkins. Shout out to coffee. All right. I'm going to try to get this out for y'all. Again, sorry that they're going to miss this version of the episode. But we look to grow. We look to do better. And with that, we have to bring you guys quality content, especially quality audio when we
00:06:36
Speaker
are looking for you guys to listen to the content, right? And it's really just to get the message. But if the message is distorted and things of that nature, you're not going to listen. That'd be like someone asking me to watch a movie that's blurry. I'm not going to. I'm going to attempt to. I will attempt to. But how long are you really going to give that your attention? Right. So we got some technical issues that we got to work out. But we know we ought to do. And we're doing that.
00:07:08
Speaker
So on to the show. This episode is called running out the office. All right. Running out the office. Again, shout out to all the listeners. Shout out to everyone that said work. If you listen to this, shout out to all the carriers, the mail carriers, shout out to all the clerks, shout out to all the truck drivers, shout out to all the mail handlers.
00:07:34
Speaker
Shout out to all of the unions. They represent the craft. Shout out to all the supervisors that's actually doing their jobs. Shout out to all the managers, few and far between, that's actually doing their jobs. But there are some that I do know. So shout out to them. Shout out to us. Another episode of the Postal Blue podcast. Episode five, we will remain consistent.
00:08:03
Speaker
Right. There is no scripts here. We got a gist of what we're going to talk about and then we go. So everything is typically fresh. Right. So I'm not reading from no script. So excuse me if everything doesn't seem or sound super smooth in conversation wise, because I'm not talking from a script. I'm talking from the heart. I'm talking from my head, talking from what I know. I'm talking from what I see, talking about or from experience as well. So that's how I do it.
00:08:33
Speaker
All right, I want to come off as genuine as possible not like I'm trying to sell you something right Again running about the office right so this thing from an article There are stations actually trying this though And OSHA is involved shout out OSHA make sure y'all stay involved make sure your station stay on OSHA about staying involved right
00:08:59
Speaker
So in this particular article, shout out eenews.net. That's where this article originated from, that I'm going to be reading from. Now there are other articles out there. I'm just going to be reading from this one in particular. So I want to make sure to shout them out, eenews.net. And the writer is Ariel Wittenberg. Shout out Ariel Wittenberg, right? This particular article was written on 8 15. So earlier this month, right? About 11 days ago.
00:09:25
Speaker
All right, so I'm only going to read part of certain things. Excuse me. And then and then we're going to get into my thoughts. And they're supposed to lose representation of these.
00:09:44
Speaker
supposed things and accusations, assumptions, things of that nature. Mind you, this is all my opinion. After I read what's on here, everything that I'm going to say is all my opinion. All right. So this article is entitled Turn AC off the air conditioning, turn air conditioning off and drive them out. USPS says to force workers into heat.
00:10:08
Speaker
Right? Internal records show that the postal service, that the postal service, well, it's missing some words, so I'm gonna have to, I'm gonna have to add some words to make this sound smoothly. Internal records show that the postal service is trying to get workers out of the air-conditioned offices.
00:10:25
Speaker
and urging digital observance
USPS Heat Safety Controversy
00:10:28
Speaker
and inactivity. So, side note on there, urging us to get out the office as a carrier myself, that would be in the morning where we have to case mail, right? The mail we're casing is
00:10:41
Speaker
Normally, your oversized letters, right, they want to come in rectangles, manila envelopes, all of your magazines, pre-sorted magazines, your paid subscription magazines. Sometimes people order, well, there's different sized bigger envelopes, right? Sometimes people order pictures, they come in bigger sized envelopes. They don't want them bent or anything like that. Those can fit through the machines. Your larger sized manila envelopes.
00:11:06
Speaker
can't fit into the machines, things of that nature, right? So all that, that comes in, in a tub that you have to case in during the day. Along with whatever loose mail that the machine kicked out or didn't get through the machine or whatever, we call that hot case mail, right?
00:11:22
Speaker
You got hot case letters, hot case flats, and then you typically have a tub of flats when you get to your case. We have to case all that in in our case. Our case is made in order, a sequential order of how your route goes. So you just gotta get your mail into the case. Then once you pull it down, it'll be in order already of how your route goes, right? So depending on your station, how much mail y'all get in the morning, that'd be pretty much how long it takes you to get out the office per se.
00:11:52
Speaker
Right. So they say they want to pretty much kick us out the office. All right. And when they're saying this is they want to do things or attempt to do things right that they think will make us move faster than what we're supposed to move at in order to get it done faster. Right. So let's keep reading.
00:12:14
Speaker
The email was sent out shortly after a dangerous heat dome in July had smothered upstate New York. A U.S. Postal Service manager in Buffalo, New York was angry that letter carriers appeared to be lingering in air-conditioned post offices and told local supervisors to get that time back.
00:12:34
Speaker
turn turn AC air conditioning off and drive them out the manager order in a July in a July say July 2 let me correct it in a July 2 email obtained by politicals E&E news we need to tighten up our four walls right um
00:12:56
Speaker
This comes one year after it was, the post office was accused of falsifying heat safety records, heat safety training records for thousands of letter carriers. The postal service is now facing allegations that it is pushing employees to rush mail deliveries in swell tune conditions. Now, anybody that knows cardio knows the faster you move, the more your body heat builds up, right? Your metabolism get to going, your blood get to pumping, your body get hotter.
00:13:27
Speaker
So when it's already like 80, 90, 100 degrees outside, you already have to deal with that enough. The more you move, if you don't have a choice, the more our body heat builds up as well. So typically carriers don't move faster in the heat because they start to overheat.
00:13:46
Speaker
You can't drink enough water in a day to compensate for the amount of sweat that you would just pour out. And some people are walking five, 10, 15, 20, 30 miles in a day, back to back to back to back in 80, 90, 100 degree weather upstairs. It's kind of like mounds or whatever the case is. So we don't typically move the fastest on the super hot days because it ain't nothing that you can do to cool off. You just kind of got to deal with the heat. So when you finish a block, you might get in your vehicle or when you get ready to finish these two blocks, you might get in your vehicle.
00:14:16
Speaker
Sit in your vehicle for a couple minutes, making sure that you drink water because you're trying to get back some of the water that you lost while sweating. Trying to drink water. You got the AC on, you're trying to cool off, and it's at the same time. So that might take you two or three minutes, then you pull off, go to your next spot, drink some more water. Okay, cool. Let me get out, then you get out.
00:14:39
Speaker
They don't like that, right? Although it says we allow unlimited number of comfort breaks. If they can have their way, the only thing they want us to do is get out, deliver the mail no matter what. No matter what. Get out, get the mail done, grab your mail, deliver, get back in your vehicle, pull off, get out, deliver, like we robots. We don't break down. We don't get injuries.
00:15:03
Speaker
A lot of us got ankle injuries, knee injuries, back injuries, shoulder injuries. A lot of us got work related injuries. You know what I'm saying?
00:15:12
Speaker
along with dealing with the male conditions, whether it's below zero at times during the winter, or it's extreme, like heat advisories, we still be here. And that's gonna, excuse me, that's gonna take time, right? And when they'll, in these extreme condition type, type of environments or type days, it's gonna take time. They don't want us to take time. They don't want us, they don't want to pay us to get the job done in an orderly fashion while being safe doing so.
00:15:39
Speaker
Right. This is going off my personal experience in my personal opinion. Right. On Thursday.
00:15:51
Speaker
77 House Democrats in a letter urged Postmaster General DeJoy, Postmaster General DeJoy, to immediately implement safeguards to protect workers from heat. This is quotes, if there is a set of supposed mistakes coming up over and over again across the country that put people at risk of the heat, that becomes a systematic problem. Said Rep. Representative Griggs, I think that's pronounced K-ZAR, C-A,
00:16:20
Speaker
S.A.R. in Texas, who spearheaded a letter, right? He put together a letter, 77 House Democrats in the letter.
00:16:34
Speaker
The accusations come as the US is experiencing its hottest summer on record. With rolling heat advisories in places across the country since June, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death of a US postal worker in North Carolina as possibly heat related.
00:16:59
Speaker
Letter carriers are among the workers most vulnerable to heat illness because they often drive trucks without air conditioning.
00:17:08
Speaker
and walk long distances carrying heavy mail bags. Hospitalizations for heat-related illnesses account for 14% of the 1,176 on-the-job injury USPS reported to OSHA between January 2014 and February 2023, according to the E&E News analysis of federal data.
00:17:32
Speaker
But the Postal Service has long denied that heat harms its carriers, fighting OSHA citations.
00:17:42
Speaker
So these are the things that we'd be having to go through that you would know behind the scenes. And somebody have to bring that type of information to the forefront. You have to bring it to the workers, the carriers, the truck drivers, the clerks, the mail handlers.
00:18:04
Speaker
Excuse me if I'm missing anybody else. I'm not sure what the custodians fall under. I believe I said that before. I'm not sure if they're the own thing or if they consider to be clerks or whatever the case is. But also shout to the custodians on whatever they fall under. And make sure everybody be careful. Let me make sure I say that. Everybody be careful. Everybody be safe. Doing extreme conditions is part of me.
00:18:33
Speaker
work to what's comfortable for you, right? Do not risk your getting an injury, do not risk your safety, because if you do so and something do happen, management tends to try to say that you were working unsafe. That's why it don't, listen, when it comes to your safety, whatever instruction that they're trying to give you, if you feel or deem it to be a safety issue, you don't have to follow that instruction.
00:18:58
Speaker
They can't tell you to do something that you feel or you dictate is unsafe for you. You are the ruler of that. That's your choice.
00:19:10
Speaker
and they can't do nothing about it. And they don't like the fact that they can't do nothing about it. So everyone needs to know your rights, what you have to do, what you don't have to do, what you can do, what you can do, what you should be doing, what you shouldn't do. All right, we all have another type of information. So we look to bring you that type of information on the Post of Blue podcast, right? Also, Sharon is Karen, right? So everybody, please, please, please help us out.
00:19:37
Speaker
by spreading the word to help everybody else out by spreading the word of the Postal Blue Podcast. Sharing is caring. Hit that share button. It don't cost too much, but some seconds. Also share the podcast with your customers because we will have episodes that cater specifically to the customers to give them information on a lot of things.
00:20:01
Speaker
that goes on behind the scenes that you might think your mailman is responsible for, but it's not responsible for, or that your local post office LPO is responsible for, but they're not responsible for, right? We all just doing a job behind us. Listen, we'll get there.
00:20:16
Speaker
I'm definitely waiting on that episode. And that's soon to come in the next couple of weeks, right? Because we got the .5. Shout out to the .5 episodes in the middle of the week, right? So we're gonna hit you guys with a full episode on Sunday. What we recorded on Sunday is gonna release on Monday. I gotta work with this, with the new host to see because it looks like it might be a delay and it might not release to Tuesday. But I don't wanna be paying two hosting providers. We don't wanna do that, so.
00:20:46
Speaker
I'm, I'm working progress. Y'all work with us. Please work with us, man. Work with us. Any who, um, my personal opinion, listen, man, the job is going to take what it takes when it takes what it takes. And we repeat that the job is going to take what it takes when it takes what it takes.
00:21:15
Speaker
I don't know what else to tell you. You know what I'm saying? I'm not going to get out here like I'm a jacket. You're on a curtsy and run up and down the street in 100 degree weather because you want me to be done early. Okay. If you want me to be done early, then you could come help us deliver some of this mail so we don't have to be out here as long. You know what I'm saying?
00:21:38
Speaker
That's just gonna be what it is, man. The fact that someone would say, hey, turn your air conditioning off in your stations, and that would drive them out. Now, now, think about this. Does that make sense? Excuse me, excuse me. Does that make sense? If it's hot outside, you think shutting the AC off inside is gonna make me hurry up and get outside into that heat? What's the difference?
00:22:08
Speaker
They don't even make sense. They don't make sense. That's like, that's like saying, Hey, it's cold outside. Let's turn the heat off in the station to make it cold inside. And then they gonna hurry up and get outside into that coat. What's the difference? What you said don't even make sense, sir. And or ma'am.
00:22:29
Speaker
I don't know who said it, right? And whoever the manager was at this station that said that don't make sense. And you sound crazy. You sound crazy, right? Don't be rushed. Take whatever time you need to get the job done safely and comfortably for whatever your working pace, efficiency and body type is.
00:22:58
Speaker
Okay? That's what you need to do. That's not me going nowhere against anything in the contract. That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to work safe at all times. You trying to rush is going to do what? There's nothing about rushing in the contract. You're supposed to work at a pace that's comfortable for you and be safe doing so.
00:23:24
Speaker
Rushing is not, that's a safety issue. So management can never tell you to hurry up and do something or to rush. If they attempt to say, hey, are you asking me to be unsafe and see what they say? Are you asking me to work unsafe, sir, and or ma'am? Okay. Hey, you throw this mail fast. Hey, are you asking me to work unsafe, sir, and or ma'am?
00:23:51
Speaker
Do I need to contact Ocean because you are attempting to make me move at a pace that I'm not accustomed to moving at? Is that what you're doing? Right. I like to say as someone that's form of military myself,
00:24:12
Speaker
Right. You have orders. And typically, if someone is of a higher rank than you, you have to follow your orders. Right. There is a thing in the military called unlawful orders. The post office likes to derive a lot of its infrastructure from the military, so they say. Right. So just like you, you can get excuse me, I like sneaks.
00:24:42
Speaker
Bless me. For anybody else that said bless me out there, I appreciate it. Thank you. They have what we call instructions, right? Management like to give you instructions and you post the quote unquote follow your instructions, but they can't give you what I would say is an unlawful instruction, right? That's something that goes against your safety.
00:25:08
Speaker
You can't say, Leonard, I'm instructing you to do a back flip off the dock and say, I have to do it because that's the structures. No, that's a safety issue. I don't have to do it. I don't have to do it. That's what I would consider an unlawful instruction. You asked me to move faster so you could either give me more work or try to get me off the clock faster so you can pay me less money. Doesn't even make sense that I will even do something like that.
00:25:39
Speaker
Doesn't make sense. I would do something like that. Hey, hurry up and do this so I can pay you less. Because if you work at your regular pace, which is what you're supposed to be working at, I'm gonna have to pay you for the full day and I don't want to do that. I want to pay you less. This is where all this stems from. They want to pay us less.
00:26:01
Speaker
Right. All these things that the post office is trying to implement is to pay us less. Now, I said this in the original one that we recorded Sunday is that I personally believe that they're trying to turn the post office into like a sweatshop. That's how they attempted to run in it like it's a sweatshop. Right. And it's not going to work.
00:26:26
Speaker
If the post office can't run the post office, then the post office shouldn't be in charge of delivering mail. They are no longer trusted to deliver mail. All of these things that they are tempted to do cause mistakes. This is why mail comes late. This is why packages comes late. This is part of why, this ain't the only reason, but it's part of why packages get misdelivered or mail might accidentally get misdelivered.
00:26:54
Speaker
Right. It's because I'm moving fast and I'm not paying attention that that closely to the address is because I'm just trying to move fast because behind the scenes, you don't know that I'm being rushed. And there's no that's no excuse for me misdelivering. That's just to say that accidents do happen. The accidents can't happen. We are all human. Right. Behind the scenes, I'm getting pressured to do certain things and to take a lot of shortcuts in my customer service field in this
00:27:23
Speaker
causing a lot of mistakes to happen, right? So we definitely need the community on board. We definitely need everyone in the, that's postal blue as everyone in the post office, right? To get these types of things under control and to make sure we spread the word and spread awareness of these types of things that's happening behind the scenes.
00:27:46
Speaker
You will be amazed at some of the things that's implemented or that happens behind the scenes and the people that's doing the things feel comfortable continuing to do the things and feel comfortable in making certain decisions because they never have to answer for the things that they do. Everyone on the street only sees the mail carrier.
00:28:16
Speaker
outside of the mail carrier, you might know the number to your local station.
Informed Delivery Challenges
00:28:22
Speaker
Nobody at your station, whether it's your carriers, the clerks at the counters or in the back, or the order of management, cosigned, let me give you an example, cosigned, informed delivery.
00:28:37
Speaker
We didn't, I didn't know nothing about informed delivery and to someone on, on one of my customers on the street, asked me about a piece of mail. I said, it was my company. I said, I don't know about that. That's how I found out about informed delivery was a thing.
00:28:52
Speaker
Now I know none of the they got none of the input that I know of that what I say my personal opinion that they did it because none of the carriers with a cosine informed delivery because we know that the mail doesn't come when it's supposed to be coming right your carrier doesn't know what's in the mail.
00:29:10
Speaker
Right? The mail comes pre sorted to us from downtown. We don't sort. We sort like the big pieces of mail that can't fit in the machine. All your other pieces of mail like regular letters and things of that nature and your little ads and things of that nature comes pre sorted in the machine. Those hundreds or thousands of pieces comes pre sorted in the machine because they don't want to pay us to handle them.
00:29:31
Speaker
So it's more efficient to get the machines downtown or in your state distribution to sort them already in order of how that route go, then it goes to your station that morning. So all the routes in that station. So we don't know what's in the mail and we're not permitted to look in the mail. Fine. So when your carrier said that they don't know what's in the mail, that's legit. They don't know what's in the mail.
00:29:54
Speaker
It's not for us to know what's in the mail. My job is to look at the address and make sure that it matches the address that's on the house and put it in the mailbox when I get there. So I don't know what I have for you until I get to your house and look at the mail. You say, oh, what I got? I don't know. When I get to your house, I know what I got. Then when I come to your house, okay, there we go. Because the mail isn't ordered, right? Cool.
00:30:18
Speaker
We want to cosign informed delivery because a lot of stuff that people be looking for, typically, it's not most of the time, but a lot of times we don't have it when they're looking for it. So we would have never cosigned informed delivery, right? So now your carrier has to answer, not necessarily the answer, but try to answer your questions or concerns about mail customers have with informed delivery, right? And it has nothing to do with us.
00:30:43
Speaker
Now the pictures of, for those of you who have informed delivery, the pictures of the mail that you're seeing from informed delivery is not taking place in your local station. That takes place in distribution. So when you say you've seen a piece of mail, that's when it went through the machine in distribution. Now it could have went anywhere after it went through the machine. It could have got missed it to the wrong station, went into the wrong pile of mail, went into whatever the case, could have went anywhere.
00:31:08
Speaker
Yes, that's that's it. You're not taking place in the office. That's that's one of the problems, right? That's one of the problems because now you think you're getting this mail today and then you're not getting it today. Now you want questions from the carrier. Amen. Did you miss the living? I didn't miss the living. I didn't see that mail.
00:31:27
Speaker
right? But that's the distribution thing. But you can't call distribution as a customer. You can't call the manager and distribution. You can't call the supervisor and distribution. The people who made this program or made this software or made this app, you can't call them asking, why would y'all make this if y'all system is not even set up to be almost perfect? So we won't have these mishaps.
00:31:48
Speaker
You can't even call them to complain about it. They just create things and then your carriers or your clerks inside the station. So your local, the people just just work at your local stations got to deal with the consequences of higher management making decisions that don't work.
00:32:04
Speaker
it don't work. And they do this a lot. And they hide behind the fact that y'all, the customers don't know who they are or y'all don't have their numbers and y'all can't contact them. So I can keep making these decisions because, hey, and then y'all got to deal with it. Whether it was a right or wrong decision to make for me, Stacey's got to deal with it. I ain't never got to deal with it. So y'all work it out. You know what I'm saying? Like that's the thing that we be having to deal with.
00:32:30
Speaker
Same thing with packages that come. If a package comes open, as a carrier, I'm still supposed to deliver it.
00:32:37
Speaker
That me delivering it to you makes you aware that it's open and something might be missing. I don't know if something is missing. I'm not sure what you order was supposed to be in there or whatever. Okay. Now let's the box completely empty or bad, completely empty, but I'm still supposed to deliver it to you. Right. And then you're supposed to file a claim as the customer for the package. Now a lot of people would say, Oh, the mailman probably stole my package. I mean, I can't, I got it empty.
00:33:00
Speaker
I got it partially empty. I got it open. I didn't have another bag to put it in in the office. So, and rule of thumb is when you get a package like that, we're still supposed to deliver it. Me delivering it to you notifies you that it's like this. If I never deliver it to you, then how would you know that you got a package somewhere that's partially open, might be missing something or is missing something? You get what I'm saying?
00:33:24
Speaker
So we're supposed to deliver it. But a lot of people would say, man, my mailman, whatever case, but it came to the station like that. Now what happened before it came here? I don't know. You know what I'm saying? I don't know. There's multiple distribution facilities that it has to go through before it came to me. And I don't know what happened before it came to us.
00:33:43
Speaker
But who can you contact? You know what I'm saying? Again, y'all then supposed to just file a claim, go through the process downtown with a consumer affairs, consumer affairs, send us a message at the station that we respond to if you're on the desk saying, yeah, we got this package like this, but that's just the process that they got in. You know what I'm saying? But a lot of people don't be wanting to hear that and they accuse the mailman or whatever the case is, man, we just out here trying to do the job. Again, a lot of the things that happen we don't agree with, but we still have to do our part of the job.
00:34:13
Speaker
Right. And again, with all this rushing or attempt to be rushing, don't help. Also coming up, they got route adjustments where they're trying to take a lot of routes out of stations. Right.
00:34:27
Speaker
This can affect the carriers, the clerks, and affect customers, right? Because customers who have long-standing mailmen might not have those exact mailmen no more, right? Upper management is trying to take routes out of stations and then make the routes longer, but still say that the people still got eight hours to deliver the mail for that route, even though they made the route longer.
00:34:54
Speaker
Right. This is what I mean about the sweatshop syndrome. Like, hey, you typically get your route done in eight. But I feel like you should be able to do like another hour, but still get it done in eight. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to add another hour to your route. And then I'm going to be expecting you to get it done in eight. And then if you can't get it done in eight, then I might need a reason on why you can get it done. Man, anybody doing all that? You know what I'm saying? Anybody doing all that?
00:35:23
Speaker
Um, but this is a lot of things, but, but that management implements again behind the scenes. So again, this has been episode five, the postal blue podcast. I appreciate everyone that's listening. Sharon is Karen. Make sure you hit that share button. Please, please get the message. You get the news, get the insight, get the help, get the assistance that you need. This is what we here for. I'm your boy LA styles. I get ice.
00:35:52
Speaker
This baby's kinda nice, man. I might have to spit something, man. I might have to write something after this. Again, shout out to my sister, Fi. Shout out walking, shout out coffee. I'm gonna get this done and get this up tonight, but it's probably not gonna go live tomorrow. Oh my, sweet baby Jesus.
00:36:12
Speaker
But it's 10 o'clock at, it's 10 p.m. now. Well, it's 10 to 15 right now. Right now. Right, Monday night. I'm definitely gonna have to edit this up and get this up. And I'm hoping that it goes up to you guys tomorrow. At least if you get it tomorrow, because then I gotta record another one tomorrow, the .54 Wednesday. The work ain't never done, y'all.
00:36:40
Speaker
Again, support each other. Look out for each other. Make sure you're being safe. Management will try to use every trick in the book for whatever means. And we know what works and what don't work, and it is going to be what it's going to be. All carriers know, all crafts know your safety comes first at all times.
00:37:03
Speaker
Your safety comes first at all times. Don't let them pressure you. Don't let them rush you. Don't let them attempt to force you to do anything that's uncomfortable when you get ready to do it. If you run it on the street and you feel some type of way, it's most likely because you shouldn't be running. Don't know if that makes sense.
00:37:29
Speaker
If you're trying to move faster to case mail in the office and now your shoulder hurting, most likely you shouldn't be casing at that pace then.
Safety Concerns in Postal Work
00:37:38
Speaker
Cause that's not comfortable for your body. Your body is telling you that. Meaning at this point you're working unsafe. And if something did happen to your shoulder, they will argue that it's on you. Most likely they will argue that that's on you that you was working unsafe.
00:37:55
Speaker
right? Your interview, your investigative interview going to go like this. So when you was, so when you was casing that day, you know what I'm saying? How are you casing? Is this what they're going to try to trick you at? How are you casing? Then they're going to try to get you to do the movement of casing. They say, Oh, well, don't look like nothing wrong with your, you know what I'm saying? Cause you did the movement. That's one. So don't do that.
00:38:19
Speaker
too. They'll say, so when you was casing, you didn't feel any pain. You didn't feel any discomfort and you were like, yeah, I did. Like, so then they'll say, so why would you, why did you keep doing it? And you're going to say, because you trying to get me to move faster.
00:38:33
Speaker
Then they gonna say, so you was working unsafe. So when you was casing, you felt pain, you felt discomfort, but you kept doing it. So you, you was working unsafe. So that's on you, right? And what they're going to try to do is they're going to try to, they're going to try to, they're going to go against your claim to say that that's, that that's not their, the company's fault, right? So they don't have to pay you working as kind. That's what they're going to try to do. They say that you was working unsafe and that's on you. This is what management does.
00:39:03
Speaker
That's what they do. That's what they do. We have had carriers pass out in heat from heat exhaustion. We've had that. We have had carriers in winter get frostbite and have to get limbs removed or toes and fingers removed in the post office. That has happened since I've been in the post office in the last five and a half years.
00:39:32
Speaker
that's happened. Not to me, it's happened to carriers. It was outside too long in the cold, or it was outside too long in the heat. For whatever they body temperature, for whatever they body type was, let me say like that, whatever they, any body temperature was, whatever was going on with them, it wasn't the best day for them. And things had happened, right? You pass out there, pass out out there in the heat, you're going to fall.
00:40:04
Speaker
You ain't catching yourself if you don't blacked out or fell unconscious, which means you're probably gonna hit concrete when you fall. Face, head, busted lip, nose, crushed eye socket, whatever it is, because you don't know how you falling. You might be falling, get ready to go up a step, fall and hit the stair. You fall and hit the side. We're walking on concrete majority of the time, right? Because none of us be crossing grass. Let me repeat that. None of us.
00:40:35
Speaker
be crossing grass. That's a safety issue. That's a hazard. You can't see what's in the grass. Glass, animal mess, needles, nails, uneven dirt, right? So you can mess around and roll your ankle. It's a safety hazard crossing grass.
00:41:06
Speaker
Do not let anyone tell you that you have to cross grass. That's false. Can't no one get you to walk across private property? The post office don't own anyone's lawn. I do what's safe for me, which is why in writing it says to take the sidewalk.
00:41:33
Speaker
And then take the clear path to the mailbox. That's why the path has to be clear. So because it's a safety issue, if it's not walking across the grass, it's not a clear path because you don't know what's in the grass. You understand that? That's in black and white. That's on paper. Ladies and gentlemen, talk to your stores, talk to your trainers, talk to your safety captains. OK.
00:42:04
Speaker
I'm really digging this beat man. My shirt, my shirt kind of wrinkled man. It's clean though. It's kind of wrinkled man. I don't know, but it's clean though. Y'all see I got kind of like a tan. It's hot outside. Y'all see it's like starting like right there. I definitely got to get back in the gym man. It's so hot. Anyhoo.
00:42:31
Speaker
Oh, oh, my bad. I think I can go in pause. Hey, work safe, be safe. Make sure you bring water. Make sure if you have Gatorade or you drink something like Powerade or something with electric lights, they also got packets that you can put in bottles of water. But drink water. It takes more than a day to get hydrated.
00:43:00
Speaker
Typically takes about a week or so to get properly hydrated, meaning you should be drinking X amount of water every day for about a week to get hydrated. Get hydrated in the summer. Drink water in the winter. Drink water. I know it's cold. You still have to stay hydrated. Drink water.
00:43:27
Speaker
Um, with that, everyone be safe. Everyone be careful. Make sure y'all look out for each other out there on the routes. Make sure y'all looking out for each other. Uh, if you ended in a distribution or process to make sure y'all looking out for each other too, because y'all can possibly be in some of these environments where, um, they don't have, they don't have AC on in the plants or the annex.
00:43:52
Speaker
or they don't have the heat on in cold when it's cold in a plant or the annex. Those are also safety issues, safety concerns as well. Right, so. Look out for each other, man. Be safe, be careful out here. Don't let don't be rushed. Don't don't let them think that they can rush you. They can't. But when you don't know any better, they feel like they can get over on you.
Building a Postal Community
00:44:23
Speaker
And we've had enough of that. And right now we're saying not anymore. 2024. We've had enough. Right?
00:44:37
Speaker
I appreciate y'all for stopping by. This has been the fifth episode of the Postal Blue Podcast. It's really more than five, but I don't really count the .5s. The .5s are episodes, man, but they're like bonus episodes, so they're not in a numerical order, you know what I'm saying? So all the .5s gonna say a .5 at the end of the number and the type.
00:44:59
Speaker
Right. So they are there are actual episodes, but I don't call them full episodes. Like typically you're not going to see like the whole cast on. It might be me. If it's not if it's not me, it might be one other person on like a 30 minute episode or something like that. Just to give midweek tips, tricks, midweek information. Sometimes there is a lot of comments on our episodes.
00:45:23
Speaker
throughout the various streaming services, the YouTube, Twitter. Make sure y'all check out our Twitter community, the postal blue podcast on Twitter. We're on X, formerly known as Twitter. Make sure you go join that. We are looking for moderators. And that's two and for everyone.
00:45:43
Speaker
Right. Post the blue podcast is for everyone that's post the blue. So that's craft and management, craft and management. Make sure we're being respectful over there. Right. Make sure we've been respectful to each other, no matter what craft or what side we follow on, whether it's craft or management. It's the only way we're going to grow is to build a community. Post the blue podcast is attempted to build that community. Right. And we're not going to stop.
00:46:15
Speaker
I appreciate you all stopping by. Am your boy L.A. Styles like the L.A. Styles, also known as ice. And once again, it's been episode five, run them out, run them out the office. They should use that that as a title for for Trump.
00:46:41
Speaker
Actually, for all of them, I ain't gonna hold you, man. Our president's been so trash. At least, man, I ain't gonna even get into that, man. It's like, don't nobody want to actually be president no more, man. So we're just getting any and everybody that feel like they ain't got nothing better to do for the next four years. Like, hey, man, ain't got nothing better to do for the next four years. What you think I should do? Run for president. You know what I'm saying? Get on your resume.
00:47:12
Speaker
I'm gonna have to run. You gotta be 35. You still gotta be 35 to run for president? You gotta be married? Do you have to be married to run for president? What's the requirements? I remember it used to be 35 if I'm not mistaken. Somebody correct me in the comments if I'm mistaken. What's the requirements to run for president? Do you still, do you have to be 35?
00:47:42
Speaker
Do you have to be married? Is that still a thing? Can a single man be president? Can a single woman be president? What if you're a baby mama? Can a baby mama run for president? Like she's single, but she's pregnant and she's showing pregnant like seven and a half months, but she's single. Can she run for president?
00:48:14
Speaker
of the United States.
00:48:26
Speaker
Once again, I appreciate y'all, man. I'm gonna get up out of here so I can get this chopped up and get this posted for y'all. I really, really appreciate everyone. We do got flyers going around now. Coming to a state near you. Hopefully.
00:48:46
Speaker
but we do have flyers. We just have flyers. Y'all see my background, right? My posters. That's gonna change over time, right? What I'm gonna do, what I'm working on next is I have to get
00:49:03
Speaker
Cause those are like one inch deep posters. Like there's not like paper posters. Those are like picture frames. You know what I'm saying? You can look right here on Michelangelo right here. You can kind of see, it goes one inch deep, pause than necessary. You know what I'm saying? That's on the actual canvas.
00:49:21
Speaker
on a wooden frame, right? And that's, I think they, two feet by three feet. I think each one of those is 24 by 36. So they're not small at all. But what I'm gonna do is, I don't know if y'all can see on the Amazon show, Echo Show back there. You know what I'm saying? So that's the postal blue podcast on back there. You know what I'm saying? The camera ain't gonna catch it. The camera ain't gonna catch it, but you know what I'm saying? It's on back there. I said the volume turned down though.
00:49:53
Speaker
But we do got multiple podcasts, but I'm gonna get the posters changed to all of the podcasts. Right now it's three web. It's kind of four. I'm gonna bring back live from LA.
00:50:04
Speaker
If one of the ones I do myself, I'm bringing back live from LA and that'd be the fourth, the fourth podcast, right? So definitely going to do that and get that background change. This is the first episode with video. I would have recorded this as soon as I got off work, but I needed to wait for the hook so I can put my ceiling lights up.
00:50:26
Speaker
the way I wanted to do them for a while now because it's sometimes it be seeming too dark and things of that nature. So I was putting off doing my parts of the video podcast. I feel like I'm getting out of breath, man. COVID had messed my lungs up. What's the game, man? I appreciate y'all, man.
00:50:45
Speaker
Let's stick together. Let's grow. This is an educational and informative podcast. It's not meant to judge. We're going to talk about our opinions, talk about our experiences, talk about what the facts is, and the facts could be different from each person on the show based on their perception of any given situation. Well, I take that, but I'm not going to say that the facts change because the facts are the facts, but
00:51:16
Speaker
We all got our different outlooks on things. You know what I'm saying? We don't always agree on things. So those be a lot of interesting conversations. Again, this is not a scripted podcast. So I never know what the other ones are going to talk about. Right. I personally sent out just like on a Thursday on what the next show is supposed to be about.
00:51:38
Speaker
for Sunday, and then everybody do their own history and research, come up with their own notes, their own points that they want to hit on, based on their own experience with viewpoints. And then on Sunday, we meet up, record the show, and then it just be what it be, you know what I'm saying? No script, just going off basic bullet points, pretty much.
00:52:06
Speaker
And you're going to really enjoy the shows where we button heads a lot. A lot that happens a lot more on other shows than on here. We all kind of kind of got the same thoughts on the postal blue podcast.
00:52:27
Speaker
But there's tweaks here and there because we all sit somewhere different in it. You know what I'm saying? All of us carriers, but some of us a union steward. Some of us been part of management for supervisors managers. Some of us been safety captains or our safety captains and things of the nature. So we have like a more all around experience table, round table of individuals.
00:52:49
Speaker
We all kind of got the gist of certain things, but we all also come from different parts of the state or other states or whatever the case is. So, things are just different. They got different experiences coming from other sections and things of that nature. It'll be interesting conversation. But on other topics, like life topics, oh man. We be buttoning here, it's like crazy. Talking about life, relationship. Y'all make sure to check out ice coffee. Ice coffee season two is coming back.
00:53:17
Speaker
Go, go follow ice coffee. That's ice. I see space. C O C O F F E Y. Go follow ice coffee. The ice coffee podcast. And then you can also follow unjustified behavior. Right. That's three of our podcast along with the postal blue podcast. That's three. And then I might bring back live from L.A.
00:53:47
Speaker
So we're building a network over here of a very down the earth content for you guys. And if the only thing we ask for you guys to do is hit us with that follow. Hit us with that follow, subscribe. And if you can, we really would appreciate that share. Make sure you hit that share button because sharing is definitely caring in 2022. Caring for your brothers and sisters, man. With that, I'm gonna get up out of here.
00:54:16
Speaker
Again, be safe. I can't stress that enough. Be safe, be safe, be safe. Do not feel rushed. You cannot be rushed. You cannot be forced to take shortcuts, to do shortcuts, to do things that's unsafe. That's to you, my fellow employees, on all fronts, for all crafts. Customers out there, stand up for your carriers.
00:54:42
Speaker
They're going through more than what you know that they're going through on a daily basis, right? And together we're going, we're going, we'll get there. We'll get there. Appreciate y'all. Appreciate y'all. I didn't get my clap. Hold on, man. Episode five, man.
00:55:08
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Calm down. Calm down. Because when none of y'all hear earlier, when none of y'all hear earlier with that, I'm out, man. Peace.