1 min read

Season 4, Episode 90

Staffing issues and hostile workplaces impacting postal workers

APWU Gray

 

Guest Name:


Mark Dimondstein

Guest Website:


https://apwu.org/ 

Guest Social Media:


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Supportive Documents:


Mark Dimondstein, President of the American Postal Workers Union, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the ongoing staffing issues on the retail and delivery side of postal work.

Postal workers across America have been facing a major staffing issue. Despite efforts from management to alleviate the issue, the retail and delivery sides of postal work have been unable to fill the open positions. With a current turnover rate of 60 percent for new hires, Dimondstein points to hostile work environments and safety issues as the cause.  

To improve the situation, Dimondstein believes management needs to consider making changes at the fundamental level. Recently, complaints have increased in bullying, intimidation and sexual harassment against supervisors. However, the current way of handling these complaints is to relocate the supervisor. Changing the punishment to a zero-tolerance policy is an example of the fundamental changes Dimondstein believes could make the workplace better.

The current issues with the financial system in America have many individuals looking for other options. With between 60 and 80 million Americans with no access to banks or limited access to basic banking services, Dimondstein and the APWU want to bring back a system similar to the United States Postal Savings System. This system would provide basic banking services to all Americans without the predatory rates of the private sector. It’s a process that will take some time according to Dimondstein. Still, he hopes there will be a pilot program available to test the services available before legislation is needed for full-scale implementation.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more.

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America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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