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.