USPS outsourcing city delivery to lowest bidders

Here's a NASTY little bit of business that my employer -the USPS - is currently pushing: domestic outsourcing of the city/rural mail delivery to the lowest bidders with only MINIMAL background checks and qualifications required!!

[link to www.nalc.org]

[When you access the above link you'll have to click on the article which will take you to a PDF display. SORRY! I can't seem to link this article directly.]

One of my carriers came storming into the station yesterday fuming about this situation [which is a DONE deal] and, he was right to do so. Imagine YOUR mail: your bills, medical info, every little thing you get daily being trusted to a carrier whose only requirements for a successful background check are a Driver's License and proof of county residency? That's the case in central Florida as I speak. When I joined the USPS I supplied THREE sets of fingerprints; one set for local Postal Inspectors and two for Washington DC files.

It's cheaper and more efficient say our top brass - it's also highly risky, with several of these would-be carriers ALREADY being caught taking undelivered mail home with them... and one report of a 'carrier' enlisting the help of a couple of children on his route. NOW you can start to understand why the rank-and-file [and privately, management as well] are royally pissed off at this latest USPS attempt to save a few bucks. [Don't get me started on the new rate increase: it's our most convoluted and F'ed-up change to date- next to THIS one, that is!!]

You may not realise it, but your letter carrier takes great pride in protecting YOUR privacy and the sanctity of the mail - each and every one of us employees [up until NOW, that is!] raised our hands and swore an oath to do just that when we were hired; and MOST of us take that oath very seriously.

Oh, sure: the NALC [letter-carriers union] are screaming about this new assault and grievances are flying faster than your laundry in a Kansas tornado... but, until final arbitration is accomplished the USPS can merrily go right on hiring these non-professionals; it's also interesting to note that currently USPS carriers have no binding union contract - TPTB are still haggling over the details as they do every time it comes up for renewal.

BTW: this isn't just happening in central Florida, it's being used increasingly all across the nation.

So, this is one postal worker who'd like to ask the public to scream BLOODY MURDER about this to whomever will listen, because it's a slippery slope that will take the privacy of your personal correspondance right down the drain. And, neither you- nor us USPS employees want that.