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Three members of the 1st Ward post office Customer Advisory Council (CAC) along with a representative from 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores office met with three managers from the Chicago District office, two postmasters (60647 & 60622) and a Customer Care representative (60647) from the U.S. Postal Service in the eleventh meeting of the 2007-2008 CAC at Roberto Clemente Station on California Avenue in Chicago.
Ms. Patricia Singleton was introduced as the latest Acting Manager for Roberto Clemente Station. Richard Osborne, the recently appointed Area 2 Manager - which includes Clemente Station and a half-dozen other post offices - indicated that although the search continues for a permanent manager, he feels that the problems there are now being properly handled because he frequently visits the facility and an Acting Manager is in place. He requested that the CAC eliminate its year-long request for a permanent manager for 60647. Ms. Singleton talked about the difficulty in delivering mail when so many mail boxes aren't labeled correctly. She cited the problem of mail being addressed to Dick Smith but the mail box says Richard Smith. How could the mail carrier know that this is the same person? She also explained how she has "one on one" meetings with carriers to foster a team spirit and promotes "healing" and gives out small trinkets and gifts to thank carriers for doing their job and delivering the mail. The primary meeting topic was the issue of carrier accountability. The people from the post office said this is a problem since largely, in the past, if someone didn't do their job there were no consequences for them. This ongoing difficulty was acknowledged to be related to Roberto Clemente Station (60647) not having a permanent manager and no continuity since this post office has been going through a series of temporary acting managers for approximately a year. It was also stated that the carrier union steward couldn't speak at last month's CAC meeting because it was so important to devote the meeting to talking about the zip code changes. This month the union steward couldn't come since it was his day off. There was no one else who could address this issue. There was discussion about high turnover of carriers and poor attendance. The issue was raised about how a carrier who is familiar with a route can deliver the mail better than a substitute who is not familiar with the route. Another discussion point centered on some carriers who are always late but not held accountable. The new acting manager at 60647 indicated that she was going to insure that people "bought into" their jobs and responsibilities. There was no specific plan presented as to how this could be done. It was acknowledged that problem carriers believe that they can wait it out until the next temporary acting manager comes on the job. Ms. Rochelle Israel, Chicago District Manager of Human Resources, talked about the trouble she has in trying to post the Clemente manager position as available and interviewing the possible candidates so that after more than a year they still can't find anyone qualified, nationwide, who can fill this post. 60622 Wicker Park Station Manager Carlos Johnson reported that he is checking behind carriers out on the street to be sure they put the right mail in the right mail box. Mr. Johnson talked about how he is trying to get his employees to stop parking their private vehicles and Post Office trucks on the sidewalk around Wicker Park Station. A representative from Alderman Flores' office showed him many photos of the same vehicles being parked on the sidewalk day after day. Mr. Johnson said he knows that it is a problem and will schedule a time to talk to the postal employees to tell them that they shouldn't park on the sidewalk. An additional USPS guest was Michael Perry, Chicago District Manager of Retail Operations. Mr. Perry announced that a branch post office facility has been opened in the Food Smart retail store, 2901 W. Armitage, to accommodate people who don't like waiting in the long lines at the post office or who can't make it to the post office during normal operating hours. The USPS managers stated that they were sure they were doing a better job since the number of complaints had gone down. The CAC responded that there were still problems but some customers have given up complaining since they feel as though they see little improvement as a result. The next CAC meeting is scheduled for 5:30PM, Wednesday June 18, 2008 at the First Ward Service Offce, 2058 N. Western Avenue, 60647. |
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