Protest supervisor harassment
'Going postal' in an organized way
By
Malcolm Cummins
Washington
Working conditions at the Potomac, Md., post office have
been deteriorating rapidly over the past several months as
harassment from supervisors has reached intolerable levels.
Unions representing the workers have filed hundreds of
grievances, filed complaints with the Equal Employment Office,
and circulated a petition during this period demanding that the
postal bosses act to stop the harassment.
This anger peaked on Oct. 28, when workers at the facility
joined a militant picket line to protest the conditions. The
workers are particularly angry at one supervisor, Brad
Colquett, who they say has shown racist conduct towards
oppressed workers while taking delight in trying to provoke all
the workers.
Workers say this supervisor used a racist epithet against an
African American worker and humiliated an Indian worker over
the public address system by mocking his accent. Many workers
have had to take time off to relieve the stress.
National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Local 3825
Recording Secretary Ken Lerch described a recent incident. A
letter carrier who had just returned from knee surgery was
forced by Colquett to remain standing and sorting mail far
longer than the 30-minute limit ordered by his doctor.
According to Lerch, "This restriction was ignored by supervisor
Colquett, even after repeated appeals by the carrier about the
pain. The carrier eventually collapsed on the floor crying in
pain and we had to call an ambulance."
Harassment by supervisors is an endemic problem in the U.S.
Postal Service. There have been several highly publicized
examples of workers committing individual acts of violence
against supervisors because of it.
In Potomac, the union leaders were able to act quickly to
channel this anger in an organized, positive way. They went all
out to pull the picket line together, and over 75 workers came
out in response. For many this action represented their first
participation in an organized activity.
They chanted "Hey hey, ho ho, Brad Colquett's got to go" and
"Hit the road Brad, and don't come back no more." The picket
was called by an ad hoc coalition of NALC Local 3825 and the
American Postal Workers' Montgomery County, Md., local.
Teamsters Local 96 also sent members to support the postal
workers.
As the workers were picketing, they received word that the
postal bosses had requested a meeting with the two unions to
discuss the working conditions. The workers do not intend to
let up on the pressure because of this meeting, however, and
further protests are planned until the miserable working
conditions are corrected.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME :: U.S. NEWS :: WORLD NEWS :: EDITORIALS :: SUBSCRIBE :: DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page