Hmmmm....

Well, I carried under the consolidated casing today. It wasn’t too much time but here are my immediate observations. The most glaring one is the transfer of territory. I now have 2 sets of boxes (even) in an apartment complex, while another carrier has 3 sets (odd). This is nothing new, but 2 carriers in the same complex at different times of the day…really? The casers aren’t casing all the sprs, they’re just being thrown into tubs for the streeters to figure out. One route is 3-4 hours OVER. How that territory change goes unchecked is beyond me. All of this is only after the first week.

...and we're on again

Yep, you heard it here, Gahanna will experience the cluster**** beginning September 16th. We had to go over our line of travel yesterday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. We were told it “had to be done”. There are still routes whose labels weren’t corrected form the last inspection in 2018.

The office layout has changed. Registry cage was moved, equipment moved, but no cases yet. So ladies and gentleman, mark your calendars for the 16th, our jobs at Gahanna will have changed.

Holding pattern

That's right, the test for Gahanna has been put on hold. That is all.

"We don't know"

What an eventful Plan 5 yesterday. We were visited by the Postmaster of Columbus. She informed us that there will be some changes coming to Gahanna (really?).

She said that no one really likes change. True

That was just about it. To her credit, she did allow carriers to ask a few questions. But, she had no answers. For not knowing anything about this test, to knowing something but without the ability to answer questions makes one think how well was this thought out? When asked if positions weren’t going to be eliminated where is the savings…”there’s a savings” was the response. Wow.

This whole process is beginning to cause rifts within the unit. The casers were CHOSEN by management. We were told early on that the casers would be picked by having a “center” route. LIE. I overheard one of the casers say “I’ve ben kissing her ass for a year…”. Guess whose a caser now.

The falsehoods continue before the “test” even starts. We were told that we’d been carrying time off the casers route. LIE. Instead, territory was moved and you’re not going to believe this, some routes got screwed over. Surprise right?

This whole ordeal begins September 9th. Wish us luck, we’re going to need it.

And here it comes...

Welcome to the first of many articles covering the consolidated casing experience at the Gahanna station. If you’re unfamiliar with the consolidated casing (also known as 6 in 1), it’s a “new” test by the Postal Service. This test hopes to capture under utilized space in delivery units. That’s the line the carriers are given by management. I call bullshit. It’s another failed test that was attempted 20+ years ago that they (the USPS management) are resurrecting. It was also attempted again in 2011. Apparently postal management believes that if they keep shoving this stuff down our throats eventually it’ll succeed.

I’ll break the whole thing down very simply. For a more detailed explanation, NALC Director of City Delivery explains it here. Six routes will be put up by one carrier. While everyone else gets to spend their time on the street. Of course, instead of doing the right thing and base the caser position on seniority or through in-office bidding, the position will be filled by the carrier whose route is “center” to other routes to be cased. Gahanna is a fairly high seniority station, so it’s quite possible we’ll have 50+ year old carriers spending 8-10 hours just delivering while some of younger carriers will be in the office most of the day (until they carry their 2-4 hours). I’m sure anyone of minimal intelligence can see how this is going to work. Injuries will be on the rise, sick calls, overtime, etc.

Start times will be another issue. Casers could come in as early as 5am, while streeters (those who aren’t fortunate enough to have a “center” route) will start in two waves. The first wave will be 8am (awesome, earlier than we are now), and the second wave will start at 9am (damn, later than we are now). Customer service is what we promote right?

Here’s the early service talk.

So, until this fiasco comes to and end, be sure to come back and see what else happens.