Clerk’s Letter Doesn’t Get Stamp of Approval : Blast at Post Office Management Results in Charges of Disloyalty

Postal clerk Bruce Webb, 35, angered at a newspaper editorial critical of the U.S. Postal Service, sat down at his typewriter and hammered out a defense. Webb’s supervisors at the Van Nuys post office were pleased when they read his published letter-to-the-editor earlier this month-- until they got to the final paragraph.

“Despite some of the worst management in modern industrial society”--and those were the words that wiped the smiles right off the supervisors’ faces--”postal workers move more mail faster and cheaper than anywhere else in the world,” Webb wrote.

Twelve days after publication of the letter, Webb received an “official disciplinary letter of warning” from his boss. The charge: “Disloyalty to the Postal Service.”

Not Giving Up Yet

The warning, placed in Webb’s personnel file, could affect future promotions, and, if he commits further such “infractions,” lead to his dismissal. But the 14-year postal employee and union shop steward is fighting back.

“In a way, it’s funny,” said Webb, who sent a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board Monday. “But it’s not funny that they would think they could restrict somebody’s freedom of speech or restrict someone’s constitutional rights.”

Webb, a resident of Canyon Country, said that all he wanted to do was to defend the Postal Service because he was tired of people blaming the post office for rate increases. He charges that the letter was in retaliation for his union activities and two previous disputes he had with his bosses.

But the warning from his boss accuses him of violating a Postal Service Code of Ethics requiring employees to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects favorably upon the Postal Service.

Called Disloyal

“Your comments about the Postal Service cast an unfavorable light upon the service in the eyes of our customers, and are a demonstration of disloyalty to the Postal Service and a breach of the Code of Ethics,” said the letter of warning. “Further infractions of this nature may result in further disciplinary action, including removal from the Postal Service.”

Manager Ron Arndt, who meted out the discipline, said he would not have minded if Webb had criticized postal management in an internal publication. But Webb’s letter, which appeared in The Times, was probably read by a million people, Arndt complained, and was “not a good reflection on the Postal Service.”

“You can imagine, since I am Mr. Webb’s manager, that I thought it was a very good letter with that one exception,” said Arndt, refering to Webb’s reference to bad management. “In my eyes, he ruined the whole message he was trying to put forth with those words.”

In addition to going to the NLRB, Webb has filed a grievance with his union, the San Fernando Valley Local of the American Postal Workers Union, and a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity office.

“It sounds like something from World War II,” groused local union president John Collatos. “I think it’s crazy. It’s stupid.”

Postmaster’s View

Unless Webb prevails in his appeals, the letter will remain in his file for two years. Van Nuys Postmaster W. J. Dillman strongly defended the disciplinary action in an interview but refused to take responsibility for it. In response to questions, Dillman said he had not authorized the discipline and refused to say whether he thought it was appropriate.

Asked if Webb could get into further trouble by responding to a reporter’s questions about the incident, Dillman said, “It would depend on what his response would be.”

Arndt, who supervises nearly 90 employees at the Van Nuys Civic Center post office, admitted that he personally was hurt by Webb’s letter. Arndt, also acknowledged that he may have been in a “very, very gray area” in disciplining Webb.

“It is not my intent in any way shape or form to deprive him of any of his rights,” Arndt said. “I would just like to instill in him the idea that he should really think about what words can do if they are not put into a proper context or proper connection.”

Provisions of Law

John H. Arbuckle, regional labor counsel for the western regional office of the U.S. Postal Service, said a disloyalty charge against a postal employee is not unusual.

“There is a good body of law establishing the right of the employer to demand loyalty of the employees,” Arbuckle said.

He noted that Webb’s letter “was really very complimentary to the postal service for the most part.” But Webb’s single reference to bad management was “abusive, disparaging and not true,” Arbuckle said.

Courts have established the right of public employees to criticize their employers openly, but only when the criticism is true, he said.

Gary Williams, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney, said he believes the discipline would only be upheld legally if the Postal Service could show that Webb’s letter adversely affected the Postal Service’s ability to perform its functions. Unlike private employees, public workers have greater legal rights to express their beliefs publicly about their employers, Williams said.

Congressional Response

An aide to the House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service in Washington said he has never heard of such a case. But the aide noted that the Postal Service, encouraged by members of Congress, has overturned disciplinary actions brought by local managers in the past.

“I know the Postal Service is pretty stringent on their employees’ public statements,” said the staff member, who asked not to be identified. “It’s disturbing, to say the least. Legalities aside, whether it’s good employee relations or good public relations or good politics is another issue. It sounds to me like it’s a little heavy handed.”

Webb said that he will complain to Congress and file a lawsuit if his current appeals are unsuccessful. He maintains that he was simply stating what to him was obvious and did not mean to refer to any single individual in his letter. In fact, he said, he did not even expect The Times to publish it.

“Obviously, it wasn’t a comment made about any one particular person,” Webb said. “No, that’s just the way I write. I didn’t really consider management overall. I was kind of upset, that’s why I wrote it.”

Webb’s co-workers, meanwhile, seem almost gleeful about the dispute.

“We’re all getting a lot of laughs because this is going to come back and hurt management,” said one clerk at the Van Nuys post office.