Dana Point Postal Shooting

The recent postal service management/employee crisis has brought attention to the human stress factor caused by electronic, robotic, computer automation and management’s callous disregard for worker health.

Most stories in the news pale by what I’ve seen as a union member participating in labor strikes and demonstrations. In Los Angeles there are mail sort facilities contracted by the U.S. Postal Service. In these warehouses you will find young people working under gross sweatshop conditions. No windows, fans, air conditioning or toilets. Their minimal wages are reduced by tricky bonus scams. The worker is offered colored bonus chips, representing bonus cents per thousand units per type of mail processed. The worker is then penalized by withdrawal of the pay because the mail runs out before the quota is met.

It’s not just the U.S. Postal Service management; I blame the ineffectual National Labor Relations Board for its biased failure to support labor unions.

HENRY RIOS

Highland