Letter Carriers Protest Treatment By Management Hays Park Post Office Supervisor Singled Out By Pickets

Nearly two dozen Spokane letter carriers spent their afternoon toting picket signs Tuesday to protest what they call abusive treatment by their managers.

The demonstration took place outside the Hays Park post office near Empire and Crestline. Mail carriers are prohibited by law from striking, but it was the second day of picketing.

Postal workers carried signs that read “Stop Cruel Abuse” and “End Harassment” and handed out fliers that outlined their complaints.

“The manager of this station has a history of abuse, threats and intimidation,” the flier stated. “This individual has been allowed to create and maintain a hostile work environment.”

Mike Stanley, who manages the Hays Park post office, declined to comment, referring all questions to Postal Service spokesman Bob Hammerstad.

Hammerstad played down the picketing, saying it resulted from a recent grievance filed by a letter carrier that was resolved in arbitration.

“There are people at each of our stations that aren’t pleased with the management,” Hammerstad said. “And grievances can be about anything from no orange pop in the soda pop machine to direct assault. There’s quite a range. There’s nothing here serious enough to warrant special attention.”

But Terry Culp, local shop steward for the National Association of Letter Carriers, said his union organized the picket to protest an 8-year pattern of abuse.

Culp said the manager, whom he wouldn’t name, citing union rules, has a history of screaming at carriers in front of customers and threatening to fire people.

“It’s just been a constant stream of intimidation,” he said. “These complaints have followed this individual from one station to the other, all along his career.”

Culp said the manager recently confronted a carrier who was having lunch at a restaurant. While other patrons listened, the red-faced supervisor loudly accused the carrier of taking extended lunches and slacking off.

“It was totally inappropriate and embarrassing to the carrier,” Culp said.

The carriers union is meeting with management Thursday to discuss the situation, Culp said.

“We’re hoping management will see the error of their ways and negotiate some kind of resolution,” he said.

, DataTimes