hi comrades I’ve been on this site with various accounts since it was a subreddit and I’ve just returned after deleting my last account a few months back

some time ago I posted about being unemployed for a long time and lacking the motivation to find work and just generally being alienated and having no direction in life. a lot of kind people had great advice, and shout out to the person in particular who suggested postal work, whoever you are! that planted the seed in my brain and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. and now I’ve just received a job offer to become a mail carrier! I will be out in the real world, serving the public, getting exercise, and most importantly, not having to work for porky

it will be a difficult road ahead, this is a radical change in lifestyle but that’s exactly what I needed and I’m looking forward to accepting the challenge

PS any advice from other postal worker comrades is very much welcome, as this line of work is very much new to me!

  • Doubledee [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    17·
    2 days ago

    Aw shit was that me? I think there’s a few of us postal comrades on here.

    The first 90 will be rough no matter what you are going into, you will be expected to put up with a lot of shenanigans. Use that time to figure out who the shop steward is and see what they’re pulling on you that is not actually by the book so you’re ready to grieve and protect yourself once you’re not on probation.

    I work inside so I don’t know what the most current tech is as far as keeping cool in summer but I’m sure your coworkers will have good suggestions.

        • invalidusernamelol [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
          7·
          1 day ago

          Have a friend who had to pay $2500+ out of pocket to have her own personal vehicle fitted with right hand drive and they cut her like 6 months in. Now she gets to drive on the wrong side of the road!

          • FlakesBongler [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
            7·
            1 day ago

            I had a LLV, but they scheduled me like 60 hours every week and ran me ragged

            Constantly shat on me for taking 10+ hours on the route I was assigned when it should have been two separate routes because of the mail density

            Final straw was when they had me deliver a team lift package solo (which was what fucked my back up)

            All in all, best to stay away from the RC positions unless you know you’re gonna get treated right

      • PurrLure [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
        1·
        1 day ago

        Congrats, can confirm that rural carrier positions are not worth the extra couple bucks they throw at you per hour.

        The city carrier union is older and generally stronger than the rural one. Yes, they’re two separate unions to weaken bargaining power.

  • hotcouchguy [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    10·
    2 days ago

    You’re probably aware, but just in case, these guys seem solid: www.fightingnalc.com

    Other advice, from a similar-ish union job: calibrate your militancy based on your circumstances. Find the other militants and see what they’re doing. Be aware that even in a union job, mgmt can still force you out if they really decide to, especially if your local also decides you’re a hassle or a threat. Shop-floor power is your most reliable defense, and that takes a long time to build.

    It sucks, but studying the contract is really worth it. If you know your shit, your coworkers will notice, helping to build leadership.

    Seniority has a bad reputation, and it’s annoying to have none, but it’s an important way to prevent mgmt from choosing favorites for everything. It’s also nice to give the arthritis demographic easier jobs instead of just disposing of them like Amazon. Related to that: jobs like this keep you fit but also permanently wear you out, find the right balance, don’t work harder than you need to, but also don’t give mgmt easy ways to get rid of you.

    • ephemeral [any]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      6·
      2 days ago

      I actually wasn’t aware, so thanks for the link. I’m still pretty ignorant when it comes to the union stuff but I will read up on it as much as I can. glad to know there’s an org out there fighting

      it’s wild to me that CCA’s start at $20/hr regardless of location. that might actually be livable (if not great) in some places but unfortunately I’m in a very HCOL area so that’s a poverty wage. $30 would be a huge improvement but still barely livable here

  • D61 [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Not a carrier but stumbling around the internet looking for answers to questions while I work alone with no supervision I found the r/USPS subreddit.

    Shitposting and bitching with some “how do I handle this situation, help!?!” posts/comments from other postal workers.

    If you can stand Reddit (or just focus on exactly one sub) its not a terrible place to skim for the general ideas on what to do in what kind of situations. Its a bit more “negative” than “positive” so do what you can to keep from internalizing the negative sentiments and focus on the more factual stuff put in the posts and comments.