Direct Action Gets the Goods — Including at the Post Office
I’m a mail carrier in Naples, Florida. When management cut into our Sunday breaks, we walked off the job — and now mail carriers like me across the state have their break back, proving the power of collective action on the job.
A group of New York postmen set off on foot from the General Post Office to deliver mail in New York City at Christmas, circa 1955. (Vecchio / Three Lions via Getty Images)
A simple grievance can take many months to get results. But at the post office where I work, we got fast results defending our breaks with a different approach: direct action.
I’m a city carrier assistant (CCA) — part of the lower-paid second tier of letter carriers — in Naples, Florida. The retention rate for CCAs nationwide hovers around 20 percent.
Letter carriers start each day by sorting the mail and loading it into our trucks. In my post office, Mondays through Saturdays we take our first ten-minute break together inside the office, with the air conditioning, before heading out to start deliveries.
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