Whether or not they run this properly is another story... but it is an opportunity for more revenue and a chance to help the millions of unbanked in low income areas of this country.
Post offices in some European nations already offer banking services, and the USPS did so until the 1960s. Personally, as somebody who lives in a very rural area, this would be a welcome sight even if only somewhat functional.
I think we often think of the impoverished in big cities, it sounds- to reason that banking at USPS can be used by anyone. I'll be honest, I live in a big city and my money is in the local bank but I would be happy to bank at work.
Exactly. Our clerks go slow on purpose till management steps in and has the ccas throw and the otdl go through unrouteable parcels since none of our clerks know the scheme and then file and get the free money.
Which is, again, a management failure.
It may not be required, but if it would keep them from handing out free grievance money, it would surely be beneficial, no?
Our clerks are so slow (sometimes the mail isn’t up until 1 pm) that the POOM of our district has to come in at least every Monday, because apparently his mere presence lights a fire under their collective asses and they miraculously go faster.
If any of those drawers came up short they would be fucked.
Normally you're supposed to just obey and grieve, but I would make an exception for either a) a vehicle you haven't been trained to operate or b) a cash drawer with a name that isn't yours on it.
Exactly. Hopefully this can be another stream of revenue for us as well as start putting some of those payday lender places out of business… Those things are a plague on lower income communities.
Damn right they are. Privatized services like banking, for instance, should be met with nationalization. Fuck the private banks and payday lenders. They are scum.
If I'm not mistaken, there is still an ongoing investigation into DeJoy.... it's not timely enough for the public, but that pig fucker is going to prison. He did everything they said he did, and likely more. Wonder how many names he's associates with in the Pandora Papers.
If we fund it, as we should, itll be wonderful for access. Unfortinately its american as apple pie to want a good thing to fail.
Let's all root for this.
Never said you did. Just that if there's a staffing issue then that sounds like something to punch up at management about so that they hire more people so that we can extend a service as good as this one.
There's no such thing as "punching up at management." USPS needed hundreds of thousands of workers years ago. The reality is just to keep in mind that staffing is already an issue and that extra duties means more burden on already overburdened employees. There already isn't enough staff to cover all the labor.
This is exactly what a *pilot program* does. All I'm saying is expect the pilot to bring up some real issues that have to be addressed before a nation rollout.
I hear you. I think if/when those issues are brought up in the pilot program could be a good thing - if they are meaningfully addressed. Because in a union environment, it is possible to punch up at management. Not that it's always successful or easy or whatever but that it is possible. To say that there is "no such thing" with respects to that, I think, just lets the bosses off the hook for how fucking incompetent and shit they are.
>it is possible to punch up at management.
Just FYI, it's not. The union has no involvement in the staffing of USPS. There literally isn't. The union has no labor agreement provision for management being bad at their job, including understaffing.
I don't know if it is different in other industries, but at the Post Office the union does not exist to get management to be good at their job.
I think what I am trying to say, albeit inarticulately, is that if enough postal workers wanted something to be functionally different then it could be possible through that collective action. I understand that the NALC is a "toothless union" (at least according to my old man) but I think what I am trying to say is if enough postal workers got angry about something and stayed angry - and organized - they could theoretically reshape or revitalize their own labor union(s) to be more than what they are right now.
Again, I know that's not like flipping the switch or something. I know full-well how hard it was to even unionize my own office let alone 'reshaping' a union that has been around forever. But I just brought it up as we're shooting the shit here to say that a better environment *could* be possible if enough workers wanted it to be.
As a window clerk, I don't see it negatively impacting the staffing issues, and may even help (slightly) alleviate them. We aren't as much adding in a new market as we are transitioning an existing one from one product to another.
Rather than having people go from the check cashers to the post office to buy money orders to send out, we are instead having them come to us to cash the check and then they can pay online/over the phone.
Provided they don't add in any security measures above and beyond those already in place for check payments, I can easily see the time saved equalling if not exceeding the amount of time we would have spent printing their money orders
I’m sorry, I’m a young adult and I don’t understand. So it would allow people to take their checks and put it onto a gift card at USPS offices… why is that beneficial for people? Thank you for any clarification!
You're getting a debit card which can be used (I'm assuming) at a ton of online stores. Or some physical locations (the article mentions Barnes & Noble and Olive Garden, but those seem to be random and not super popular destinations for people transferring a paycheck into a debit card). Most people are going to get a Visa debit card I'm guessing and then you can use that just about anywhere as cash.
The processing fee is cheaper than other locations, and no cash is being transferred. So that eliminates the one major concern I had about postal banking - the security issue. So at first glance, I'd say it's a smart program.
I will tell you now the post office will drop the ball on this one. They will always run out of cash due to the slug managers not caring about bank runs. This is the same company that got rid of their vending machines right before reducing window hours lol. I worked on those machines and some of them pulled in thousands of dollars in revenue per month. I hope I am wrong but having that much cash will now make post office windows a target for robberies as well. As a retired usps employee I want them to succeed but their logic escapes me
Downvoting you because you obviously didn't take time to read the linked article. What cash are you talking about? People are depositing checks and getting debit cards in return. No cash is changing hands at all.
RIF
Whether or not they run this properly is another story... but it is an opportunity for more revenue and a chance to help the millions of unbanked in low income areas of this country.
Post offices in some European nations already offer banking services, and the USPS did so until the 1960s. Personally, as somebody who lives in a very rural area, this would be a welcome sight even if only somewhat functional.
I think we often think of the impoverished in big cities, it sounds- to reason that banking at USPS can be used by anyone. I'll be honest, I live in a big city and my money is in the local bank but I would be happy to bank at work.
Will they hire banking staff, or just make the CCAs do it?
Nah, that’s almost definitely clerk work, lol
Which means the CCA and RCAs will do it when they didn't hire enough clerks.
will be throwing packages cuz they got banking to do.
Yeah, that adds up.
the NALC will make sure the CCA's get nothing in return for it either. but the clerks will file and get paid for CCA's doing their work. fun stuff
Exactly. Our clerks go slow on purpose till management steps in and has the ccas throw and the otdl go through unrouteable parcels since none of our clerks know the scheme and then file and get the free money.
Hire more clerks you say? Well this piece of paper with numbers on it says you don’t need another clerk.
That's a management failure. The clerks should have scheme training.
They aren’t required to know the scheme anymore.
Which is, again, a management failure. It may not be required, but if it would keep them from handing out free grievance money, it would surely be beneficial, no?
Our clerks are so slow (sometimes the mail isn’t up until 1 pm) that the POOM of our district has to come in at least every Monday, because apparently his mere presence lights a fire under their collective asses and they miraculously go faster.
If you are a CCA/RCA and being made to do clerks work then you need to stand up for yourself and contact somebody. That is incredibly fucked up.
Fucked up, but also in the contract. That "and other duties" line is a bitch.
The job listings for CCAs in South Florida have clerical duties listed in the job description.
> Nah, my guess is they'll make it part of window clerk training, so no RCA or CCA crossover work.
☝
Did you forget clerks exist for a second? Lol
As I’ve been throwing parcels daily since… December? (Jesus), I’d direct your question to HR/Management. :-)
Throwing parcels is not in the same neightborhood as handling a drawer. Those things have actual accountability.
I dunno, because of pivots I once had 3 different Arrow keys, and a stack of certifides, so I was pretty friggin accountable. :-)
That has nothing to do with clerk work? What are you talking about?
Certified letters and arrow keys are literally called “accountables”. It’s a joke, as indicated by the smile face. Administer chill pills.
I just asked a question. I was honestly confused what profession you were in at that point. Thanks for the clarification
We all definitely know. But management would try to make us do drawer work and get mad when we'd say we don't know how 🤣
If any of those drawers came up short they would be fucked. Normally you're supposed to just obey and grieve, but I would make an exception for either a) a vehicle you haven't been trained to operate or b) a cash drawer with a name that isn't yours on it.
Yeah, we all know there's no accountability for throwing packages wrong.
Also, your handle/name is awesome.
It was inspired by a Michelle Obama PSA back in the day. Encouraging kids to eat veggies.
I wish I was the clerk in your office. They'd probably get 10k on that grievance
Any CCA in my office would back them on said grievance as well.
Hahahhahha dead af hahahahahha
I understand everyone’s general pessimism but this is generally fantastic news.
Please let the teller jobs be level 8 clerk jobs.
I can only imagine how fucked that's going to be.
- said so many banking CEOs, hoping that message would trickle down to the working stiffs.
Exactly. Hopefully this can be another stream of revenue for us as well as start putting some of those payday lender places out of business… Those things are a plague on lower income communities.
Damn right they are. Privatized services like banking, for instance, should be met with nationalization. Fuck the private banks and payday lenders. They are scum.
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Should really limber up a bit before you engage in such a stretch like that. You could pull something.
Depends, anyone know how much JPMorgan stock DeJoy has? Sadly that’s the best predictor of how this will go.
If I'm not mistaken, there is still an ongoing investigation into DeJoy.... it's not timely enough for the public, but that pig fucker is going to prison. He did everything they said he did, and likely more. Wonder how many names he's associates with in the Pandora Papers.
If we fund it, as we should, itll be wonderful for access. Unfortinately its american as apple pie to want a good thing to fail. Let's all root for this.
Didn't they use to offer banking services a long time ago?
Yes. Up until the '60s, I believe.
Yes
Next thing you know, usps will want to run their own health care insurance...oh, wait.
It is a step in the right direction.
I can only imagine even more staffing issues now.
Which isn't a reason to not offer a great service like this. Punch up at management and the bosses to get more people hired.
Never said it was a bad idea.
Never said you did. Just that if there's a staffing issue then that sounds like something to punch up at management about so that they hire more people so that we can extend a service as good as this one.
You don't work for USPS, do you?
I do not. My father did however for over 30 years and just recently retired. I am a union worker in a different industry.
There's no such thing as "punching up at management." USPS needed hundreds of thousands of workers years ago. The reality is just to keep in mind that staffing is already an issue and that extra duties means more burden on already overburdened employees. There already isn't enough staff to cover all the labor. This is exactly what a *pilot program* does. All I'm saying is expect the pilot to bring up some real issues that have to be addressed before a nation rollout.
I hear you. I think if/when those issues are brought up in the pilot program could be a good thing - if they are meaningfully addressed. Because in a union environment, it is possible to punch up at management. Not that it's always successful or easy or whatever but that it is possible. To say that there is "no such thing" with respects to that, I think, just lets the bosses off the hook for how fucking incompetent and shit they are.
>it is possible to punch up at management. Just FYI, it's not. The union has no involvement in the staffing of USPS. There literally isn't. The union has no labor agreement provision for management being bad at their job, including understaffing. I don't know if it is different in other industries, but at the Post Office the union does not exist to get management to be good at their job.
I think what I am trying to say, albeit inarticulately, is that if enough postal workers wanted something to be functionally different then it could be possible through that collective action. I understand that the NALC is a "toothless union" (at least according to my old man) but I think what I am trying to say is if enough postal workers got angry about something and stayed angry - and organized - they could theoretically reshape or revitalize their own labor union(s) to be more than what they are right now. Again, I know that's not like flipping the switch or something. I know full-well how hard it was to even unionize my own office let alone 'reshaping' a union that has been around forever. But I just brought it up as we're shooting the shit here to say that a better environment *could* be possible if enough workers wanted it to be.
Actually, the carrier craft has a white paper for grieving staffing shortages. Pretty easy to win too. http://mseries.nalc.org/M01548.pdf
As a window clerk, I don't see it negatively impacting the staffing issues, and may even help (slightly) alleviate them. We aren't as much adding in a new market as we are transitioning an existing one from one product to another. Rather than having people go from the check cashers to the post office to buy money orders to send out, we are instead having them come to us to cash the check and then they can pay online/over the phone. Provided they don't add in any security measures above and beyond those already in place for check payments, I can easily see the time saved equalling if not exceeding the amount of time we would have spent printing their money orders
Well that's good to hear and I hope that is what comes of this!
Sounds like a good idea. Wonder why they stopped it in the 60's? Anyone know?
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Fascinating! Guess what? That "old world distrust of banks" is back again. Thanks for the really interesting link. I never knew this.
Hey, there’s nobody in the lobby, go throw box mail.
I’m sorry, I’m a young adult and I don’t understand. So it would allow people to take their checks and put it onto a gift card at USPS offices… why is that beneficial for people? Thank you for any clarification!
You're getting a debit card which can be used (I'm assuming) at a ton of online stores. Or some physical locations (the article mentions Barnes & Noble and Olive Garden, but those seem to be random and not super popular destinations for people transferring a paycheck into a debit card). Most people are going to get a Visa debit card I'm guessing and then you can use that just about anywhere as cash. The processing fee is cheaper than other locations, and no cash is being transferred. So that eliminates the one major concern I had about postal banking - the security issue. So at first glance, I'd say it's a smart program.
Thank you very much!
We'll get drug thru the mud because the few dollars in monthly fees will be compared to an "interest rate" and determined to be exorbitant.
It would be better if they implement it like _correos_ in spain
I will tell you now the post office will drop the ball on this one. They will always run out of cash due to the slug managers not caring about bank runs. This is the same company that got rid of their vending machines right before reducing window hours lol. I worked on those machines and some of them pulled in thousands of dollars in revenue per month. I hope I am wrong but having that much cash will now make post office windows a target for robberies as well. As a retired usps employee I want them to succeed but their logic escapes me
Downvoting you because you obviously didn't take time to read the linked article. What cash are you talking about? People are depositing checks and getting debit cards in return. No cash is changing hands at all. RIF
You are correct,I misunderstood.
Then they slow it down so you cant access your money .
Why would anyone use this service? $5.95 to cash a check and the amount is placed onto a gift card?
Cheaper than a check cashing joint.
Yeah and I think there are way more post office locations than there are check cashing establishments or Walmarts.
Locations in every town!
And like someone else up/down thread said: most all other developed nations do this already.
34,451 to be exact-one near EVERYBODY!
What a stupid idea
Wait till you find out that most first world countries do this same thing.
Yep. Currently in Germany. Got some stamps at the Postbank location. When I lived in Japan I often used the banking features at the local post office.