DiGiacomo, a carrier since 1962, didn't become active until 1968 when the leadership began to retire. Stanar is highly critical of how he sees management run the post offices. In pursuing grievances, both presidents are constantly representing members upset at how overtime is assigned. Their members can't refuse overtime, they note. Although the contract spells out that members with seniority should be allowed some vacation in November and December, they rarely get it, he adds.
Grievances are three-step processes that end in binding arbitration at both unions.
Thirty percent of the 30 or so grievances the Letter Carriers file each month are resolved in step one, DiGiacomo says, and only another 10 percent at step two. Stanar says his union's experience is that management drags out the grievance procedure as long as possible. Members of management that quickly resolve grievances, he says, don't last long. That doesn't happen in Youngstown because floor supervisors are afraid to settle. Robert Furillo, Youngstown postmaster, declined opportunities to detail management's point of view.