Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-08-22
Substitutes
Fare Poorly
In P. O. Jobs
They re Forgotten Men
Of That Department
BY DAMON RUNYON

Of That Department.
BY DAMON RUNYON
I HAVE already told YOU about
tho economic plight of the
? ocular post office employees
who have not had an increase
IN wages in II years. no bonus
or other form Of remuneration
TO meet the rising cost Of living
and now | must tell you about
another group Of workers in the
same department who are in
even worse ease.
l refer 10 tho substitutes.
These are the mon who ConSu-
tute the second line behind the
regulars Of the department
They are. Of course. highly cS-
Sential 10 the postal service be-
cause they must learn their
business and be ready 10 step
in as experienced hands when
the regulars fall out.
But unfortunately they seem
TO be lightly regarded by the
government Their situation is
most deplorable AT this time.
The substitute is really the for
gotten man of the post office
department. He has only semi
official status and his working
conditions are governed by no
rules.
The vast majority Of postal
workers enter the service as
substitutes and as such they
work anywhere from few
months 10 AS much As 10 years,
or until their names are reached
on the list for appointment. The
substitute earns 65 cents an
hour and docs the same work
for which the regular gets a
dollar.
Whether his services are re-
quired or not the sub must re-
port for duty each morning. as
a rule about s o'clock. He never
knows how long he may be re-
quircd 10 work and does not
receive any pay for the time he
swings. -
SUBSTITUTES often spend 10
~ hours at station and are
paid for only three or four
hours work. Men have been
known 10 labor three months or
more without Sunday off and
no holidays. They must work
year and sometimes two and
three before they become ellg-
ible for vacations and sick leave.
Until four months ago, APP
pointmentS 10 the regular force
in New York City were being
made at the average of about 50
a month, then came an order
from Washington freezing the
list. oStenSibly for 30 days.
That period has long since
elapsed and the list continues
frozen. but in the meantime, per-
haps to Short-circuit the de-
mands for pay raise, the
regulars are forced 10 work
overtime. against their wishes,
| am told, thus further depreSS-
ing the earnings Of the subs.
1t is the impression among the
post office employees that no adj
ditional regulars will be made
for the duration of the war and
as you can imagine this thought
is somewhat demoralizing 10 the
substitutes who have been hop
ing for advancement.
One of the bills now before
Congress designed TO relieve the
plight of the post office en-
ployes is the Seaman bill which
provides that all regular vacan-
CieS shall be filled by the promo
ton of substitutes and the subs
would like 10 see this passed.
CTlLL another class Of en-
- ployeS of the department
who seem TO deserve more con-
sideration are those in the lower
wage braCketS-the laborerS,
CuStodianS. charmen and char
women and others.
If private industry employed
men and women at the scale of
wages imposed on these persons
by the government there would
be Squawk 10 high heaven and
maybe legal action
Some of them get only $500
year and while a recent bill
voted them an increase, they
still will have a tough time
meeting the cost of living. As
Just one example. in private in
dustry a window cleaner gets
$40 and S45 a week. In the post
office this type of worker. has
been receiving 81 800 a year and
under the new bill Will draw
only Sl440 year. 1t is small
wonder that many post office
employees are turning eagerly 10
private industry in these times.