Employee Concerns About Working Conditions at the San Antonio, TX, Post Office

GAO was requested to review the working conditions of U.S. Postal Service employees in the San Antonio, Texas. The review concentrated on the potential problem areas involving: (1) high rates of overtime; (2) unresponsive actions on employees' grievances; (3) disrespectful treatment of employees; and (4) unnecessary freezes on employee promotions while authorized positions remained vacant.

The review showed that, during fiscal year 1980, the San Antonio Post Office experienced high rates of overtime. In addition, GAO found that management responses to employee grievances often were not timely or complete. GAO believes these situations contributed to employees' perceptions of disrespectful treatment by management. However, the review did not show that there had been freezes on employee promotions or that a significant number of authorized positions remained vacant for inordinate lengths of time. Management has promised or has taken actions, such as hiring additional staff, to reduce overtime and to provide more responsive handling of employee grievances.