Postal Service

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed employee-management relations problems at the Indianapolis, Indiana, Post Office from 1986 through 1988.

GAO found that: (1) circumstances surrounding the displacement of senior black managers led to employee allegations of discrimination, since none of the black men who held mid- to high-level supervisory positions before the Post Office's reorganization received similar positions under the new structure; (2) management improperly advertised four management positions that could have been filled by available displaced employees; and (3) the Post Office's evaluation of candidates for promotion appeared to favor selected employees. GAO also found that: (1) the Post Office followed prescribed equal employment opportunity complaint procedures and investigated complaints within the mandated time frame; (2) although the number of disciplinary actions increased, there was no evidence of widespread mistreatment of employees; (3) strained relationships between local union leadership and postal managers compounded the problems created by organizational and personnel changes; and (4) postal officials took steps to address employee-management problems such as reducing disciplinary actions, resolving employee complaints, reviewing supervisors' job-related stress, and changing the work environment.