City carrier assistants will be able to take a break inside, out of the heat.
A simple grievance can take many months to get results. But at the post office where I work, we got fast results defending our breaks with a different approach: direct action.
We used to take our breaks together on Sundays, too. We would chip in for donuts and coffee, a sign of our camaraderie. But management was still refusing to let us take Sunday morning breaks together. They wanted us to hit the road and take our breaks out on the street, in the heat.At 9 a.m. on Sunday, August 21, my alarm went off as it usually does Mondays through Saturdays. I said what I usually say those days: “It’s break time, ladies and gentlemen.” Three other workers and I started walking towards the break room.
We weren’t expecting an ultimatum. But the four of us looked at each other, and we all said we would go home. We scanned our badges to clock out, and walked to our cars together in a state of shock. Twice during the week I was also called into meetings with management — once to discuss my attendance, and once to be asked a bunch of open-ended questions, such as “Was this premeditated? Were you planning all this?” I told them yes, of course I was planning to take a break. But I wasn’t issued any discipline.