Between 20 and 30 swing shift workers at the U.S. Postal Service mail processing plant in north Fort Worth were denied the opportunity to participate in their local caucus. In a reply to a “Vote twice for Clinton” e-mail, U.S. Postal Service officials told district human resource managers not to allow employees time to attend the second part of Texas voting.
Bryon Okada has the full report below.
Between 20 and 30 swing shift workers at the U.S. Postal Service mail processing plant in north Fort Worth were denied the opportunity to participate in their local caucus. In a reply to a “Vote twice for Clinton” e-mail, U.S. Postal Service officials told district human resource managers not to allow employees time to attend the second part of Texas voting.
The e-mail reads in part: “The Postal Service takes the position that the ELM (Employee and Labor Relations Manual) language allowing employees to take time to vote during works does NOT apply to caucuses...”
Swing shift employees work through the afternoon until about 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.
“If we let everybody off to do that we wouldn’t be able to get the mail processed,” U.S. Postal Service spokesman Sam Bolen said.
Union representative Ben Martinez said, however, that with a shift of 500 employees, it would be unlikely that processing would be ground to a halt if a small number went to the caucus.
According to an employee benefits provision, “Employees are encouraged to exercise their voting rights. So far as is practicable without seriously interfering with service, postal employees, excluding casual and temporary employees, who desire to vote or register in any election or in any referendum on a civic matter in their community are excused for a reasonable time for that purpose on a day they are scheduled to work.”
Nevertheless, Martinez said, the employees were told to stay on the line when the polls close.
“It’s too bad that employees of the federal government are being denied their right to vote,” Martinez said.
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