Department by appealing to the Commission.
If you appeal to the Post Office Department within ten (10) calendar days of receiving this notice of decision, your suspension will not be put into effect until you have received a decision on your appeal from the Regional Director, Post Office Department. Further, if you appeal to the Department, you have the right to be accompanied, represented, and advised by a representative of your own choosing. You and your representative will have freedom from restraint, interference, coercion, descrimination, or reprisal. You and your representative will also be allowed a reasonable amount of official time to prepare your presentation.
An appeal to the Post Office Department may be submitted at any time after you receive this letter but not later than 15 calendar days after the effective date of the suspension. Your letter must include a request for a hearing or a statement that no hearing is desired. The appeal should be addressed to:
Regional Director Post Office Department 631 Howard Street San Francisco, California 94106
If you file an appeal with either the Regional Director or with the Civil Service Commission, furnish me with a signed copy of the appeal at the same time it is sent to the Region or Civil Service Commission.
If you have any questions about the appeals procedure, you may contact Richard N. Marth, Employee Services and Benefits Assistant, at the Employment and Services Section, Office of Personnel, Room 2205, Federal Building, 300 North Los Angeles Street, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
4
POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT SUBJECT: Notice of Proposed Adverse Action
TO: Henry Chinaski
This is advance notice that it is proposed to remove you from the Postal Service or to take such other disciplinary action as may be determined to be appropriate. The proposed action is considered to be for such cause as will promote the efficiency of the service and will be affective no sooner than 35 calendar days from the receipt of this letter.
The charge against you and the reasons supporting the charge are:
You are charged with being absent without leave on the following dates:
September 25, 1969 4 hrs September 28, 1969 8 hrs September 29, 1969 8 hrs October 5, 1969 8 hrs October 6, 1969 4 hrs October 7, 1969 4 hrs October 13, 1969 5 hrs October 15, 1969 4 hrs October 16, 1969 8 hrs October 19, 1969 8 hrs October 23, 1969 4 hrs October 29, 1969 4 hrs November 4, 1969 8 hrs November 6, 1969 4 hrs November 12, 1969 4 hrs November 13, 1969 8 hrs
In addition to the above, the following elements of your past record will be considered in determining the extent of disciplinary action should the current charge be sustained:
You were issued a letter of warning April 1, 1969, for being absent without leave.
You were issued a notice of proposed adverse action August 17, 1969, for being absent without leave. As a result of that charge you were suspended from duty without pay for three days from November 17, 1969 to November 19, 1969.
You have the right to answer the charge in person or in writing, or both, and to be accompanied by a representative of your own choosing. Your reply is to be made within ten (10) calendar days of the receipt of this letter. You may also submit affidavits in support of your answers. Any written reply should be directed to the Postmaster, Los Angeles, California 90052. If additional time is needed within which to submit your reply, it will be considered upon written application showing the necessity.
If you wish to reply in person, you may make an appointment with Ellen Normell, Chief, Employment and Services Section, or K. T. Shamus, Employee Services Officer, by telephoning 289-2222.
After the expiration of the 10-day limit for reply, all of the facts in your case, including any reply you may submit, will be given full consideration before a decision is rendered. A decision in writing will be issued to you. If the decision is adverse, the letter of decision will advise you of the reason, or reasons, relied upon in making the decision.
Part VI
1
I was sitting next to a young girl who didn’t know her scheme very well.
“Where does 2900 Roteford go?” she asked me.
“Try throwing it to 33,” I told her.
The supervisor was talking to her.
“You say you’re from Kansas City? Both my parents were born in Kansas City.”
“Is that so?” said the girl. Then she asked me: “How about 8400 Meyers?”
“Give it to 18.” She was a little on the plump side but she was ready. I passed. I’d had it with the ladies for a while.
The supervisor was standing real close to her.
“Do you live far from work?”
“No.”
“Do you like your job?”
“Oh, yes.”
She turned to me.
“How about 6200 Albany?”
“16.”
When I finished my tray, the supervisor spoke to me:
“Chinaski, I timed you on that tray. It took you 28 minutes.”
I didn’t answer.
“Do you know what the standard is for that tray?”
“No, I don’t know.”
“How long have you been here?”
“Eleven years.”
“You’ve been here eleven years and you don’t know the standard?”
“That’s correct.”
“You stick mail as if you don’t care about it.”
The girl still had a full tray in front of her. We had begun our trays together.
“And you’ve been talking to this lady next to you.”
I lit a cigarette.
“Chinaski, come here a minute.”
He stood at the front of the tin cases and pointed. All the clerks were sticking very fast now. I watched them swinging their right arms frantically. Even the plump girl was jamming them home.
“See these numbers painted on the end of the case?”
“Yeh.”
“Those numbers indicate the number of pieces that must be stuck in a minute. A 2 foot tray must be stuck in 23 minutes. You ran 5 minutes over.”
He pointed to the 23. “23 minutes is standard.”
“That 23 doesn’t mean anything,” I said.
