Who is our employer?

You might think this question a little silly - as letter carriers, we are employed by the U.S. Postal Service. However, as union activists, who is our "employer"? And as Officers, who is our employer? I submit that it is the MEMBERSHIP that is the employer of our Branch Officers, and of our Union Activists. So - as the employer of our Branch, are we doing the best possible job?

Management, the textbook says, is the process of "planning, organizing, directing, and controlling an organization's resources to achieve it's goals" (p. 144). Is this being done well? If not, what are we going to do about it?

One thing that concerns me is the unemployment and/or underemployment of some of our greatest assets. Our members, and our union activists, are NOT being asked or allowed to contribute all that they might wish to - and WOULD, if only we operated in a better fashion. Look around you - don't you see individuals who have a lot on the ball, and yet they're not in the ballgame? Or they're in the game, but they're placed in the wrong spot - the homerun hitter is used as a pitcher, or the cather is asked to be a short stop? (I'm actually out of my league, here, with this analygy, but - you get the point...) Or - they don't get the support they need - the cheerleader is forced to act as coach, and the manager is out in left field!

As Union members, we form the foundation of our Board of Directors: we give the orders to our employees, the Officers. And when they're not working for us, we fire them. We let them go. We ask for their resignation. And when they're doing great - do we treat them well enough? No? Then we had better get our act together!

Most of us are very uncomfortable with the idea of being an employer - it goes against our self-image. Nevertheless, if we don't do our job correctly, our business suffers. Our customers quit. Our Union grows weaker, or splinters, or just slip-slides away.

If there is merit to this economic/athletic analogy, what will we do about it?