THE FIRST STEP - WELCOME TO THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE

[Music] the things man wants food good food preferably that his wife and family can all enjoy clothing clothing to cover and hopefully to make one more beautiful a roof over his head not just for its shelter but for the pleasure of the things that he can accumulate to make his life richer and more comfortable a man likes to stretch his muscles and test his skills for the fun of it just as he takes pride in doing his best on the job it's not unusual that people who have Reg work know that they can meet their needs today and build their security for the future nor is it unusual for people to want to improve themselves their personality their talent their culture It's Not Unusual that a man and a woman want things things that bring joy and a sense of fulfillment into their lives what is unusual is that everyone we have seen so far is part of the post office [Music] family the first step the first step into the school room the first step onto a new job is always shaky you can stumble fall flat on your face and it's not because you're not sure footed because most people always get butterflies when they start something new welcome to the post office family and it is a large you're not the first person or the only person who's new at the post office there's someone just like you doing the same thing today in Detroit Los Angeles Chicago New York and Newark and in smaller towns like Providence and Albuquerque Springfield and Fresno columia Ashtabula and you name it the same as you did I say not really some of us just came to try to pick up a few months pay and then split others figure a year or two if it works out and still others who have a serious desire to make a career in the Postal Service know that it will work out because they will make the effort to make sure it works out one thing for sure the the post office can always use people who are willing and able to do a good job and it's not a temporary need you must use this badge card to record your time and record your time accurately so take care of this if you want to be paid but paydays are if he wants to be paid sure he wants to be paid man Employee Retirement which may be a long way off since this is your first day of employment that health insurance I could use a couple of as right now annual leave there will be sick leave and night differential for those of you who work at night you will be I wonder what I've got myself into then there's life insurance which will protect your family I'm hungry in the event it is needed and now we're going to take you on a tour of our post office we're going to show you on film some of the things that you might be doing in your career as a postal employee all over the country heavy mail deposits are made at the close of the business day and so the Postal Service gets its heaviest burden of work when most business days end a business letter sent tonight is often delivered the next morning all over the country large am amounts of mail are being collected from business concerns Banks mail order houses insurance companies utility companies and the thousands of other kinds of large mail users and in a thousand different cities towns and Villages the same things are going on in residential areas these mail collections are hurried to the post office where they unload the mail for sorting routing and deliver to its destination unloading the mail sacks at the post office is the first of a series of procedures which speeds the mail towards its destination maale handlers start breaking down the bulk of the mail by removing those pieces that are oversized or odd-shaped which cannot be processed by the cancelling machine this is called culling mail that cannot be canceled by machine is hand cancelled [Music] most of the mail is faced and cancelled by Machine the operator feeds the mail into the facer cancel machine an electric eye finds the stamp the stamp is automatically cancelled and then the envelopes are faced correctly the LSM is short for letter sorting machine a skill bu operator at the keyboard reads and routes mail as fast as the machine positions a letter in front of [Music] her this letter sorting machine has no keyboards because it is connected to an OCR short for optical character reader an electronic device that actually reads printed or typewritten addresses and automatically directs them to the proper sorting bins of this LSM with over 200 million potential mail users in America and the promise of more it is easy to understand the importance of these machines for serving the needs of the public this man is placing mail flow codes on trays so that they will drop off in their proper places automatically mail to New York for New York Dispatch Dallas but koku San Diego to its dispatch Place Alaska another not all m can be handled by Machine skilled hands will always be needed to speed the mail towards its destination this clerical Force has mastered a scheme of distribution and can distribute the mail rapidly and accurately mail between connecting cities or suburbs is not always processed at the main city post office if a letter is mailed from Queens Long Island to White Plains or from Glendale to Santa Monica a metropolitan interchange system transfers the mail and sends it directly to the community where it will be sorted processed and delivered special delivery as the name implies get special Expediting at the post office and delivery to the address e by special delivery Messengers what is sent through the mail can be long and narrow small and heavy square round or odd ball the mail comes in all sizes and shapes sometimes it even cheaps we've seen the procedures of handling and the processing of incoming mail Distributing the outgoing mail follows a similar pattern almost in reverse the mail is placed in Sachs to be delivered to the post office nearest its final destination huge trailer trucks provide the links between cities so critically needed since railroads schedule fewer trains large air mail shipments are containerized for contract Air Freight and Air line carriers orange sacks mean air mail they receive priority treatment green Sachs carry first class mail that travels by air when space is available giant airliners lift tons of mail across a vast country with every major city only a few hours away frequent schedules of air liners give quick and efficient transport of the mail some postal employees are respons responsible for the receipt of mail transported by air and they expedite the distribution process Metropolitan deliveries are made from Central post offices to carrier branches and stations and then delivered by the male carriers they deliver wherever the mail must go large and small offices alike concentrated developments and single residences isolated Hill sides made accessible by special vehicles remote places Country Places from the biggest cities to the smallest hamlets country USA keeps in touch through the pickups and deliveries of the legendary rural carrier those who are new in the postal system sometimes have difficulty relating the importance of their job to the overall picture yet Every Man's work provides a link in the chain of operations that move the mail postal employees soon learn the responsibility or trust that is put upon them in handling the mail and how their personal Integrity preserves what we call the sanctity of the mail feeding thousands of letters into machines hour after hour can make a person forget that every letter has a significance an importance to someone a tiny piece of mail to announce the arrival of a new little citizen a letter that means food and comfort and medical Aid a message from a lonesome Air Base to brighten the memories of a loving mother the male is the only contact for those far away from their birthplace we live in a world of people and in this people world nothing is more important than Communications the mail is our most primary and necessary line of communication carrying the thoughts and ideas of one person to another bringing education information and advice the maale transports our federal reserve and it carries the dollar that helps send the child to Camp it affords the Avenues of recourse and redress for our personal affairs it carries our will to our representatives and does much to improve the quality of government the mail is important to everyone who sends it and everyone who receives it it is most important to those who are entrusted with its Safe [Music] Handling are there any questions from any of you I know there's a lot to remember in that picture I was confused when I first came into the post office what with the schemes and the routing and the Machinery but nothing would work right the maale couldn't move if it weren't for good people people who started here just like you today I was told to report to section 120 uh what type of work do they do there well you'll be working on the dock and that's where mail handers load and unload trailers now the work is hard but it's necessary and a big fell like you shouldn't have any trouble down there anyway [Music] your supervisor is interested in your well-being he'll show you the right way to lift and give you other safety [Music] advice loading and unloading isn't easy work but it's got to be done whether it's the post office or a produce market an auto parts factory or any place where materials have to be moved I heard there were three places to start at the post office well you must mean the three largest job groupings the mail handler the clerks the letter carrier and there's maintenance people for Machinery buildings and vehicles Vehicle drivers and their special delivery Messengers what do new clerks do oh there are many kinds of things you can be assigned to but you'll probably probably start in the mail sorting at first it will come slow but your rate of speed and sorting will increase when you get to know the case and later you'll be learning a scheme the scheme they take the word scheme pretty seriously around here but now I know that a post office scheme is a system for separating and routing mail since I've learned the scheme things go much faster sometimes I think this is pretty routine and it can get pretty boring then I get to thinking about the place I used to work at back in Missouri they were going to promote me to being an inspector an inspector looking for cracks and Bottles talk about boring I guess all production line work gets pretty routine but at least what I do has a purpose that I believe in oh I suppose a person can receive a nasty letter just like he can get a sweet one and there are bills in here just as many as there are checks it's factory work all right and it can get a little tiring but Santa Claus has got a workshop too indeed Santa Claus has his Workshop but he traded in his reindeer years ago for the delivery services of the US mail [Music] if you ever wanted to figure out just how important the postal service is at Christmas just think how far Santa Claus could get without his reindeer even though man has learned how to travel in space he is still limited to being in one place at a time the postal worker should learn to confine his celebrating so that it doesn't affect his [Music] work some new employees assigned to night shifts or weekend work act as if it's a plot against them but it's not mail moves at night Airline and Airport employees work at night so do the people who run the railroad buses move around the clock some truckers are night drivers essential Services must be provided 24 hours a day for those who go out at night and for the many others who work those of you who will become letter carriers can expect that most of your time will be spent Outdoors you'll get to know what to look forward to and what to avoid but the preparation for your day starts with your setting up a routing delivery case for the m ma you'll deliver you'll learn to keep a route book current and use it for forwarding of mail and filing changes of addresses to collect postage due and obtain the proper receipts for accountable mail you'll be entrusted with master keys so that you'll have access to mailboxes for delivery eventually you will become an experienced letter carrier with your day in the Sun that is when it's not raining or snowing we need people who like to meet the public to sell stamps to do the many other things that must be done to move the mail about weekends can we count on any uh we can say yes or no as a promise and I don't want to mislead you because you need seniority before you have a real choice of any workshift but working weekend isn't as bad as you might think stores during the week are not as crowded as Saturday the park the zoo tennis courts you can even get on to a golf course during the week yes I just signed on as a substitute if I do okay I mean like is there any chance for steady that reminds me of another fellow who came here temporarily so you are just here temporarily H well there's no guarantee that you can get on permanent but there's always a good chance many people when they take a job just think of it as temporary and frankly I did but now 24 years later I have to re-evaluate the meaning of that word temporary a little bit a lot of things can happen in a man's Lifetime and a job with the post office has been the foundation of a lot of families and successful careers of course when you're new at it it's rough and you have to sweat out the getting acquainted period and the time between promotions but there are other compensations I think of the post office service sometimes as if it were a life stream it is a mainstream of communication moving the mail may be just a job but the mail itself is important when you get settled down to your jobs and get to know some of the employees who've been here a while you'll begin to understand what I mean get a truck over here for those outsides here's the Nixie hey you get off that skit herey watch out for that nutting truck headat the Slugs out of the AIS that's not a work area Spike the skin send me the bum hey you you have to get out of the way son something wrong got Traveler what's a Nixie a Nixie is a piece of mail that has something wrong with it in the post office we use our own language bums are empty bags large hles are called ARG get it it takes a while but you'll get it the first few weeks I thought i' blow my mind after that I sort of got used to it now I don't feel like I'm in the way much I'm more part of it City dispatch time dispatch time City dispatch time dispatch time you must be new here what do you mean new I've been working here for 6 months how about you 6 months and 22 years play golf golf no too bad one of our porom drained a ligament good game you ought to learn it Go Go most large post offices operate cafeterias and snack areas where employees can have a good hot breakfast lunch or dinner at prices they can't match on the outside meal times are important Beyond nutrition new employees get a chance to meet others who can teach them not only the skills of their jobs but how to live a little better life it's a chance to exchange stories and experiences a chance to complain a little a chance to relate what you are doing with what the other person does and learn from their experience poor kid she must be starved food at last M first week I wouldn't want to go through that again another little one taking her first step what a pretty dress she must be important I wish they changed the menu in here every Thursday Salsbury steak I love Salsberry steak but every Thursday well I'm not going to take her by the hand nobody took me she's new and timid I'll have to let her know that we like her I didn't come here to get stuck in a great big cold Barn nights and be pushing weights well that's not exactly the way we see it and don't give me any of that through rain and snow and hail business it may have been good enough for my old man but it ain't good enough for me I hadn't intended to bring that up seems we have a failure to communicate yeah you know the post office needs people who are willing to go to work when you first came here you wanted to go to work what happened to change your mind I ain't changed but one man tells me one thing then another man tells me something else first I'm going to be here then I'm going to be there and I'm nowhere well I see your point but we're all here to move the mail sometimes we have to move people to get the job done yeah but you get pushed around all your life then you get pushed back and forth on the job well you have a right to complain and we're trying to make improvements here too well I I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself no if you really have a problem I want to hear it well I don't want to be a look if I can help you I help myself now let's get to the bottom of this well if you really want to talk about postal employees receive paid vacations we also have a credit union you may join it permits you to invest your savings and gain interest it also allows you to borrow money at favorable rates after you've been here for a certain period of time but I want to caution you about something make sure you learn how to live on what you make learn how to save watch your charge accounts and deal with people who have a good reputation the Postal Service cooperates with a number of medical plans and it is developing an improved health program safety experts are on a constant drive to improve safety conditions for all employees counselors are available to employees who seek advice about housing and transportation problems and personal affairs you will be one of this Legion of over 700,000 who are responsible for the mail in our 50 states how you will fair in your work how you adjust to conditions how you will react to the benefits and the difficulties cannot be guaranteed it's partially the post office's responsibility but it's yours as well the rain and the snow and the hail that our faithful couriers face to deliver their sacred trust the maale may be a strange language to those today who are more concerned with now rather than tradition but who is to say they are not serving just as their fathers do a lonesome parcel sorting area at night is this man's rain and snow and hail and even if he doesn't agree to the words of an Old Post Office tradition he is performing its task for some people the post office has provided the basis for raising a family putting children through college and pleasant retirement for others it has provided security and given them the opportunity to extend their personal interests and abilities the same clever fingers that play exciting music on this keyboard lend their talent to a post office keyboard and the patience and exactness that goes into a golf stroke is the patience and exactness that is expected of a man who performs a vital service to his community the opportunity to find oneself in a community of people who respond on to one another's personal problems is here and the chance to better oneself is here too that doesn't mean the pay raises and promotions are easy to come by it does mean that the opportunity to have a steady income is offered some people build their world slowly but more surely when they live within their means their patience may not be totally rewarded but their life can be rewarded in many different ways what does the postal system expect from you a good day's work and in exchange you expect a good day's pay now you've heard that a job in the postal system can provide security and the proof of the fact is that the needs of hundreds of thousands of families are satisfied with a regular paycheck but when a man has food clothing and shelter assured he often looks for something more he may want the satisfaction of knowing that he's doing something worthwhile something with purpose something important the postal system stands high on the list of vital Services any jar no matter how small it may seem that helps move the mail safely towards its destination is an important job to understand its importance you'd have to travel with every letter and package to its destination you're not a doctor yet in one piece of mail there is important medical information you're not a lawyer or a Statesman or a scientist and yet through your hands speeds information that is vital to these professions you're not an architect or corporate Treasurer but you provide the communicational link between Planning and Building between companies and stockholders take credit for helping doctors lawyers businessmen understand that when you do your job helping move the mail you're helping The Architects and Builders of mankind time and if you do the best job you know how take satisfaction that you are contributing in your own way towards a better world a world in which you have found your [Music] place for