Nobody thought the Berlin Wall would ever crumble or that the movie "Titanic" would take in more money than the $200 million it cost to make. Does it seem far-fetched, then, to consider that peace and harmony are possible between labor and management at the U.S. Postal Service?

"When the labor agreement is violated this way, management should admit it is wrong and then sustain the grievance." Billy Quinn President National Postal Mail Handlers Union

Never say never. In the words of National Postal Mail Handlers Union President Billy Quinn, "Hope springs eternal." The blunt-talking union chief says: "It's no mystery of faith. Both sides know what the rules are. If you play by the rules, you don't have a problem."

The USPS is under internal and external pressures to deal with its labor-management tensions. In a report last October, the General Accounting Office (GAO) — the investigative arm of Congress said persistent labor problems have "generally contributed" to tense working conditions in postal facilities and lower productivity. The GAO noted that the number of grievances filed by employees has risen significantly. It now stands at about 108,000, up from about 68,000 two years ago. The GAO warned that uneasy labor relations could hinder the USPS as it tries to compete in a communications market that is rapidly changing.

To address these issues, quarterly "summit" sessions involving representatives from postal unions, management associations and headquarters managers are being held under the auspices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

"The Postal Service must make some changes if it's ever going to make an improvement in labor-management problems." Steve Smith President National Rural Letter Carriers' Association

Meanwhile, the image of festering labor-management discord at the USPS contrasts sharply with the success the Postal Service has registered in its bottom line.

How can things be going so well and so poorly at the same time? Everybody has an opinion. Is there a key that unlocks the door to labor-management peace at the Postal Service?

"The Postal Service must make some changes if it's ever going to make an improvement in labor-management problems," according to Steve Smith, president of the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA). "It needs to increase the level of trust."

Smith also says that the unions need to change their approach to labor-management relations.

"There are those in the labor unions who feel it is their role to keep some kind of disturbance going because they believe that their members expect it," says Smith. "That's not to say that the Postal Service doesn't have a fault in this. They have enough managers doing things wrong every day to cause some problems. But as far as overall labor-management peace, I think it's going to be a difficult goal to obtain because of the role that some union leaders perceive as required of them by their membership."

Smith brings to the discussion the perspective of someone who, prior to his election as NRLCA president in August 1997, spent time back on his route in Hulbert, OK, after serving as director of labor relations for the union.

"If we treat employees right, stay within the contract, what can anyone say? They won't have a gripe." Vince Palladino President National Association of Postal Supervisors

"If there is a focal point for all of us, I believe it is identifying those officers and those managers who generate conflict. We must be able to develop some kind of appropriate response for that. From a union point of view, I will be the first to say that many problems are generated by craft people. But when the craft person is identified and appropriate action taken, we at least reach some results. In the past, whenever it was determined that a management person was to blame for a situation, instead of being appropriately corrected, the person would be transferred to another facility without suffering the same consequences as a craft person."

Quinn, the mail handlers chief, says the biggest reason for the acrimony that exists on the workroom floor is that many supervisors knowingly and deliberately violate the terms of labor agreements and "do so with impunity."

The prescription to cure this seems simple to Quinn: "When the labor agreement is violated this way, management should admit it is wrong and then sustain the grievance."

Vince Palladino, the often-outspoken president of the National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS), says some supervisors have the same problems as craft employees in terms of their treatment by managers above them.

"It's not fair to have employees in some cases hanging by their thumbs and waiting months -- or years -- to resolve their grievances." Jack Potter Vice President USPS Labor Relations

"Some people think the unions are crying about nothing because that's the job of the shop steward," he says. "That may be true for some stewards but not for all of them. If supervisors do what's right, we will disarm those who want to continue to make grievances and continue to make problems. If we treat employees right, stay within the contract, what can anyone say? They won't have a gripe."

Palladino says the secret of success is to teach it from the top down. NAPS has instituted a leadership skills training program for managers and supervisors. The program, devised by Cornell University, covers such topics as "Infusing Positive Influences," "Resolving Conflict" and "Coaching for Peak Performance."

The main thrust of this program is to encourage first-line supervisors to manage their people, resolve grievances and follow the contract. "We are trying to encourage these supervisors to do the right thing," Palladino explains, "and not be pressured by others into doing the expedient thing, which often violates the contract, every time the crunch is on to get the mail out."

Like a marriage counselor advising a feuding wife and husband, Palladino says participants have to stop bringing up the past and move forward.

"People keep bringing up old horror stories instead of looking at where we are today and what we have to try to do to make it better in the future," he says. "It's okay when you start; you gotta yell at one another, get it off your chest. I don't know if the yelling's over yet. They may not be able to forget the old and concentrate on what we're trying to do in the future. I'm an optimist. If I weren't, wouldn't it be awful to be here, thinking it will never change?"

Senior postal officials acknowledge that problems in the workplace are bad for business. They admit that tens of thousands of grievances are a measure of labor-management discord that cannot be ignored.

"It's not fair to have employees in some cases hanging by their thumbs and waiting months or years to resolve their grievances," says Jack Potter, the new vice president of Labor Relations for the Postal Service. The former manager of Capital Metro Operations, which comprises Suburban Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia, says there is validity to some of the unions' complaints. To ease the grievance backlog, he supports alternate means of dispute resolution. For example, the National Association of Letter Carriers and postal management recently agreed to test a streamlined dispute resolution process.

Potter is quick to applaud the willingness of other postal unions to explore options designed to improve working relationships. He credits the American Postal Workers Union for its efforts to use "accelerated arbitration" to clear grievance backlogs and to test mediation and co-mediation of grievances. "It benefits everyone to find common ground to move forward together to build a better Postal Service," he adds.

Potter believes the key relationship in the Postal Service is the supervisor-employee relationship, and he says not enough attention is paid at this level to contract training.

"I think we need to do a better job of counseling both employees and supervisors on the contract so they can have some reasonable expectation that they will be dealt with in a fair and consistent manner," Potter says. "The long-term solution is to work very hard to have supervisors understand that the one and only asset they have to work with is the employees who work for them. They should value that relationship, nurture those employees, help them be productive and treat them with dignity and respect."

The NRLCA's Smith says he believes the Postal Service is finally coming to the realization that taking problem managers and moving them to different locations does not resolve the problem. With Midwestern common sense, Smith adds that actions speak louder than words.

"I've been in the Postal Service close to 40 years. I've seen the evolution from an absolute, dictatorial stance to at least a position where headquarters is saying that's not the type of manager they want in the ranks. The level of trust between unions and Postal Service must be increased, but the Postal Service holds the key in its selection of management personnel in various positions from headquarters to the field."

The retirement of Postmaster General Marvin Runyon also adds a new dimension to the future of union-management relations.

"The fact of the matter is that since Marvin Runyon became the postmaster general, the problems with the grievance procedure have hemorrhaged," says Quinn. "In November 1997, in front of a congressional committee, Runyon boldly stated that the Postal Service was going to focus its attention on listening to the voice of the employee and resolve the massive backlog in grievances. Then, Runyon announces he's resigning. How this will affect things, God only knows."

Quinn says the ongoing labor-management problems should be the top priority of the next postmaster general. He also would like to see some sharing of the wealth resulting from three straight years of USPS surpluses. The Postal Service will be bargaining with its unions again later this year.

"It only seems right that the craft employees get a commensurate reward for the hard work they've put in," Quinn says. "I'm optimistic that a new postmaster general will look at it more realistically, and put people in various managerial positions who will look favorably on a harmonious labor relations climate."

Note: The National Association of Letter Carriers Union and the American Postal Workers Union were invited to participate in this article but declined. The invitation remains open.

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