Some of the other things you talked about may be much worse, but this not knowing when you're going to work or going to get off isn't exactly new. I went to work as a clerk in the Dallas Post Office in March, 1959. In those days, new clerks (and mail carriers) were known as "Subs"; i.e., substitutes. When we got off work, we checked a bulletin board to see what time to come to work tomorrow. It could be any time, but usually was between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. And you got off work when the supervisor told you to go home. You were guaranteed 2 hours and couldn't be required to stay more than 12, so you got off work sometime in there.:laughing:
But as with most jobs, much depended on the employee. A lot of subs complained that they weren't getting enough hours to make a living; some even quit for that reason. But all of us newer clerks started our day on the 3rd floor, running cancelling machines and doing the initial sorting of mail that had been mailed all over town that day. But through a little observation and just a few questions, I learned that when told to go home, some of the guys would go to the second floor where outgoing parcel post was sorted, and ask a supervisor if he needed more help. If not, then go to the 4th floor where they were sorting incoming mail and ask a supervisor there if he needed more help.
Those of us who did a decent job soon found those supervisors coming to the 3rd floor before we got off there to ask us to come help them when we were told to go home. It soon got to be a standing joke for 5 of us to ask if we could go home as soon as we got to work.:laughing: So I only averaged 48 hours a week; and almost never less than 40.
