Already caught in a tightening squeeze on parking, employees at the Red Bank post office may now be facing a crackdown on the time they take from their posts to feed meters and move their cars, redbankgreen has learned.
A notice posted at the facility earlier today (that’s it at left; click to enlarge) informs postal workers they “must fill out a 3971 and have it signed by a supervisor” in order to leave the premises during work hours.
It’s not clear whether parking-related requests will be allowed. Darren Rose, the official who signed the notice, declined to comment when contacted by redbankgreen this afternoon. Rose’s notice also addresses timeclock and break issues.
But a postal employee says Rose is simply cracking down where enforcement of Postal Service rules has been lax in the past.
In part, the employee said, the USPS is concerned about liability in the event an employee is injured while away from his or her post. “Something happens to you outside, [officials will ask] ‘Did you check with the supervisor?”
But the crackdown is likely to make the workday that much more stressful for workers who say they can’t find cheap, long-term parking nearby, and must leave the post office every two hours to move their cars or feed meters.
More than a dozen postal workers — bolstered by Red Bank postmaster Leo Nara Leonard Oaks — pleaded with the borough council on March 24 not to shut down one of their best parking options: Hudson Avenue. They said Hudson, which had a two-hour limit in pace, was one of the last locations near the facility where they could reliably find spaces.
But bowing to complaints from residents who said their driveways were frequently impeded by postal employees’ cars, the council voted to impose resident-only parking on the street.
The effect was to increase the size of a residents-only zone that includes Branch and South streets as well as East Bergen Place.
Last month, Mayor Pasquale Menna hinted that it could soon include Leroy Place, too.
