Less than half of Dallas-area postal workers have access to air conditioned vehicles, the USPS said in a statement.
Kimetra Lewis, president of the Dallas chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers, says that despite frequent public attention on the issue, little is actually being done to protect postal workers from the Texas heat. The union chapter did not represent Thakkar, but his death renewed organizers’ calls for better conditions for letter carriers.
“There have not been any changes put in place since Eugene’s death,” said Lewis, referencing the Dallas postal worker, Eugene Gates, who died in 2023 of a heat-related illness after delivering mail on a day the heat index reached 113 degrees. “[The USPS has] their process that they claim that they’re going to do all this training, to ensure that letter carriers know in advance how to protect themselves. But that’s not working, and I can’t sit here and tell you that all letter carriers have gone through the training.”
Add your first comment to this post