I read your story about mail delays. I want to point out that it is happening around the country, not just in your few states.
There have been a few congressmen and senators who are fighting for us who work here at the U.S. Postal Service. Bernie Sanders is a big supporter. I hope this gets to him, to continue our fight.
I am a local union president of the American Postal Workers Union, and this struggle has been going on for over three years here at my processing and distribution center. It started with the constant understaffing of our buildings, working people to the bone. Now the time frame on which packages — and worse yet, our express packages — have to be delivered by is ludicrous.
Before Louis DeJoy became postmaster general, our express had to be delivered by noon, or 3 p.m. in more rural areas, but now it’s all by 6 p.m. Our express! That doesn’t seem too express, now, does it?
DeJoy expects you to pay more, but then slows down the time. A lot of people would get their regular mail before 6 p.m., so what’s the point?
In addition, if our FedEx plane is late with our express, our commitments stay the same. A couple of weeks ago, a storm went through Memphis, and we didn’t get our express all week. Some of it got trucked, but that didn’t make our commitment time, so all those customers could’ve gotten their money back.
DeJoy needs to be removed from the postmaster general job. The U.S. Postal Service employees are hard-working people who take pride in their jobs, but when upper management implements these decisions, it tears the morale out of what we do.
Jackie L. Riebel
South Bend, Indiana
Local chapter president, American Postal Workers Union