Across the region, businesses and residents are complaining that spotty mail delivery is delaying checks, bills and medications, but with about 100 vacancies for Postal Service workers in Maine and a low unemployment rate, it’s not clear service will improve any time soon.
As delivery problems persist, mail carriers are feeling the backlash.
Mark Seitz, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 92, based in Portland, characterized the current staffing issues as major, and it’s a problem that existed even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Seitz said that mail carriers are dealing with “a lot of lashing out” from the public right now. “What I want to emphasize is: Listen, we’re trying. We’re there every day, but there’s only so many people that can deliver mail. … We’re working as long and as hard as we can.”
Right now, carriers are working seven days a week, often as much as 80 or 90 hours, Seitz said, and still can’t complete deliveries on their routes.