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delivering for america
Sanders and Senate Dems Warn Louis DeJoy: Don't Mess With Postal Workers or Mail Delivery
"The Postal Service is at its best when it treats its workers right and delivers mail in a timely fashion. We therefore urge you to prevent facility changes or outright closures that will result in any job losses and slower mail."
Mar 13, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday led a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about the potential impacts of mail processing facility reviews that are underway as part of the United States Postal Service leader's controversial decadelong Delivering for America plan.
Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), and 19 Democrats explained that the process is underway at 59 locations across 35 states, and while the USPS claims "there will be no career layoffs or slowed service, we are concerned these facility reviews will functionally result in both."
"In many instances, outgoing mail processing will move hundreds of miles to a regional facility, outside reasonable commuting distance and, in some cases, to another state entirely," they noted. "In Vermont, mail processing at the Burlington and White River Junction facilities will likely transfer to a facility in Hartford, Connecticut, distances of around 230 and 145 miles, respectively."
"Wyoming, Vermont, and New Hampshire are set to lose all outgoing mail processing from within the state," the letter highlights. Along with offering more examples from Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, and Oregon, it warns that possible reassignments and layoffs come "at a time when the Postal Service is struggling with both turnover and ensuring consistent service across the network."
"While the Postal Service continues to work toward financial stability, it cannot come at the expense of the many small businesses, seniors, and other Americans who rely on the Postal Service for their daily life."
The letter says that "for communities near facilities under review, it is unclear how local first-class mail will meet its two-day standard while traveling hundreds of miles for sorting. This is especially concerning for Americans who need reliable and expedient mail service to conduct business, pay their bills, receive medications, and stay in touch with loved ones."
"It is also highly troubling for many of the Postal Service's most loyal customers, such as home delivery medication companies and newspaper publishers," the letter continues, stressing that the USPS "competes with private services for market share."
"For rural communities across the impacted states, the loss of local jobs—at the Postal Service and nearby businesses that serve postal workers—and even slower mail service represent further setbacks to the revitalization of rural life," the senators warned. "While the Postal Service continues to work toward financial stability, it cannot come at the expense of the many small businesses, seniors, and other Americans who rely on the Postal Service for their daily life."
They concluded that "the Postal Service is at its best when it treats its workers right and delivers mail in a timely fashion. We therefore urge you to prevent facility changes or outright closures that will result in any job losses and slower mail."
Their letter was also sent to the USPS Board of Governors, which has two vacancies. Under pressure from critics of DeJoy and his austerity plan, U.S. President Joe Biden last month nominated former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to fill one of them.
As Government Executivedetailed at the time:
The former secretary's confirmation would give Biden his sixth nominee to sit on the board that has nine presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed slots. Lee Moak and Bill Zollars both saw their terms expire in December and their seats have been vacant ever since. Walsh would be the fourth Democrat to sit on the board, joining three Republicans and one Independent. Federal statute requires no more than five members of the board be of the same party, meaning Biden could choose another Democrat to fill the remaining vacancy.
The Board of Governors selects the postmaster-general and appointed DeJoy, a former businessman and GOP donor, in 2020 under former Republican President Donald Trump—the presumptive nominee to face Biden in the November election. Throughout DeJoy's tenure, opponents of his policies to slow mail and hike prices have demanded his ouster.
Axiosreported Wednesday that "a growing number of metro Atlantans say important mail ranging from wedding invitations to legal documents is missing or arriving days late," due to delays at a facility in Palmetto. The outlet noted that "this past December, 13 Democratic and Republican members of Georgia's congressional delegation demanded answers from... DeJoy about breakdowns in mail service delivery leading up to the holiday season."
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'We Won't Be Silenced!' Protesters Decry DeJoy at USPS Meeting
Defenders of the U.S. Postal Service are warning about an austerity plan by the Trump-appointed postmaster general that "will slash jobs and shrink processing centers and post offices."
Feb 08, 2024
As the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors on Thursday held a meeting in Washington, D.C., frustrated USPS workers, customers, and union officials rallied outside to protest a new limit on public comment and the agency's austerity plan.
While the quarterly meetings have previously included an hour of in-person and virtual public testimony, the USPS board has shifted to only taking comments once annually, a move that outraged critics of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy—a GOP donor appointed under former President Donald Trump—and his 10-year "Delivering for America" plan.
"We won't be silenced!" read signs held by protesters on Thursday that urged the board to allow public testimony.
"Let us tell the truth about DeJoy's 10-year plan," the signs added, calling for an end to cuts, closures, and mail delays.
"Thousands of postal jobs will be eliminated, and tens of thousands of employees will be faced with relocating to a new job, possibly a couple of hundred miles away, or ending their careers at the Postal Service."
In a statement about Thursday's protest, an American Postal Workers Union local and Communities and Postal Workers United noted that opponents of the plan have long argued it "will slash jobs and shrink processing centers and post offices."
The groups pointed to recent remarks from Steve Hutkins, a retired New York University English professor who runs the advocacy group and website Save the Post Office.
"Thousands of postal jobs will be eliminated, and tens of thousands of employees will be faced with relocating to a new job, possibly a couple of hundred miles away, or ending their careers at the Postal Service," he told The Guardian in December.
"The consolidations will also create excess space in processing facilities that will then be used to house a sorting and delivery center, which relocates letter carriers away from post offices," Hutkins explained. "The carriers will need to drive 10 or 20 miles to their routes, which will increase costs and pollution."
"And the excess space at the post office, where the carriers used to work, will lead to post office closures and relocations of retail services to smaller spaces," he warned. "In the meantime, postal rates go up, volume goes down, jobs are eliminated, service deteriorates."
There are currently two empty spots on the USPS board. As Common Dreamsreported last week, dozens of Democrats led by Congressmen Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) urged U.S. President Joe Biden to "swiftly" fill those seats.
"Despite the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act, the Postal Service still faces a litany of challenges," they wrote. "Five price hikes since 2020, continual service delivery problems, and constant declines in mail volume are all indicators that the business model of the Postal Service needs careful attention."
Welcoming the Democrats' letter, Revolving Door Project senior researcher Vishal Shankar declared that "Americans are fed up with DeJoy's mismanagement of USPS. From his fanatical devotion to price hikes, mail slowdowns, and job cuts to his refusal to build the next-gen postal fleet fully union and electric, Louis DeJoy keeps demonstrating he is grossly unfit to lead USPS."
"America desperately needs a postal board that will end DeJoy's destructive agenda to privatize the post office," Shankar added. "I applaud House Democrats for speaking out at a critical time for USPS—President Biden must stop dragging his feet on these nominations, and take the bipartisan win of saving the people's most treasured public institution. After a yearlong delay, it's past time for the president to fill these seats with public servants who will protect and expand our public Postal Service—not more corporate hacks who will enable DeJoy."
This post has been updated to clarify that Louis DeJoy was appointed under but not by former President Donald Trump.
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