PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Mail carriers and postal workers protested in Portland Monday, saying staffing shortages are hurting the post office’s performance.
The protest took place on Presidents Day, a day the unions of postal office workers pushed the federal government to recognize in the 70s. It comes as neighborhoods in Washington, Minnesota and Texas reported several days without mail.
Workers say they want the post office to be a place where people want to work again. The post office has announced delays for first-class mail, but workers demonstrating Monday say neighborhood delays are the result of overstretched workers.
Representatives for the Portland Chapter of the American Postal Workers Union say their members have worked 12-hour days, seven days a week because when the postal service began taking packages from Amazon, they agreed to deliver on Sundays. Workers say that the move is hurting recruitment and retainment, leading to staffing shortages that are amplifying the postal service’s efficiency.
“We lose a lot of people that love the post office and want to work there and they end up going to different jobs because we don’t have the wages or the benefits,” USPS letter carrier Rogue Robertson.
They take aim at Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year plan. DeJoy says it’s to minimize losses and restructure the post office to be more efficient– last year the post office saved $500 million in losses.
But all workers say they see are more work, fewer benefits and worse results.
“Under Postmaster general DeJoy, we have seen that (get) worse. We have not only seen the service standards erode, but the attitude toward the mail has changed. It’s not uncommon for first class mail, even in Portland, take days to get from one Portland address to another,” said Danuel Cortez with the Portland Chapter of the American Postal Workers Union. “We are seeing mandated overtime across the board.”
In his report to the USPS Board of Governors, DeJoy pointed to the post office losses shrinking in the last year from $1.5 billion to $1 billion. DeJoy says it means “this is a new postal service recognizing it’s a new day in a new economy, and we’re leading the way to improve this cherished institution.”