Mail Delivery, Vote Mail For Elections Threatened As New USPS Head Moves To Slow Mail Delivery
Last edited Wed Jul 15, 2020, 09:16 PM - Edit history (1)
"Attempted Murder of Your Post Office": Outrage as Trump Crony Now Heading USPS Moves to Slow Mail Delivery
"The deliberate delaying of Americans' mail delivery would be a stunning act of sabotage against our Postal Service."
By Jake Johnson, staff writer, Common Dreams, July 15, 2020.
Postal workers and their allies in Congress are vowing to fight back after the new head of the U.S. Postal Service—a major donor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party—moved this week to impose sweeping changes to the popular government agency as it faces a financial crisis manufactured by lawmakers and exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Washington Post reported late Tuesday that Postmaster General (PMG) Louis DeJoy, who took charge last month, issued memos announcing "major operational changes" to the USPS "that could slow down mail delivery, warning employees the agency would not survive unless it made 'difficult' changes to cut costs."
- "With our states now reliant on mail voting to continue elections during the pandemic, the destabilizing of the post office is a direct attack on American democracy itself." - Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr.
"Analysts say the documents present a stark reimagining of the USPS that could chase away customers—especially if the White House gets the steep package rate increases it wants—and put the already beleaguered agency in deeper financial peril as private-sector competitors embark on hiring sprees to build out their own delivery networks," the Post noted. According to the internal USPS memos (pdf) obtained by the Post, "DeJoy told employees to leave mail behind at distribution centers if it delayed letter carriers from their routes," a change critics said could threaten access to absentee ballots at a time when vote-by-mail is more important than ever.
If the plants run late, they will keep the mail for the next day," reads a document titled, "New PMG's expectations and plan." "The deliberate delaying of Americans' mail delivery would be a stunning act of sabotage against our Postal Service," Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) said in a statement. "If these reports are accurate, Trump and his cronies are openly seeking to destroy the Post Office during the worst public health crisis in a century." "With our states now reliant on mail voting to continue elections during the pandemic, the destabilizing of the post office is a direct attack on American democracy itself," Pascrell added.
- "It has been 59 days since the House passed $25 billion to keep USPS alive. The Senate must pass it now. Democracy hangs in the balance." - Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr.
> With the USPS at risk of completely running out of cash by the end of September without an infusion of emergency funding, postal workers and members of Congress have warned that the Trump administration could attempt to exploit the agency's financial struggles to advance the longstanding right-wing goal of privatizing USPS. In March, Congress approved a $10 billion emergency USPS loan, but the Treasury Department has yet to release the funds as the Trump administration attempts to use the money as leverage to force changes to the agency's finances and operations.
Mark Dimondstein, president of the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union, said in response to the Post's reporting that his organization will vigorously oppose the new operational changes sought by DeJoy. "This is not something that as postal workers we should accept." —Mark Dimondstein.
U.S. Mail Not for Sale, a worker-led coalition dedicated to protecting the Postal Service from right-wing privatization efforts, is urging Americans to take part in a July 23 call-in day of action urging the Senate to approve desperately needed financial relief for USPS...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/15/attempted-murder-your-post-office-outrage-trump-crony-now-heading-usps-moves-slow
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*Washington Post: "Mail Could Be Delayed As New Postal Head Pushes Cost- Cutting," By Matthew Daly, AP, July 15, '20.
WASHINGTON — Mail deliveries could be delayed by a day or more under cost-cutting efforts being imposed by the new postmaster general. The plan eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and says employees must adopt a “different mindset” to ensure the Postal Service’s survival during the coronavirus pandemic.
Late trips will no longer be authorized. If postal distribution centers are running late, “they will keep the mail for the next day,’’ Postal Service leaders say in a document obtained by The Associated Press. “One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that — temporarily — we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks,’’ another document says.
The changes come a month after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump, took over the sprawling mail service. In a memo titled “PMG Expectations and Plan,’’ the agency said the changes are aimed at “making the USPS fundamentally solvent which we are not at this time.’’
The memo cites deep revenue losses from a decade long decline in mail deliveries that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and says an overdue “operational pivot” is needed to ensure the agency’s health and stability. Postal Service officials, bracing for steep losses from the nationwide shutdown caused by the virus, have warned they will run out of money by the end of September without help from Congress. The service reported a $4.5 billion loss for the quarter ending in March, before the full effects of the shutdown sank in.
Single-piece, first-class mail volume fell 15 to 20% week to week in April and May, agency leaders told Congress. Losses will increase by more than $22 billion over the next 18 months, they said...
More, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mail-could-be-delayed-as-new-postal-head-pushes-cost-cutting/2020/07/15/d89c7120-c6d7-11ea-a825-8722004e4150_story.html
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I read about this in another thread. I think my blood pressure went up 50 points. Having to bite my tongue.
