LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The July newsletter to Branch 14 of the National Association of Letter Carriers paints a grim picture.
"We are hearing of situations where deliverable mail is just left on the floor, with no intention of being delivered today, and even tomorrow seems doubtful. And this is happening right here in Louisville," Executive Vice President Ron Gast wrote. "We have a station where I was told that up to 40 hours of deliverable mail was left in the office and never attempted, in one day. What are our customers to think when they hear of this? What are the carriers to think when they hear of this, and they themselves have been disciplined in the past for 'delaying mail?'"
The problems aren't just happening in Kentuckiana as post offices across the country are feeling the effects of changes made by the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, who has cut staff hours, changed mail transportation and implemented other policies in the name of financial necessity.
"All the reports we're getting from both the postal workers and from customers is in the last few weeks, mail service has been degraded and that's wrong for the postal service," American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein told PBS. "It's going to drive revenue and business away and it's really wrong for the people of the country."
"I’m not certain about all the negative political allegations that have been written about DeJoy, but I’ll be the first to say that his integrity and honor are questionable since his actions indicate he doesn’t respect our national agreement and employee rights," branch president Tony Weddle wrote in the newsletter. "It could be that he’s just clueless or a bit ignorant to postal operations."
While a lot of the focus has been the effects of USPS's declining services ahead of the general election, where millions of Americans are expected to cast their ballot by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic, some point to the effects this could have beyond the political landscape.
"The Postal Service's slowdown really is a challenge for our democracy, but they are hurting Americans every day regardless of politics and regardless of the election," Neera Tanden, the CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, said in a teleconference call Friday morning.
Many postal workers and supporters are calling on the federal government to provide funding for the USPS, which had already seen a decline in revenue and in the number of letters sent before the pandemic, and has been drastically affected by the coronavirus.
"That's why Congress needs to act," Dimondstein told PBS. "They had a chance in March with the CARES stimulus package. They took care of the private side and private corporations to the tune of $500 billion but refused to take care of the public sector and the public postal service."
The U.S. House has allocated $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service for revenue lost due to the pandemic in the HEROES Act, but the Republican-controlled Senate has not voted on the act and talks about another coronavirus stimulus package have stalled. Rep. John Yarmuth, D.-Kentucky District 3, said the two sides are closer than it appears and he expects some sort of coronavirus relief package to pass through Congress in the coming weeks.
"They voted for all the elements that were in the HEROES Act, and so now we're just arguing over money, and that should be the easiest thing to compromise," he said.