Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Top Democrats say postmaster general acknowledged new policies that workers say are delaying mail
Hat tip, Joe.My.God.
Postmaster Admits To Dems That He’s Slowed Mail
August 7, 2020
The Washington Post reports:
Read the full article.
August 7, 2020
The Washington Post reports:
The head of the U.S. Postal Service acknowledged in a meeting with top Democrats that he instituted new policies restricting overtime and extra mail processing trips, moves that the agency previously downplayed and that postal workers say have caused mail backlogs, according to a letter released Thursday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.).
Pelosi and Schumer met with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Wednesday to discuss reports of those delays, which have reverberated through this year’s primaries by slowing the delivery of absentee ballots. Internal Postal Service documents obtained by The Washington Post show that postal employees have been barred from working overtime hours and instructed to leave mail behind if it is processed late.
Read the full article.
Politics
Top Democrats say postmaster general acknowledged new policies that workers say are delaying mail
The Postal Service had previously played down the changes that employees say have caused days-long backlogs
By Jacob Bogage
August 6, 2020 at 5:37 p.m. EDT
The head of the U.S. Postal Service acknowledged in a meeting with top Democrats that he instituted new policies restricting overtime and extra mail processing trips, moves that the agency previously downplayed and that postal workers say have caused mail backlogs, according to a letter released Thursday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.).
The Postal Service had previously played down the changes both to lawmakers and the press. In a July 22 letter to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate committee responsible for postal oversight, Postal Service general counsel and executive vice president Thomas J. Marshall wrote, “Neither document .?.?. should be characterized as being ‘official Postal Service memoranda,’?” and that “neither document originated from Postal Service Headquarters.”
But Pelosi and Schumer wrote Friday that the postmaster general, a former logistics executive and major Republican donor, acknowledged that the Postal Service had implemented the procedures. They called on him to immediately rescind the directives.
“At this meeting, you confirmed that, contrary to certain prior denials and statements minimizing these changes, the Postal Service recently instituted operational changes shortly after you assumed the position of Postmaster General,” the letter states. “These changes include reductions of overtime availability, restrictions on extra mail transportation trips, testing of new mail sorting and delivery policies at hundreds of Post Offices, and the reduction of the number and use of processing equipment at mail processing plants.”
{snip}
Jacob Bogage
Jacob Bogage writes about sports for The Post, where he has worked since 2015. He previously covered the automotive and manufacturing industries for the Business section. Follow https://twitter.com/jacobbogage
Top Democrats say postmaster general acknowledged new policies that workers say are delaying mail
The Postal Service had previously played down the changes that employees say have caused days-long backlogs
By Jacob Bogage
August 6, 2020 at 5:37 p.m. EDT
The head of the U.S. Postal Service acknowledged in a meeting with top Democrats that he instituted new policies restricting overtime and extra mail processing trips, moves that the agency previously downplayed and that postal workers say have caused mail backlogs, according to a letter released Thursday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.).
The Postal Service had previously played down the changes both to lawmakers and the press. In a July 22 letter to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate committee responsible for postal oversight, Postal Service general counsel and executive vice president Thomas J. Marshall wrote, “Neither document .?.?. should be characterized as being ‘official Postal Service memoranda,’?” and that “neither document originated from Postal Service Headquarters.”
But Pelosi and Schumer wrote Friday that the postmaster general, a former logistics executive and major Republican donor, acknowledged that the Postal Service had implemented the procedures. They called on him to immediately rescind the directives.
“At this meeting, you confirmed that, contrary to certain prior denials and statements minimizing these changes, the Postal Service recently instituted operational changes shortly after you assumed the position of Postmaster General,” the letter states. “These changes include reductions of overtime availability, restrictions on extra mail transportation trips, testing of new mail sorting and delivery policies at hundreds of Post Offices, and the reduction of the number and use of processing equipment at mail processing plants.”
{snip}
Jacob Bogage
Jacob Bogage writes about sports for The Post, where he has worked since 2015. He previously covered the automotive and manufacturing industries for the Business section. Follow https://twitter.com/jacobbogage
12 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Mail industry experts said the documents — a slide show and talking points about new mail handling procedures — described a “sea change” in postal policy, re-envisioning an institution older than the nation itself as a for-profit arm of the government. One memo cited U.S. Steel, a onetime industry titan that was slow to adapt to market changes, to illustrate what is at stake.
“This is framing the U.S. Postal Service, a 245-year-old government agency, and comparing it to its competitors that could conceivably go bankrupt,” said Philip Rubio, a professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University and a former postal worker. “Comparing it to U.S. Steel says exactly that ‘We are a business, not service.’ That’s troubling.”
“This is framing the U.S. Postal Service, a 245-year-old government agency, and comparing it to its competitors that could conceivably go bankrupt,” said Philip Rubio, a professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University and a former postal worker. “Comparing it to U.S. Steel says exactly that ‘We are a business, not service.’ That’s troubling.”
There it is -- a service that is not privatized and is not for profit is being treated as though it is a business that should be producing profit for the government rather than providing the vital services it always has to the citizen. smh
