USPS Changes Are “Destroying the Postal Service,” Workers Warn
iStock
Mail prices have gone up. Deliveries have slowed down. And those are just some of the changes that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has undergone over the past few years. When Louis DeJoy took over as Postmaster General in 2020, he vowed to overhaul the entire agency in order to pull it out of financial and operational ruin. In March 2021, he unveiled a 10-year transformation plan called Delivering for America (DFA), and this initiative has prompted a near-constant flow of adjustments. But DeJoy’s plans are not going over well with everyone, including USPS employees. Read on to find out why some workers are saying that these changes are “destroying the Postal Service.”
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
iStock
Under the DFA, DeJoy is working to restructure practically every part of the Postal Service—including how its workers are paid.
The Rural Route Evaluated Compensation System (RRECS) went into effect this May after years of disagreement between the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) and the USPS on how rural carriers should be compensated. But this new system hasn’t been welcomed by all workers.
Roughly two-thirds of rural carriers, or around 14,000 USPS employees nationwide, are facing substantial pay cuts under the new RRECS, according to the Federal News Network.
“I’m a postal worker. I took a 25 percent pay cut today,” a Reddit user posted in regards to the new rural pay system, revealing that their pay went down from $65,000 to $47,000. “Almost every carrier in my office is also receiving a pay cut. Anywhere from 5-30%. Absolutely no one got an increase in pay,” they added.
RELATED: USPS Just Issued a New Warning About Mailing Cash .
iStock
As of right now, the Postal Service’s city letter carriers have been working for nearly three months without a new contact, the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) reported. While the last agreement between the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) union and the USPS expired on May 20, the two groups have continued to go back and forth on negotiations without yet reaching a compromise.
But regardless of the contract, city workers may find themselves dealing with the same problems as rural workers. The NALC has already voted to adopt a new method of route evaluation for city carriers called Technology Integrated Alternative Route Evaluation and Adjustment Process (TIAREAP). This new system, coupled with DeJoy’s plans to consolidate facilities into centralized Sorting and Delivering Centers (S&DCs), will cause city carriers’ routes to be re-evaluated and modified—resulting in longer unpaid commutes and lengthier work days, according to WSWS.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
iStock
“The Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, calls his plan ‘Delivering For America.’ In reality, he is destroying the Postal Service,” one rural carrier from Arizona wrote. “I’ve worked as a rural carrier for more than two decades and I’ve never seen such a mass exodus of highly capable, long term carriers. Some were able to retire as they had the age and time in. Others just decided it wasn’t worth it.”
The Arizona carrier said they are trying to stay in order to work their last few years with the Postal Service but explained that it has become “difficult” under the new restructuring changes.
“What other company just decided they think you’re making too much money and just takes it out of your pay?” they wrote.
RELATED: USPS Changes Will Slow Your Mail Delivery, Lawmakers Warn .
iStock
Another USPS worker based in western Michigan told WSWS that postal customers don’t realize that many carriers are now working two or more hours a day for free. “We are still doing the same work with less pay,” the Michigan employee explained.
A city carrier from St. Petersburg, Florida, wrote in to share their decision to “move on from the Post Office,” because of the issues workers have been facing recently.
If history serves as any indication, employee turnover resulting from changes to routes and wages could have a serious impact for customers. The USPS has been struggling with existing staffing shortages over the last year, and in Dec. 2022, the agency blamed this issue for delivery delays in several parts of the U.S., including Kansas City.
“Unfortunately, the Kansas City region, like many other areas of the country, has had trouble hiring the appropriate number of personnel,” James Reedy , a government relations representative for the USPS, wrote in a letter to two Missouri congressmen who had sent a complaint about postal delays. “Employee availability has been the main factor affecting delivery in the Kansas City region and other parts of the country.”
iStock
When Best Life reached out to the USPS about the concerns and complaints from workers, spokesperson David A. Partenheimer said that the agency has taken several steps to “better equip employees to perform better on the job.”
These actions have included implementing a new organizational design, a new training course for frontline supervisors, more defined career paths, and the conversion of 150,000 pre-career employees to career status, according to Partenheimer.
“The wellbeing of our 635,000 employees is at the heart of our Delivering for America plan. Our success depends on investing in our workforce and the facilities they work in,” he said. “Regarding our network changes, our employees are seeing the benefit of these changes through the creation of new, modern workplaces.”
Partenheimer also said that the changes being made under the DFA plan are necessary for the USPS.
“For decades, our outmoded network has created significant financial losses, increased deferred maintenance costs, deteriorated workplace conditions for our employees, and failed to efficiently integrate mail and package processing and delivery,” he added. “The transformation of our network is necessary and fundamental to our continuation as an organization and service to the American people and our business customers.”
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
Shutterstock
Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
RELATED: USPS Wants to Raise the Price of Your Mail Again—Here’s When It Could Happen .
Shutterstock
In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
Shutterstock
To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
Canva
The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
RELATED: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Resigns—What It Means for the USPS and Your Mail .
iStock
Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
