Democrats question changes in the Postal Service 2:41
Editor's Note : Sinikka Melvin is the Clarksburg, West Virginia area president of the Postal Workers Union of America. The opinions expressed in this comment are those of the author. Read more opinion at CNNe.com/opinion
(CNN) - In postal years, I'm a baby. Six years ago, I found myself at a career crossroads and applied as an employee of the United States Postal Service. I started at the end of the big consolidation. West Virginia had lost a mail sorting plant and several processing centers.
Many post offices in rural areas had their hours reduced to non-existent, which meant that mail traveled a longer distance to other post offices just to get to its destination.
Not only the employees were angry and discouraged by this injustice, but so were our customers. Despite these setbacks and challenges, my colleagues persevered and worked diligently to fulfill the mission of the United States Postal Service to "provide fast, reliable, and efficient service to users in all areas and deliver postal services to all communities." .
As time passed, the post office kept making more cuts, jobs were cut and the hours for those who stayed lengthened. But we stayed strong and continued to work tirelessly to ensure mail was delivered to each of our clients on time. With no time to catch our breath from the 2019 Christmas high season, we are suddenly faced with the covid-19 epidemic, as are all citizens and businesses. However, we did not stop.
We accept every package, every envelope. We ship masks from concerned relatives. We continue the mission of the Postal Service even though the coronavirus somehow affected us personally. Like you, we juggled homeschooling, daycare, and this disease. Postal employees are people we are proud of. We know our job and we do what it takes to do it, from carrier to custodian, from our newest employees to the oldest, who is 47 years old in the Postal Service, in my area. We have definitely been busy.
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When it was announced that a new general director of the Post Office was to be appointed, expectations were kept. We knew the order, which required the Postal Service to pre-fund retiree health benefits, stood in the way.
We knew that things had to change. We knew that covid-19 had an impact on our income, transportation, and staff. We were under-staffed and overworked at the expense of our personal lives and health, but we still committed to upholding postal standards.
Perhaps this new regime would reach out to ground zero hardworking employees for useful information on how to improve the post office because who would know better? Perhaps they would approach our union leaders for the same. To our surprise, we received no notice, no input, nothing.
Our members began frantically texting and calling union leaders on July 10 because an email was sent from top management warning that some offices were closing for lunch, their busiest hour.
On July 24, we were surprised when signs were posted in the lobbies of 12 locations in West Virginia, advising postal workers that their offices were closing in less than 30 days.
Many others were reducing their hours of operation and ceasing services on Saturdays.
The announcement caused a lot of confusion. How could this happen to us without proper notification or discussion? How could this happen in West Virginia? Hadn't they reduced us enough? Our infrastructure lacks reliable internet service, with many rural communities located in areas with no access to anything other than the post office. They depend on the US Postal Service for checks, medicine, supplies, and much more.
Our rural clients come to our post office every month to get money orders for things like their water bills and a stamp to mail. And an employee, who gladly helps customers address their envelopes because his eyesight is not what he used to have, is there too. What about our neighbor who has just started his new business selling products from home and dropping them off at his local post office? It's not just about the employees; it's about our communities.
Postal employees and citizens across the state jumped into action and appealed to Congress for help. We communicate with all of our senators and representatives, regardless of their party. Because it's not about that. This is the United States Postal Service. The Postal Service of each community.
Now, after West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin asked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for clarification on what was happening, government liaison manager Sheila Meyers said, in a letter to Manchin, that it was about an alleged "misunderstanding" and those 12 offices in West Virginia would not close at this time, but were under a financial feasibility study.
While plans to close offices are on hold, we still face a new battle: delayed mail. The phrase itself is taboo among postal employees.
Yet here we were, having no choice but to delay the mail because the new strict guidelines meant that we were unable to make additional or late trips.
This is not the Postal Service that we have fought so hard to maintain. This is not the post office mission statement. We are here to provide a service to each community. It undermines our integrity and work ethic. Now we are caught in the middle of an unwanted political battle.
We are Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and everything in between. Regardless, we are still postal workers who - snow, rain, heat, or politics - will send the mail to our communities. We want our new general director of Correos to give us the tools to do our job and do it well. The impacts of a failed post office are incomprehensible. Increasing shipping costs not only for consumers and businesses, but also for local governments, will have a huge impact on everyone as it will shift the burden to the consumer.
Delayed deliveries hurt the public. It is the customer who arrives first thing in the morning to get urgently needed medicine and cannot wait. It is your paycheck that you need to put food on the table. It's that new coat your child needs for winter. It is your passport that you have eagerly awaited. Your reading list for the new semester. His 12th birthday card. His new mask. The ways the Postal Service affects our lives are endless. We must find a way to save the post office without disenfranchising American communities and damaging the high integrity of the United States Postal Service.
United States Postal Service
