PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – The US Postal Service’s series of challenges did not end with the November general election and tens of millions of votes in the mail. The pandemic-depleted workforce fell further into a hole during the holiday rush, leading to long hours and a mountain of mail delays.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy promised to make improvements after facing harsh criticism and calls for his removal for his actions who delayed the delivery of mail before the election. Some critics expected President Joe Biden to fire DeJoy, but a president cannot do that. Instead, Biden could and probably will use the nominations to reshape the Board of Governors, which meets on Tuesday for the first time since his election.
It is not clear how quickly the Biden administration will move. A White House spokesman declined to comment on upcoming appointments.
Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said he expected some “bold appointments” by Biden.
“We want a Board of Governors that fundamentally understands that it is not called United States Postal Business,” he said. “It is not a for-profit business. It is here to serve the people. “
A change of tone, at least, would be welcomed by postal workers after former President Donald Trump called the Post Office “a joke” last year when he criticized business practices that led to a growing operating deficit.
Despite the pandemic, punctuality rates for first-class correspondence reached 90% for most of the year, until DeJoy took office in June and began instituting changes that raised concerns about the delivery of ballot papers. Workers criticized DeJoy for limiting overtime and delayed or overtime travel, resulting in mail delays and the dismantling of sorting machines before the election.
In all, the Post Office successfully delivered more than 130 million ballots to and from voters during the general elections.
But when Christmas came, it was so bad that more than a third of first-class correspondence was delayed, a disheartening performance, although DeJoy had already backed off on some of his changes by then.
At the peak of the holiday, crammed trailers of mail were left standing outside some postal sorting facilities across the country because there was no space inside. Packages and letters stacked in distribution centers. The delays increased in days and then weeks.
Several factors contributed to the nightmare.
Americans were using the postal service at an unprecedented level because of the pandemic. Overtime did not offset the impact of COVID-19 illnesses and quarantines on postmen. Commercial flights carrying mail operated at reduced hours. And FedEx and UPS dropped packages on the postal service when they reached their limit.
“At Christmas time, you could barely move around the premises,” said Scott Adams, local president of the American Postal Workers Union in Portland, Maine. “Corridors have been blocked with mail.”
Jay Geller said it took 30 days for a birthday card sent after his mother-in-law’s Christmas in Iowa to reach his 8-year-old grandson at his Cleveland home. And don’t get him started with homemade Minnesota scones, which were late and unpalatable.
“When they arrived, they were rock hard and flat,” he said.
Terri Hayes lived “Christmas in January” when many of her packages arrived late in Medina, Ohio. The last gift to arrive was a necklace and amulet sent by a friend in Maryland on December 5. He arrived on January 28.
She sympathizes with the overworked postal workers, but is also concerned about the backlog of more important items, such as bills.
“I just wanted them to put things the way they were when it worked,” said Hayes. “Put the sorting machines back. Let them work overtime. “
The Post Office says it has now returned to “pre-peak” conditions, and DeJoy and six board members said they learned from the election and the holiday season record in which more than 1.1 billion packages were delivered. The general postmaster and the council are working on a 10-year plan that will include improvements.
“We must confidently plan our future – which we believe is bright for the Post Office and for America,” they said in a statement.
Critics asked DeJoy to be fired. And Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr., a Democrat from New Jersey, wants Biden to fire the entire Post Office Governors Council for what he called abandonment of duty.
The Board of Governors, which selects the general postmaster, is currently composed of Trump nominees. The vice president resigned in protest against the Trump administration’s actions. This leaves a president, Robert Duncan, who is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, along with three other Republican members and two Democratic members.
If Biden fills all seats, Democratic members will have a majority, although the council is officially bipartisan. No party can hold more than five seats on the nine-member council.
The postmaster general and the vice-postmaster general vote on some, but not all, questions submitted to the board.
Dimondstein said the recent announcement of more than 10,000 permanent jobs at distribution centers is an entry point to solve the problems. DeJoy needs to make more changes to improve service and morale, he said.
“He will do what is right for the people of the country. Or he needs to go, ”Dimondstein said.