Louis DeJoy’s time as leader of the U.S. Postal Service remains mired in turmoil.
Now, postal workers nationwide are facing difficulties in forms including a lack of critical info as the agency implements DeJoy’s plan of consolidating the work of letter carriers. Available details indicate at least some local post offices affected by the consolidation initiative will (at least generally speaking and in the short term) remain open, but less work will be done at the facilities. Retail options, like buying postage, will remain available, as will box services while key carrier operations are transferred to a nearby so-called Sortation and Delivery Center, or SDC. Plans involve multiple letter carrier teams operating from each SDC.
A DeJoy initiative evidently calls for the eventual creation of 21 SDCs across the U.S., and local postal facilities losing operations to these larger, more consolidated facilities are in states including Georgia, New York, Texas, Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Kentucky, Washington, North Carolina, Indiana, and Arkansas. More than 200 postal facilities are set to lose some operations. In the long-term, even more dramatic restructurings of the Postal Service could take place.
A recent letter from Charlie Cash, who serves as Industrial Relations Director at the American Postal Workers Union, criticizes the implementation of the plan for SDCs. “Unfortunately, we do not know much more than what is already published in the public domain,” the letter, dated August 25, says. “Myself, President Dimondstein, and Directors Foster, Balogun, and Brooks all met with the Postal Service on July 12, 2022, in what we thought was a meeting to discuss the “mega-plants.” Instead we were ambushed with the SDC concept. We voiced various concerns, especially on the timeline and how we were not given an opportunity for input… All of the officers in attendance at the meeting in July were united and unequivocally let the Postal Service know that all changes must follow the contract to the letter. Unfortunately, we know the Postal Service has chosen not to adhere to the contract.”
Chuck Zlatkin, who works as legislative and political director at the New York Metro Area Postal Union, also expressed concerns. “How many post offices will be closed? How many clerks and drivers will lose jobs? DeJoy’s Great Consolidation is a true danger to the public post office,” Zlatkin remarked on Twitter. Tens of thousands of postal service jobs are set for elimination under plans harbored by DeJoy for operations at the agency over coming years. DeJoy faces relatively consistent calls for his departure from the role of Postmaster General, but filling the role is the responsibility of the board of governors overseeing the Postal Service rather than the president or any legislative body. There are also legal limits on the number of members on the board who may be from the same political party. Thus, Biden appointees currently comprise a majority of the board — but all of Biden’s picks weren’t Democrats. One of the Dems on the board, who Trump selected, supports DeJoy — although that member’s current term expires in December.
