Minn. postal workers rally for better wages, more staffing
United States Postal Service workers in Minneapolis held a rally at the downtown post office on Sunday afternoon to demand better wages and an end to the post office’s mandatory overtime policy.
The National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service are currently in contract negotiations and the union members hoped that Sunday’s rally would raise support for their demands.
Several mail carriers who spoke at the rally said they have been working more than 60 or 70 hours a week due to a shortage of staff and a policy that requires workers to put in overtime.
Ben Noble is a safety captain at the Minnehaha station. He said that working this many hours is exhausting to the point of being dangerous.
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“They’re asking us to go out there with delayed reactions, making poor choices, unable to think clearly, and that affects our safety. This needs to end,” Noble said.
And even with working overtime, they said they’re still not able to serve all their customers. Residents across Minnesota have complained about delays in delivery; in December, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Angie Craig both sent letters to the Postmaster General encouraging the post office to look into the delays.
JoAnn Gilbaugh is the president of Branch 9 of the National Association of Letter Carriers. She said that staffing shortages have caused ongoing delays, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“We just don’t have enough people,” Gilbaugh said. “We’re experiencing the same thing that other employers are across the U.S., but for us it seems like it’s exponential because of the kind of service that we provide … we touch every single household in the nation every day. Or we try to, we’re supposed to, and now we’re just not able to do that.”
Employees do get paid overtime, but several said that the pay doesn’t compensate for time missed with family and time to rest. But with the mandatory overtime policy, they said their choice is to keep working extra hours or lose their jobs.
“I missed so many things that my daughter did,” one mail carrier said. “I missed a year and a half out of her high school … [the pay] doesn’t make up for all I missed from her.”
In response to a request for comment, USPS spokesperson Desai Abdul-Razzaaq said, “We respect our employees’ rights to express their opinions and participate in informational picketing while off the clock.”
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., also spoke at the rally in support of the postal workers. She agreed with the solution that the union is asking for: better pay.
“I talk to management all the time. They talk about not being able to hire people. It’s because we’re not providing enough wages,” Omar said.
Omar has a connection to the issue: She said that her father used to work at the downtown Minneapolis post office. Back then, she said, he had a choice of whether to work overtime.
“The service you provide is instrumental in this country,” Omar said. “You should not be forced to push your body to the brink in order to keep your job.”