ELECTED OFFICIALS ADDRESS CONSTITUENTS’ MAIL DELIVERY WOES

Mack L. Julion is the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 11- Chicago. Photo courtesy of Mack L. Julion
Mack L. Julion is the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 11- Chicago. Photo courtesy of Mack L. Julion

Elected officials address constituents’ mail delivery woes

BY TIA CAROL JONES

Recent reports of residents not receiving mail or packages from United States Postal Services led to elected officials hosting listening sessions, with Mack L. Julion, president of National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 11- Chicago.

Congressman Bobby Rush, (D-Ill.) Dist. 1, hosted a listening session to address constituents’ concerns with USPS customer service and mailing issues.

“Even though technological advance[s], such as email and paperless billing have provided us with more options for receiving correspondence and paying our bills, millions of Americans still rely on the US mail for many of their everyday needs,” Rush said. “As we get closer to the November elections, mail in ballots are becoming more necessary amid this coronavirus pandemic.”

Rush said too many people on Chicago’s South Side have not been receiving mail from one to three weeks, which he said was totally and completely unacceptable. He said he wanted to hear from his constituents to get to the depth and breadth of the issue.

Rush said he did have a meeting with members from the USPS. He said he found their responses were woefully insufficient adding, he would find a way to hold them accountable.

“You are entitled to prompt and painless mail delivery, you are entitled to the best that [the] US Postal Service can deliver, and we will not settle for anything less than the best,” he said.

Rush said the problems were due to leadership problems and organizational issues. He said he was totally and absolutely disappointed with the leadership.

“The last word I got from leadership from the spokesman of the Chicago Postal Service is that there is a denial of a problem. They said there is no problem with delivery, there is no problem with mail delivery,” he said. “I really believe there is a greater systemic problem with the Chicago Postal Service.”

Rush said Julion has been a letter carrier for 23 years. He said Julion is intimately familiar with how the postal service is supposed to work and could also speak to the failings being witnessed.

Julion said mail service is at a low all across the city. He said the Chicago Post Office is in shambles. He said one of the reasons is the staffing, and that was pre-pandemic.

“Last summer we were having these same conversations about staffing in Chicago,” he said. “Couple that with poor decisions as it relates to the delivery of mail service by postal management, specifically later starting times.”

Julion said 7-7:30 a.m. start times have been pushed back to 9-9:30, even 9:45 a.m. He said that is a late start, which means letter carriers are getting out to their assignments close to noon. He also said that results in a safety issue for the letter carriers. “The later we are out in the day, the more likely something bad can happen,” he said. “We’ve had carriers who have been assaulted, armed robbed. Who wants to get caught in the middle of gun fire.”

Julion said the letter carriers are a very proud workforce. He said it is troublesome for them when their brand is tarnished because mail and packages aren’t getting delivered.

When asked about vote-by-mail, Julion said he is voting by mail and he is confident letter carriers can handle it.

Julion said the postal service is dealing with Christmas level delivery volumes, because of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders. He said he has been speaking with every Congressional office about the issue. He said he has told Congressmen that the postal service is not too far off from providing the excellent service that customers once attributed to USPS.

“I believe if you properly staff these offices and move back the starting times to 7-7:30, I say we’re there,” he said. “Its that simple. At the end of the day, it’s very basic in terms of math.”

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