Postal workers rally in SW DC ahead of USPS board of governors meeting Tuesday

WASHINGTON (7News) — U.S. Postal Service (USPS) workers are holding protests outside postal facilities and congressional offices across the nation to demand better service at the post office.

A group of postal workers is rallying Tuesday outside of the USPS headquarters in southwest D.C. The event is being held ahead of a USPS Board of Governors meeting at 4 p.m.

7News' D.C. Bureau Chief Sam Ford will attend the event to hear their concerns.

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On Friday, April 28, a group of postal workers in Maryland rallied outside the Brentwood Post Office.

In a prior press release, members of the American Postal Workers Union said they are calling on USPS to address staffing shortages and work conditions.

'"Although the USPS’ finances have improved significantly due to passage of the Postal Service Reform Act, service problems are widespread and no corner of the country has been spared,” said American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein.

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Dimondstein believes new hires at the USPS are often treated poorly and many fail to receive proper training, causing a high turnover rate. He added that the pressures of short-staffing, a high volume of mail and packages, abusive treatment by managers and a "toxic work environment" have also been factors for mail delays.

A USPS spokesperson released the following statement on Tuesday:

"The position being presented by the APWU protestors is absent of anything based in reality. These are the facts:

• We are investing in both our employees and the facilities they work in. Through the Delivering for America plan, we are better equipping our employees so they can perform successfully on the job.
• We are creating a work environment that continues to value our employee safety and creates a physical workspace that employees are proud to work in.
• In the ten years prior to the Delivering for American launch, the Postal Service experienced incredibly high rates of turnover of our pre-career employees which negatively impacted performance and increased operational costs. Since then, we have focused steadily on stabilizing our workforce resulting in employee availability and overtime requirements being at the most favorable levels in many years.
• We have converted 125,000 pre-career workers to full-time career employees since October 2020, including 50,000 conversions between April 2022 and March 2023.
• We have already reversed years of declining service reliability and now 98 percent of the nation’s population receives their mail and packages in less than three days, and we are working hard to correct service-related issues in the other limited areas.
• By developing the high-performing operation envisioned by our Delivering for America 10-year plan, we will create the safest and healthiest environment possible for our employees."

Read the agency's progress report here.