We should commend our postal workers and carriers for all they do. The U.S. Postal Service has a severe labor shortage, requiring many of them to work 12-hour days, six and seven days a week. Many carry extra routes and assist with other jobs. Packages are becoming a nightmare. The size and number of packages they handle have dramatically increased since COVID. They now deliver, in one day, what they used to deliver in a week.

In most professions, workers aren’t required to lift more than 50 pounds. Not so for postal carriers! Alone, they’re lifting items like office chairs, desks, gazebos, even a porcelain toilet. People complain their packages get left by the driveway instead of being carried up their steps and placed at their door – after all, they can’t carry it! Amazon advertises great door-to-door service, but no one addresses the physical and emotional stress placed on carriers from this excessive weight and volume.

Exacerbating their worker shortage, the Postal Service uses ineffective hiring practices. Job postings are advertised on their website for a limited time and then removed whether the jobs are filled or not. Weeks and even months can go by before reposting. Hence, they just aren’t filling urgently needed positions.

The next time you see a postal carrier, please thank them for the sacrifice they and their families are making. Please tell your members of Congress and the postmaster general: Our Postal Service needs urgent attention while maintaining the physical and psychological needs of its employees.

Janet Dailey
Brunswick

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