More than 500,000 workers at the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be handling billions of deliveries through the holidays. For hundreds of them, this may be their last Christmas at their current mail sorting facility and workers are warning the impact on consumers will be severe.
The appointee as postmaster general under Donald Trump, Louis DeJoy, is currently implementing a 10-year “Delivering for America” austerity plan that will slash jobs and close sorting centers.
The plan is being implemented amid calls to have DeJoy ousted from the post and, in a rare instance of bipartisan unity, both Republican and Democratic officials have recently criticized DeJoy over the consolidation of USPS facilities – a move DeJoy claims will transform the USPS network for the better.
Only the postal board of governors has the authority to remove DeJoy from his position, but the Biden administration has delayed nominating replacements to the board. This has left DeJoy secure in his position for the time being as a petition with more than 40,000 signatures is circulating to call on Biden to appoint two replacements to the board.
