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Des Moines postal union chief says new postmaster's rules slowing mail delivery

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Des Moines RegisterView CommentsThe head of the Des Moines&nbsp;postal workers' union says the new U.S. postmaster general's cost-cutting measures are slowing down mail delivery in central Iowa.Des Moines Local 44 American Postal Workers Union President Mike Bates said that since&nbsp;Postmaster General Louis DeJoy banned overtime last month,&nbsp;supervisors&nbsp;have ordered trucks to leave the distribution station at exactly the prescribed time, even if workers have not yet loaded them with&nbsp;all of the day's mail.In one instance, Bates said, a supervisor ordered a carrier to halt his route precisely at the scheduled end of his shift,&nbsp;even though he had not finished deliveries. Bates also said upper-level management carried out the planned removal of&nbsp;machines that automatically sort mail at the Des Moines distribution center.The moves resulted in a backlog of mail at some local post offices over the past couple of weeks, Bates said."We've been programmed that it's, 'Every piece (of mail), every day,'" he said. "When you see stuff left behind, it hits you in the core. You take a lot of pride in just moving the mail."The tighter rein comes two months after DeJoy, a logistics executive and fundraiser for President Donald Trump, . The first postmaster general in decades without direct experience in the agency, DeJoy&nbsp;posted on his first day that praised the staff but decried the agency's "expensive and inflexible business model."With fewer first-class and business mail shipments during the coronavirus pandemic, the postal service&nbsp;announced . At the same time, Trump has resisted additional federal funding for the agency in a stimulus package, telling Fox News this week that he wants to block mail-in voting.“If we don’t make a deal, that means they don’t get the money,” Trump said. “That means they can’t have universal mail-in voting; they just can’t have it.”CNN reported Friday that the postal service inspector general's office confirmed&nbsp;it was reviewing DeJoy's policy changes and his compliance with federal ethics rules after a request from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts.U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa asked the postal workers union on July 16 to record any instances in which supervisors caused mail&nbsp;delays. She has expressed concerns to DeJoy in two letters this summer.The Postal Service warned 46 states and the District of Columbia&nbsp;that carriers for elections officials to count their votes, according to the Washington Post. The Post also reported that Trump and the Republican National Committee will in swing states. The campaign already has sued to invalidate absentee voting application forms that Johnson and Linn counties mailed to all registered voters.Postal Service&nbsp;spokesperson Nicole Hill told the Des Moines Register in an email that the agency will be more efficient with DeJoy's stricter rules. If holding workers to a tighter schedule means some mail is not delivered on time, she said the agency can identify and fix the "root cause" of internal problems.Despite the ban on overtime, Hill said, Iowa's postal workers received about the same amount of overtime last week as they did for the same period last year.&nbsp;Hill said the postal service often moves machines from one distribution center to another based on how much mail is flowing through each part of the country. The agency also has replaced older machines with newer ones that can sort mail faster. The postal service&nbsp;removes outdated&nbsp;equipment to save money on replacement parts and create more floor space for mail still waiting to get processed."We are vigorously focusing on the efficiency of our operations as a fundamental strategy to enable the provision of high-quality service in a financially sustainable manner," Hill said.Some union officials argue the moves are meant to sow doubt about the postal service in the run-up to an election in which many voters will cast absentee ballots. A record number of Iowans voted in the June primary election, withBates said Iowans looking to vote by mail in the presidential race should post their ballots at least a week before Election Day.Iowa Postal Workers Union President Kimberly Karol told NPR's "Morning Edition" on Tuesday that mail from the Waterloo distribution center where she works had been delayed. She blamed postal service management for removing a sorting machine.Lance Coles, a veteran member of the Iowa Postal Workers Union, said delayed mail gives critics ammunition as they argue to privatize the agency.&nbsp;Democrats have criticized DeJoy for his background as a board member for XPO Logistics, a postal service competitor.&nbsp;CNN reported&nbsp;last week that DeJoy still hadanin the company when he became postmaster general."We can do our job, and we’ll continue to do it," Coles said. "But when you start&nbsp;tying&nbsp;our hands behind our back, then a leg, then another leg, at some point we won’t be able to do our jobs."Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at , 515-284-8215, or on Twitter at&nbsp;.Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at .View Comments

Des Moines RegisterView CommentsThe head of the Des Moines&nbsp;postal workers' union says the new U.S. postmaster general's cost-cutting measures are slowing down mail delivery in central Iowa.Des Moines Local 44 American Postal Workers Union President Mike Bates said that since&nbsp;Postmaster General Louis DeJoy banned overtime last month,&nbsp;supervisors&nbsp;have ordered trucks to leave the distribution station at exactly the prescribed time, even if workers have not yet loaded them with&nbsp;all of the day's mail.In one instance, Bates said, a supervisor ordered a carrier to halt his...

Des Moines postal union chief says new postmaster's rules slowing mail delivery

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