This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareTens of thousands of workers nationwide walked off the job Monday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, hoping to draw closer scrutiny to the income inequality and systemic racism that organizers say have become more entrenched during the coronavirus pandemic.The “Strike for Black Lives,” as leaders have dubbed the campaign, featured workers from a broad range of industries. Members of the Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, American Federation of Teachers and...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareTens of thousands of workers nationwide walked off the job Monday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, hoping to draw closer scrutiny to the income inequality and systemic racism that organizers say have become more entrenched during the coronavirus pandemic.The “Strike for Black Lives,” as leaders have dubbed the campaign, featured workers from a broad range of industries. Members of the Service Employees International Union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, American Federation of Teachers and...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Treasury Department is considering taking unprecedented control over key operations of the U.S. Postal Service by imposing tough terms on an emergency coronavirus loan from Congress, which would fulfill President Trump’s longtime goal of changing how the service does business, according to two people familiar with the matter.Officials working under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who must approve the $10 billion loan, have told senior officials at the USPS in recent weeks that he could use the loan as leverage to...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Treasury Department is considering taking unprecedented control over key operations of the U.S. Postal Service by imposing tough terms on an emergency coronavirus loan from Congress, which would fulfill President Trump’s longtime goal of changing how the service does business, according to two people familiar with the matter.Officials working under Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who must approve the $10 billion loan, have told senior officials at the USPS in recent weeks that he could use the loan as leverage to...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump on Friday threatened to block an emergency loan to shore up the U.S. Postal Service unless it dramatically raised shipping prices on online retailers, an unprecedented move to seize control of the agency that analysts said could plunge its finances into a deeper hole.“The Postal Service is a joke,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. To obtain a $10 billion line of credit Congress approved this month, “The post office should raise the price of a package by approximately four times,” he said.Trump for...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident Trump on Friday threatened to block an emergency loan to shore up the U.S. Postal Service unless it dramatically raised shipping prices on online retailers, an unprecedented move to seize control of the agency that analysts said could plunge its finances into a deeper hole.“The Postal Service is a joke,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. To obtain a $10 billion line of credit Congress approved this month, “The post office should raise the price of a package by approximately four times,” he said.Trump for...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThrough rain, sleet, hail, and even a pandemic, mail carriers serve every address in the United States, but the coronavirus crisis is shaking the foundation of the U.S. Postal Service in new and dire ways.The Postal Service’s decades-long financial troubles have worsened dramatically, as the volume of the kind of mail that pays the agency’s bills — first-class and marketing mail — has withered during the pandemic. The USPS needs an infusion of money, and President Trump has blocked potential emergency funding for the...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThrough rain, sleet, hail, and even a pandemic, mail carriers serve every address in the United States, but the coronavirus crisis is shaking the foundation of the U.S. Postal Service in new and dire ways.The Postal Service’s decades-long financial troubles have worsened dramatically, as the volume of the kind of mail that pays the agency’s bills — first-class and marketing mail — has withered during the pandemic. The USPS needs an infusion of money, and President Trump has blocked potential emergency funding for the...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAmid a record surge in early voting, millions of mail ballots remained unreturned Wednesday, prompting a flurry of warnings from election officials that ballots sent via the U.S. Postal Service at this point may not arrive in time to be counted.With Election Day less than a week away, more than 42 million out of the 92 million mail ballots requested by voters nationally had not yet been returned as of Wednesday afternoon, according to data from , a nonpartisan site tracking early voting.In the 20 states where party...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareAmid a record surge in early voting, millions of mail ballots remained unreturned Wednesday, prompting a flurry of warnings from election officials that ballots sent via the U.S. Postal Service at this point may not arrive in time to be counted.With Election Day less than a week away, more than 42 million out of the 92 million mail ballots requested by voters nationally had not yet been returned as of Wednesday afternoon, according to data from , a nonpartisan site tracking early voting.In the 20 states where party...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn an interview this week with federal agents, a Pennsylvania postal worker walked back his allegation that a supervisor had tampered with mailed ballots, saying he had made “assumptions” based on overheard snippets of conversation, according to an audio recording of the interview posted online Wednesday by activists who have championed his cause.The shows that Richard Hopkins recanted claims he had made in a sworn affidavit that top Republicans cited over the weekend as potential evidence of widespread election...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIn an interview this week with federal agents, a Pennsylvania postal worker walked back his allegation that a supervisor had tampered with mailed ballots, saying he had made “assumptions” based on overheard snippets of conversation, according to an audio recording of the interview posted online Wednesday by activists who have championed his cause.The shows that Richard Hopkins recanted claims he had made in a sworn affidavit that top Republicans cited over the weekend as potential evidence of widespread election...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareKey swing states that may well decide the presidential race are recording some of the nation’s most erratic mail service as record numbers of Americans are relying on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver their ballots, agency data shows.Consistent and timely delivery remains scattershot as the mail service struggles to right operations after the rollout, then suspension, of a major midsummer restructuring. In 17 postal districts representing 10 battleground states and 151 electoral votes, the average on-time delivery rate...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareKey swing states that may well decide the presidential race are recording some of the nation’s most erratic mail service as record numbers of Americans are relying on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver their ballots, agency data shows.Consistent and timely delivery remains scattershot as the mail service struggles to right operations after the rollout, then suspension, of a major midsummer restructuring. In 17 postal districts representing 10 battleground states and 151 electoral votes, the average on-time delivery rate...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThis story was updated Friday, Nov. 5, and includes a correction.*More than 150,000 ballots were caught in U.S. Postal Service processing facilities Wednesday and not delivered by Election Day, agency data shows, including more than 12,000 in five of the states that have yet to be called for either President Trump or Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.Another 39,000 ballots were processed Thursday, agency data shows, including more than 4,000, in the remaining swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThis story was updated Friday, Nov. 5, and includes a correction.*More than 150,000 ballots were caught in U.S. Postal Service processing facilities Wednesday and not delivered by Election Day, agency data shows, including more than 12,000 in five of the states that have yet to be called for either President Trump or Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.Another 39,000 ballots were processed Thursday, agency data shows, including more than 4,000, in the remaining swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareU.S. Postal Service employees and supervisors have routinely falsified data on package deliveries, likely so they are not penalized for tardiness, according to postal workers and internal data obtained by The Washington Post. And the practice appears to have intensified as Americans ordered more items online during the coronavirus pandemic.A Washington Post examination of Postal Service data and interviews with nearly a dozen current and former employees showed that workers scanned millions of packages with incorrect...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareU.S. Postal Service employees and supervisors have routinely falsified data on package deliveries, likely so they are not penalized for tardiness, according to postal workers and internal data obtained by The Washington Post. And the practice appears to have intensified as Americans ordered more items online during the coronavirus pandemic.A Washington Post examination of Postal Service data and interviews with nearly a dozen current and former employees showed that workers scanned millions of packages with incorrect...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIt would be months before Louis DeJoy took the reins of the nation’s mail system, and the U.S. Postal Service already was mired in crisis.Mail carriers were in revolt, fearful they had few protections against the newly emerging coronavirus. The Trump administration was bearing down on its finances, sending USPS officials scrambling over what they saw as a potential illegal takeover of agency operations. And then there was a looming standoff with Amazon, which privately signaled it could take some of its lucrative delivery...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareIt would be months before Louis DeJoy took the reins of the nation’s mail system, and the U.S. Postal Service already was mired in crisis.Mail carriers were in revolt, fearful they had few protections against the newly emerging coronavirus. The Trump administration was bearing down on its finances, sending USPS officials scrambling over what they saw as a potential illegal takeover of agency operations. And then there was a looming standoff with Amazon, which privately signaled it could take some of its lucrative delivery...WW…