Illinois lawmakers join postal workers in criticism of postmaster general’s ‘Delivering for America’ plan
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DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Local leaders spoke out Monday in DuPage County amid a visit by the Postmaster General, as critics describe his plans to save the postal service as a “sham.”
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin was amongst those gathering on March 25 in Downers Grove at a protest spearheaded by the Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers.
“Postmaster General DeJoy calls his plan ‘Delivering for America;’ it should be a plan that’s marked ‘Return to Sender’ because it’s a bad idea,” Durbin said.
Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers president Luis Rivas Jr. said a huge problem regarding postal work is staffing shortages.
“The mail is there to be delivered. We just don’t have enough carriers to get it delivered or the post office is implementing the wrong rules and policies,” Rivas said.
Pushback continues against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s efforts to revamp USPS.
“Anything mailed in the city will take one week to deliver but if you want to mail something in the Quad Cities, it has to go on a 50-mile round trip to Des Moines to be processed. Does that make sense? Does that sound more efficient? It doesn’t to me,” Durbin said.
The 10-year “Delivering for America” plan aims for austerity, slashing jobs and wages with specific mail facilities – labeled as low-traffic – also heading for the chopping block.
Illinois Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi said the “Delivering for America” plan is essentially closing post offices.
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DeJoy, a Trump-era appointee, is trying to get the postal service to a break-even operating performance over the next decade while avoiding $160 billion dollars in projected losses by 2030.
There’s been some ups and downs thus far in the road to plugging that gap but critics aren’t happy with DeJoy thus far, with some even calling for his resignation.
“I think that once President Biden has the requisite number of members of the Board of Governors to do so, we will urge him to remove Mr. DeJoy.”
WGN reached out to the USPS for comment:
The Postal Service respects the right of our employees to participate in off-the-clock peaceful, informational picketing.
Delivering for America – the Postal Service’s 10-year strategic plan – is focused on improving service performance and the financial sustainability of the Postal Service. Through the plan, USPS is making an historic $40 billion investment in modernizing the nation’s outdated and outmoded postal network, including key investments here in Illinois.
The Delivering for America plan and our annual progress reports are available here: usps.com/deliveringforamerica
Tim Norman, spokesperson for USPS
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