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Union leaders accuse US Postal Service of mismanagement
A union leader representing postal workers says what he witnessed at the Oak Creek Distribution Center is "disturbing."
MILWAUKEE - A union leader representing postal workers says what he witnessed at the Oak Creek Distribution Center is "disturbing."
Glenn Griggs is president of the Milwaukee chapter of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). He sat down with Contact 6 to discuss what he considers widespread mismanagement.
"I've been here 35 years, this is the worst I've ever seen," said Griggs.
Glenn Griggs
The APWU Milwaukee Area Local #3 represents maintenance employees, motor vehicle drivers and clerks in the USPS facility in Oak Creek.
Griggs says he visited the facility in mid-April and saw "mail sitting in a hamper" from March.
USPS accused of delays
The backstory:
In late-April, Contact 6 ran a story about Jill Luhn in Oak Creek. Luhn owns a small business that makes auto parts for performance cars. She said that USPS delays were causing issues with her customers.
"Things aren't getting to the customers on time," said Luhn. "Customers are upset. They want their product."
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Luhn showed Contact 6 tracking records that prove the delays.
Jill Luhn
"Things seem to be bouncing from different city to different city. None of it makes sense," said Luhn.
Luhn says her delivery times have not improved since the FOX6 report aired.
"Valid claim" filed
Dig deeper:
Griggs says Luhn has a "valid claim." He saw the FOX6 story and visited the Oak Creek Distribution Center on May 12th.
"We went out there to investigate, and it was very disturbing," said Griggs.
Glenn Griggs
Griggs says he saw clerks sitting in the break room on "standby," instead of working on the machines they're trained to operate. He estimates 20 to 30 clerks per day are being paid to sit in the break room.
"We asked the clerks, "why are you guys sitting there?" said Griggs. "And they said, "we have no idea. They just told us to sit here and gave us no explanation."
Gross says instead, there were unskilled workers operating the machines. Griggs says the workers had been on standby "every day for a month and a half" leading up to his visit.
New machine to improve efficiency
What's next:
In June, USPS told Contact 6 that a new sorting machine had arrived at the Oak Creek facility.
It's called a Parallel Induction Linear Sorter (PILS). A USPS spokesperson says the new machine is part of their efforts to "modernize its processing network and improve operational efficiency."
Parallel Induction Linear Sorter (PILS)
"The PILS significantly enhances package processing capacity, with the ability to sort up to 7,000 packages per hour — double the throughput of the single induction package sorts previously in use," said Desai Abdul-Razzaaq, USPS Corporate Communications spokesperson.
On its website, USPS says the PILS will "enable the organization to increase its processing capacity and retire some of its older machines."
Job security concerns
What they're saying:
Griggs says that the updated sorting machines read barcodes and rely less on trained clerks. He's concerned about his workers and says about 80 jobs have been eliminated at the Oak Creek facility over the last year.
U.S. Postal Service facility in Oak Creek
"As long as you got managers that is acting careless, they can bring in all the machines they want," said Griggs. "It's still not going to get the mail efficiently out to the customers."
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Griggs elaborated in an email to Contact 6, saying, "if these machines break down there would be no skilled workers to get those packages out."
Mismanagement allegations
Local perspective:
Griggs isn't the only union leader accusing USPS of mismanagement.
"Almost every office has delayed mail," said Rob Kosier, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 2 in Milwaukee.
Rob Kosier
Kosier says USPS has been consolidating routes at the same time it's limiting overtime hours.
"They've been doing route cuts all over the place," said Kosier. "They like to tell carriers to finish a route in eight hours. When (carriers) say they can't deliver all the mail in eight hours, that's not possible, (they say) "well, we're not approving overtime."
The other side:
When asked about the union leader's allegations of mismanagement, a USPS spokesperson told Contact 6, "The United States Postal Service is committed to providing reliable and efficient mail service to its customers."
Big picture view:
At a House Oversight Committee meeting on June 4th, members of the Postal Regulatory Commission said that the Delivering for America (DFA) Plan, which is meant to streamline and save the postal service, is not delivering its promises.
"In fact, now in year six of the ten-year DFA plan, the postal service has incurred $31 billion in losses and is on the way to losing even more in the remaining four of its implementation," said Robert Taub of the Postal Regulatory Commission.
What's next:
Griggs says a change in course is needed, starting with better management. If not, he says there will no longer be a United States Postal Service, as we know it.
"They are driving away the customers," said Griggs. "Then, they are complaining that we're not having the amount of revenue that we used to get."
Griggs says plant managers are not responding to his questions about the new machines.
Full response to allegations of mismanagement
"The United States Postal Service is committed to providing reliable and efficient mail service to it’s customers.
"When mail service issues occur, we take steps to quickly resolve customer concerns. We gladly work to address any specific issue from the community when brought to our attention and we encourage customers to reach out to their local postal station. Customers can also go to our website usps.com and click on "Contact us" at the bottom of our homepage, or utilize this direct web address: https://usps.force.com/emailus/s/. Every email will be carefully documented and appropriate action taken to strengthen service.
"In addition, the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the United States Postal Service, managed by the Social Media staff at USPS HQ, can provide help. For customer service, please tweet @USPSHelp. The Postal Service will diligently continue to investigate customer's concerns and correct deficiencies to improve service to our communities.
"Desai Abdul-Razzaaq, USPS Corporate Communications"
Full statement on new PILS machine in Oak Creek
"The U.S. Postal Service can confirm the recent installation of a Parallel Induction Linear Sorter (PILS) at the Oak Creek Regional Processing and Distribution Center.
"The new package sorting technology is part of the Postal Service’s ongoing efforts to modernize its processing network and improve operational efficiency. The PILS significantly enhances package processing capacity, with the ability to sort up to 7,000 packages per hour—double the throughput of the single induction package sorters previously in use, which process approximately 3,500 packages per hour.
"By increasing package processing capability and improving workflow efficiency, the new equipment is expected to support improved service performance, particularly during periods of high package volume. Investments in advanced mail and package processing technology help the Postal Service strengthen network reliability, increase operational flexibility, and better serve customers throughout the region.
"The Postal Service continues to make strategic investments in modernizing its processing infrastructure to support the timely and efficient delivery of mail and packages for the American public.
"Desai Abdul-Razzaaq, USPS Corporate Communications"
The Source: Information for this report comes from Glenn Griggs, Rob Kosier, USPS and Jill Luhn.