U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and other members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation sent a letter to United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull calling for a review of operations in Massachusetts and steps to correct what Markey described as “egregiously delayed mail delivery, closed post office locations, weeks of lost mail, and so much more.”
“I’m hearing from residents in Medway, Watertown and Allston who remain frustrated that the Postal Service abruptly closed their local post office locations and now — months and years later — have no plans to reopen,” Markey said at a press conference Wednesday in front of the post office in Mission Hill, which itself was slated to close last year until a public outcry reversed that decision.
“I’m hearing from residents in Greater Boston communities like Somerville, where I work to help restore a more frequent service, but where many are still wondering where all of their lost mail has gone,” Markey said. “I’m hearing from postal employees in Brockton who are outraged about USPS management’s plan to consolidate their processing and distribution center. And I’m hearing from residents in Western Mass. and the Cape worried that the Postal Service’s recent proposed changes will slow their mail delivery.”
Last month, Boston’s postmaster failed to comply with a summons to testify before a Boston City Council hearing on local delivery problems.
Markey said Wednesday that he’s calling on the Postal Service to stop any changes that would result in job losses and degrade mail delivery performance — including the planned closure of a mail processing center in Brockton.
He also urged DeJoy to resign. DeJoy was appointed postmaster during President Donald Trump’s first term, and has stayed in the role for the four years of the Biden administration. The incoming Trump administration includes a commission, led in part by Elon Musk, tasked with streamlining federal operations.
“I’m afraid that the goal of Donald Trump will be to privatize the Postal Service, to end the Postal Service as we know it,” Markey said.
He added that he is supporting efforts “to require the postmaster general to be directly accountable to Congress.”
The senator is also asking for a full review of postal operations in Massachusetts, as well as the release of ZIP code–level data from the Postal Service to get to the root cause of “inequitable service.”
A USPS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Markey was joined at Wednesday’s press event by postal workers representing the local unions. Scott Hoffman of the American Postal Workers Union described the metrics being used for measuring the Postal Service performance as “skewed.”
“Management will have you scan ‘attempted delivery’ when that piece never left the building, just so they can support their numbers,” said Hoffman, who said he’s been a postal employee for over 37 years. “It’s never been this never been this bad. The mantra when I started was ‘if there was one piece over there, get it on its way.’ The mantra now is ‘we don’t have enough people. Hide it, scan it, and we’ll tell people everything’s running smooth.’”
Postal workers are hearing negative feedback from the public, said Ray Bell of the American Postal Workers Union.
“I hear it from my family. I hear it from my friends. You hear it from your neighbors,” Bell said. “No matter what you do, whether you’re a carrier, you’re a clerk, you’re a truck driver, you’re a custodian. You hear it. ‘What’s up? What’s going on with my mail?’ And I always defend the postal Service. I defend the brand. But right now, it’s indefensible what management is doing to the Postal Service, what they’re doing to the public. It has to stop.”
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