Union chief: ‘It’s frustrating to watch’

The U.S. Postal Service has stopped giving overtime, cut staff and won’t fill shifts as mail piles up in post offices, a leader of a Massachusetts postal workers union told the Herald on Sunday.

“They’ve just kind of slowed everything down,” said John Flattery, president of the American Postal Workers Union, Central Massachusetts Area chapter Local 4553.

“It’s just being purposely delayed, and it’s frustrating to watch,” he said. “It’s scaring the hell out of a lot of people in the Post Office.”

These delays come ahead of the September primary election and November general election, when mail-in voting will be at an all-time high because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the last month, Flattery said he’s receiving calls every day from his union members about different issues after the new USPS leader came on board.

Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general who previously donated millions of dollars to the Trump campaign, directed the changes.

“They’ve stopped giving overtime,” Flattery said. “If a carrier calls in sick, they won’t cover the route. They’ve cut staff at offices.”

These changes have all led to mail getting delayed and piling up, he said.

When asked if he’s confident the postal service can handle its role in the fall elections, Flattery said, “If they would let us do our job, then no problem at all. … We just feel like a pawn with mail-in voting right now.”

The USPS has warned Massachusetts officials that there is “significant risk” that some mail-in ballots this fall won’t end up counted even if they’re sent in in time under state law.

USPS spokesman Steve Doherty said in a statement about the warning, “Some states have reported Election Mail volumes that are 10 times higher than any previous year. The Postal Service is well prepared and has ample capacity to deliver America’s election mail. However, the increases in volume and the effect of when volumes were mailed in the primary elections presented a need to ensure the Postal Service’s recommendations were reemphasized to elections officials.”

For decades, the USPS has been the most trusted federal agency, Flattery said, citing the Pew Research Center.

He added, “Don’t destroy the postal service. We’re one of the federal agencies that does what it’s actually supposed to do.”

NICoLAuS CzArnECkI / HErALd StAff fILE CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE: A postal worker delivers mail in South Boston on Aug. 11. Workers say they are getting caught in the middle of a political battle, with overtime being cut as they’re expected to excel when it comes to handling ballots.