‘This is a direct attack’
Members of the state’s congressional delegation rallied across the state on Tuesday to reverse U.S. Postal Service changes that have triggered mail delays — changes that have sparked a nationwide uproar ahead of the general election that will rely heavily on mailin voting.
The national day of action organized by Democratic leaders featured several events outside postal facilities in the Bay State, including the U.S. Postal Service general mail facility at Boston’s South Station — where six sorting machines were recently removed.
“Unfortunately, because of a shameful attack by the Trump administration and by the new postmaster general Louis DeJoy, we’ve seen actions taken here in the midst of a pandemic, on the eve of a national election, that will try to stop the mail from being delivered,” U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch said in front of the facility.
“This is a direct attack, a direct attempt to obstruct the delivery of the mail, to obstruct the Democratic election that is before us,” Lynch later added, standing in front of a “HANDS OFF AMERICA’S MAIL” sign, as workers behind him held “I Stand with Postal Workers” signs.
DeJoy, a Trump mega-donor, has also slashed overtime for workers — causing mail to pile up. These changes come as Trump has continued to campaign against mail-in voting. The president is an absentee voter who mails in his ballot.
The postmaster general needs to restore the machines and overtime, or he has to step down, Lynch said.
Alice Eppenstein, a mail clerk at the South Station facility for 34 years, said taking away machines that run 38,000 pieces of mail an hour is “seriously affecting” their operations.
“If we can get those machines back, I am confident we will get ballots out on time,” she said, calling the machines “absolutely critical.”
DeJoy on Tuesday said he’s suspending new initiatives until after the election, but he did not say he’s reversing recent changes. These suspended initiatives include not closing mail processing facilities, keeping blue collection boxes where they are, and approving overtime as needed.
“The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall,” DeJoy said in a statement.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who on Tuesday joined a multistate federal lawsuit to reverse changes at the U.S. Postal Service, said the suspended initiatives are not enough.
“Without concrete action by DeJoy to undo the damage already done and prevent future problems, we are moving forward to hold the Trump Administration accountable,” Healey said in a joint statement with Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum, the co-chairs of the Democratic Attorneys General Association.
The House of Representatives later this week will return to Washington, D.C., to vote on the “Delivering for America Act,” which prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or service levels it had in place at the start of the year.