By Anne W. SemmesSo, where is my friendly postal mail carrier? Two days not seeing him and receiving no mail delivery. It was time to visit my post office and inquire. The answer came from hearing there were 26 postal carriers out of action, with newly brought in carriers finding their way in their new territories. And yes, more than one friend has seen a day or two go by without mail delivery. But the third day my mail arrived via that new carrier, struggling along.
So, in this time of peaking Omicron, it’s no surprise the postal service is suffering its woes like any other service institution. So, this reporter wanting to learn more reached out to the recommended Connecticut Strategic Communications Specialist for the U.S. Postal Service, Amy Gibbs, and here is her response:“We’re thankful for the incredible flexibility our workforce has shown during this pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present unprecedented challenges and occasionally impact employee availability. We thank our customers for their understanding and continued support.
We have taken specific actions to continue service to our valued customers, which includes continuing to fully authorize overtime to allow employees to work the time necessary to deliver mail, expanding mail deliveries to earlier in the morning, later in the evening, and on Sundays to ensure customers receive mail at the earliest date possible, using additional carriers from nearby offices, when necessary, to maintain mail deliveries by assessing daily needs and repositioning employees to where the mail volume is daily and hiring additional personnel.
As we move past these short-term employee availability issues, we will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to assure that our Connecticut customers get the kind of First-Class service that they’ve come to expect and deserve.
Once again, we appreciate customers’ patience and understanding and we’re proud of our more than 10,000 Connecticut employees who are working to deliver for our customers during the pandemic.
As you may know, under the Rehabilitation Act and the Privacy Act, specific employee’s medical information must be kept confidential and may only be shared in very limited circumstances. Therefore, the Postal Service cannot share the name of any employee who tested positive for COVID-19 or further specifics of his or her medical condition.”
Thank you, Amy Gibbs, and wishing a healthier, happier New Year to all our U.S. Postal mail carriers this 2022.
