Rally to save Postal Service calls $25 billion funding legislation critical to survival
WMUR
By Amy Coveno
August 25, 2020
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Union leaders, postal workers and every member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation were among the speakers at a rally in support of the Postal Service in Manchester. Outrage over the removal of expensive sorting machines has prompted calls for an Inspector General investigation.
Speakers at the rally in Manchester drew a comparison between the Postal Service and the U.S. Military and said no one ever asks if the military turns a profit. About 60 people gathered across from the Manchester main post office on Goffstown Road.
“We’d be losing so much if we lose it, it has such a deep history, it’s not only the history part of it, it’s the service part of it,” Retired postmaster Marjorie Bonneville said. “You have to remember it’s the Postal Service not the Postal Business.”
Current Postal Service employees told News 9 that carriers are leaving their shifts with undelivered mail still in their trucks because of overtime caps.
“The carriers are required, now they are out the door at a specific time whether their mail is all sorted or not,” Manchester Postal Service employee Sharon Hebert said. “They are expected to try to sort some of it in between their stops.”
The Post Master General testified Monday before the House Oversight Committee, committing to getting election mail delivered on time. But, refusing to bring hundreds of sorting machines back online.
Rep. Chris Pappas has called for an inspector general investigation.
“I want to know the connection of those delays to the unplugging of hundreds of machines across this country,” Pappas said. “And whether or not we can actually put these things back online or if they’ve all been scrapped.”
Every member of New Hampshire’s congressional delegation attended the rally, expressing commitment to save the Postal Service and fight for funding.
“We’ve heard from like, 4,952 people who say, ‘Fund the Postal Service, do something about what’s happening,’ and we’ve heard from four people who said don’t do anything,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said.