Delivery after dark

Letter carriers have March 14 circled on their calendars. That’s when daylight saving time begins — and the extra hour or so of sunlight will be a godsend.

Short-staffing at the United States Post Office has resulted in the consolidation of mail routes. On many days that extra load forces letter carriers to continue delivering mail long after the sun has gone down. And that can make for dangerous working conditions.

In daylight hours, buckled sidewalks, wet leaves, low-hanging tree branches, garden hoses, and dogs can be seen —and avoided. Not so in the dark.

Carriers say walking routes after nightfall puts them at greater risk of slipping and tripping or being bitten. In December, a letter carrier from Eastern Jackson County, Missouri, was killed after being struck by a car while delivering mail after nightfall.

“This repeated after-dark delivery is the worst I’ve seen in my 25-year career,” said Jamie Partridge, a member of Letter Carriers Branch 82 who works out of Piedmont Station in Northeast Portland.

Union requests that management provide adequate staffing to avoid working late hours — especially during the higher mail volume months of November and December — were spurned.

“Local management says it doesn’t have the authority to hire additional carriers — not even transitional (non-career) employees,” said Branch 82 President Jim Cook. “We were told that in order to get approval from regional level USPS management to hire additional carriers for Portland, the performance indicators must be at an acceptable level. Based on management’s criteria, they say we are more than 50 employees over complement.”

The union filed numerous grievances, pointing to a memorandum of understanding in its collective bargaining agreement stating that “delivery after dark is both inefficient and unsafe, therefore, it is not the intent to require carriers to deliver after dark ...”

The grievances were successful, with letter carriers winning settlements of $50 per after-dark violation, resulting in thousands of dollars in awards.

But that didn’t stop the after dark delivery. In meetings with carriers, local USPS management insisted that delivery after dark was “not inherently unsafe.” Some letter carriers were issued headlamps.

The union reached out to Oregon’s congressional representatives for help, including U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley. In early January, Branch 82 filed a class-action grievance on behalf of all Portland area carriers.

The grievance process can involve multiple steps. One briefing was held last week, with more scheduled later this month — after clocks are turned forward an hour.

(Editor’s Note: The front page photo is of Letter Carrier Jamie Partridge sorting through mail with help of a headlamp. The photo was taken by LaVern Simmons.)

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