- Chaos has been detected at e-mail sorting facilities in California as employees struggle with the recent cuts in workforce and equipment.
- At one email facility in South Los Angeles, workers reported gnats and rodents pulling containers of fruit and meat apart that were left to rot, according to the Los Angeles Times.
- The reports come after recently appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy made a series of sweeping changes to the postal service.
- DeJoy addressed Congress this week, promising to halt many of the operational changes until after the election after criticizing Democratic congressional leaders.
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Employees at post-sorting facilities in California report heavy sorting machines, mountains of untouched mail, and packages containing rodents that are contained as they struggle with widespread cuts in workforce and equipment.
Postal workers and union members have told the Los Angeles Times that the recent cuts recently imposed by the postal service have caused major delays in facilities in the state.
At one facility in Santa Claris, employees discovered that their sorting machines were padlocked or disabled.
Employers at another South Los Angeles mail-sorting hub reported that gnomes and rodents were picking apart pieces of fruit and meat that were left to rot.
Email Manager Aukushan Scantlebury said cuts to overtime have caused significant constraints for mail versions. He watched as rats stumbled across the floor. At one point, it was “the whole building full of gnats,” Scantlebury told the Los Angeles Times.
The reports provide an overview of the long-term consequences of the recent changes made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took over the role earlier this summer.
DeJoy, a major donor to President Donald Trump, has been under heavy scrutiny by Democratic congressmen after a Motherboard investigation revealed that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) shut down mail sorting machines at processing centers across the country.
E-mail sorting machines can process 35,000 pieces per hour and are crucial to the functioning of sorting facilities.
Other implemented changes include controlling overtime and reducing extra travel, which are already causing massive delays, according to union representatives.
In California, some people have complained about days going by without receiving any email at all, the Los Angeles Times reported.
US Postmaster General Louis Dejoy arrives at a meeting at the office of Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at the American Capitol on August 5, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong / Getty Images
In a letter to DeJoy, sent in early August, Democratic congressmen Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wrote that the removal of the machines and the other changes threatened “the timely delivery of mail,” including missing votes.
Election officials and postal workers are concerned that the recent changes could have devastating effects on the election, where expectation of post-in is expected to increase sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For Congress this week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced that he would halt many of the operational changes until after the election.
DeJoy said the delivery of the nation’s election mail was a “sacred duty” and said the agency would not close post-sorting facilities.
“To prevent even the appearance of any influence on election post, I will suspend these initiatives until after the election is over,” he said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
However, postal workers say significant damage has already been done.
“A lot of the machinery is already locked up. Some of it has been torn down and moved or trashed,” Omar Gonzalez, the Western Regional Coordinator for the American Postal Workers Union, told the Los Angeles Times.
“While we’re breaking the news about the suspension of these changes, it’s just that – a suspension. The attacks and undermining of our operations will, at the very least possible time, in December, restore our entire season.”
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