April 21, 2020
Today the Gazette salutes some more Heroes of the Pandemic by recognizing the vital role our valiant Letter Carriers and their Post Office bound USPS colleagues play in keeping us afloat during this unprecedented shutdown.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night* stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
*nor pandemic.
In addition to performing their regular workload, these dedicated men and women must now risk their health – and that of their family – to deliver our mail. No matter if their route covers a few blocks, like up here in our neck of the woods, or dozens of square miles out in the country, they deliver the mail right to our mailboxes. Whether it’s an apartment lease, a birthday card, the 2020 Census, our car’s registration sticker, a nice new magazine, Grandpa’s meds, or a charging cable we bought online – they lug it all around and deliver it to us 6 days a week. And that’s before our elected officials throw in a few more tons of promotional blurbiage in election years!
Since COVID-19 struck, hundreds of USPS workers have tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus and at least two have died.
But, instead of showing some appreciation, the administration is taking the ‘opportunity‘ of a pandemic to demolish our postal service. Even as they print and hand out trillions of COVID-19 stimulus dollars, they’re evidently intent on choking the life out of our postal service possibly as soon as this summer. Like business everywhere these days, the Post Office’s revenues are down. But rather than throw them a lifeline, the administration seems determined to watch them drown.
Eliminating the post office would destroy 600,000 living wage, unionized jobs in the midst of the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression. Those are the jobs of the men and women working for us during this pandemic. Don’t forget to let them know you appreciate their hard work when you see them making their rounds!
