Local postal workers union raises alarm over mail delivery delays

President Sam Wood and Vice President Danny Carinci of the Southwest Florida area local American Postal Workers Union are voicing significant concerns regarding mail delivery delays in our region.

Wood and Carinci revealed that approximately 1.5 million pieces of mail are delayed per day at the Fort Myers postal processing center, a situation that has escalated over the past few months.

“They sit there day after day after day, and they don’t get delivered,” said Wood.

The delays are affecting various types of mail, including critical documents like Social Security, holiday cards, and business mail.

Wood showed WINK News photos of unprocessed mail in the Fort Myers processing facility, including letters sent as early as September of last year or February of this year.

The two say concerns about the backlog seem to be falling on deaf ears.

“We got people that have meetings with the congressman, people have sent things to it OIG, you know, complaining about the delayed mail here,” said Wood, “and nothing has been done. So we’ve gone through the proper procedures to try to get our voices heard on this issue. And no one’s listening.

Behind the delays

Earlier this year, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced cost-cutting measures.

“That implies cutting man hours, that implies cutting the amount of employees,” said Carinci.

Carinci also cited a refusal to allow overtime and a lack of proper training for new employees as key factors contributing to the problem.

“They’re not training these people,” said Carinci, “That mail forwarding that Sam mentioned, it’s has to be processed manually. You have to be trained to do that. And they’re not doing that’s why it’s sitting.”

Hope for change

Wood and Carinci stressed the need for public awareness and action to address the issues plaguing the postal service.

“I want the mail to go back to being delivered daily, like it’s supposed to be delivered, not just piling up inside a building,” said Wood.

“We’ve spent a lot of years in the post office and taking pride in what we do,” said Carinci, “and this is just…quite frankly, it’s just a disservice. The American public deserves better.”

The two encourage management to reconsider decisions regarding overtime authorization and advocate for more resources and support for the postal service in southwest Florida to handle the volume of delayed mail effectively.

“We pride ourselves on being the citizens of the United States rated as one of the most trusted federal agencies. And we’ve gone from that to where we are now and it’s just so disappointing,” said Wood.

Wood pointed to the upcoming election year and fears what will happen if delays continue to backlog.

“November when election when the ballots go out? What’s going to happen with the mail then? So it’s got to be fixed before that,” Wood echoed.

Wood and Carinci told WINK News the delays are happening all over the country, but in southwest Florida, during their more than decades-long careers with the post office, they’ve never seen it this bad.

“We want the public to know what’s actually going on with their mail. So there’s no Hey, where’s my mail at? You know, where the mail is at. It’s here setting had the plant,” said Wood.

USPS response

WINK News reached out to USPS. A spokesperson responded with the following:

“The Postal Service is committed to providing the best possible service to our valued customers. The Fort Myers P&DC is a central location, or ”hub”, that handles returned mail for the entire Florida 2 district, which encompasses ZIP Codes that begin with 328, 329, 335-339, 341, 342, 346, and 347.”