Some 200,000 mail carriers have reached a tentative contract deal with the U.S. Postal Service that includes backdated pay raises and a promise to provide workers with air-conditioned trucks.
The new agreement, which still needs to be ratified by union members, runs through November 2026. Letter carriers have been working without a new contract since their old one expired in May 2023. Since then they have continued working under the terms of the old contract.
Both the union and the Postal Service welcomed the agreement, which was announced Friday.
It’s insane they’ve had to go this long without air conditioned trucks. For an operation that needs to be functional for our society to operate, they really should receive much better pay and conditions.
I was a mail carrier briefly in 2023. It gets three degrees below Hell in the summer here. It was 110 outside and 125 inside my truck with broken AC that they wouldn’t fix despite the union contract stating the trucks have to be kept in good repair.
I now work an office job again because I was probably going to drop dead working in those conditions for 10-11 days straight with no day off. Carrying mail - especially on foot like I did - is a brutal job you guys. They deserve this agreement.
And this doesn’t apply to a lot of contracted-out rural route carriers, although they often have to provide their own vehicles.
That’s correct, which is how I ended up on foot. In fact, all new carriers are contracted. They then dump on the contractors because they’re not federal employees.
At the time I had a 16-year old vehicle, so using that for work wasn’t really an option. Since my only way to avoid using that clunker was to apply for a city carrier position, I did. I figured that still meant I’d be driving a white mail truck (for which I did still have to pass driving certification). Instead I got sent to a downtown office where I was given a big van that we parked and left while delivering on foot.
Last summer (if I’m not mistaken) was the hottest on record. There was hardly ever a clear weather day that I didn’t end up literally soaked in sweat. Oh, in my own clothes too because they don’t give you any uniforms until you’re past your 90 day mark. They actually don’t issue uniforms either. You get an allowance so you can order your own through one of several contracted companies (of varying quality).
Like I said my van had broken AC, so it was a big metal oven all day long. High humidity too. Because I was a contractor, days off were rare and never more than one at a time. They can work you up to 11 days in a row. I did also have a large dog try to attack me. Many do hate mail carriers and will attack on sight. We had to carry mace.
They don’t really tell anyone this stuff up front because it doesn’t pay well enough to nearly kill yourself over. I really did almost pass out a couple of times despite never having done that before and despite drinking at least a gallon of water every day.
And that is the story of how I discovered I was born with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Wow I’m so glad that DeJoy still has his job since he’s clearly running things so well.
I’m no fan of his, so this isn’t a defense. Until Congress changed the way the USPS is funded in 2022, they’ve been absolutely screwed and kneecapped on purpose so that private carriers aren’t outcompeted. They now no longer have to reserve retirement money for their employees decades out from that employee’s hiring date, but it’s such a massive ship to turn around that it hasn’t happened yet.
I do not understand why Biden would have kept DeJoy in his position.
https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opinion/columns/2024/04/28/why-president-biden-cant-fire-the-postmaster-general-of-u-s-postal/73443709007/
Basically due to the way the USPS is structured, Biden can’t fire him outright or directly, the decision has to come from the USPS board of governors.
And the usual longterm Republican obstructionism strikes again.
You may already know this by now, but simply drinking water won’t replenish you because of the lost salts in your sweat. You have to get some electrolytes in there to recuperate properly.
It’s even more insane that they had to negotiate to get them.
I’m assuming it’s partly because of how crazy inefficient A/C is if you’re opening your doors/windows every 30 seconds.
Wrongful and workplace deaths are more crazily inefficient and also just morally bankrupt from the getgo. Nobody scrutinizes the defense budget anywhere near the fuckery Republicans have put postal workers thru
Wow, rough! Anyway, you should probably go to therapy to figure out why the fuck you said that out loud, or least spend do some introspection.
Besides, that’s not how it works. They are places of refuge for mail carriers as much as transportation. If they’re in the country they’ll be doing more driving and in the city they park and walk around with bags before returning to drive to the next area. A/C will help in both situations.
A/C does not, and cannot, function without insulation.
There is no insulation when the doors and windows are constantly open. You’re just burning energy for no impact.
You’re not going to get the whole interior down to 75° but having cool dehumidified air blowing on you makes a huge difference.
It doesn’t get to cool, for the exact same reason you don’t intake from outside to begin with.
Cool can’t happen without gradual lowering of the input temperature by recirculating it. It takes many cycles to have any impact at all.
cooling can absolutely happen with air from outside, it just takes a much more powerful ac unit. insulation only exists to make it efficient.
You can definitely use outside air for the AC.
You’re not trying to cool the vehicle down, you just want cool air blowing on you.
I know that. I literally said that there are many times where the doors are closed for decent stretchs of time and last time I opened my car doors I don’t remember 100% of the cold air rushing out but maybe I forgetting something.
Spend more time thinking and less time trying to justify why essential workers shouldn’t have basic comforts.
Because it’s bullshit. It’s a lie. The car is not running A/C with the doors closed for any meaningful length of time, and you don’t maintain temperatures without A/C actively running.
There is a small relief provided by blowing the cooled dehumidified air over the warm sweating body using the dash vents. This would give the person a chance for their body to better perform the evaporative cooling process even if the cabin can’t stay at a constant lower temperature. I’d argue doing something to help with the comfort of the carrier is better than a vehicle without AC - and understandable it’s worse for the environment because of the waste heat generated in the process.
You get the same exact outcome with airflow period, without removing all of the range of the vehicle.
As someone who owned a car without AC for several summers, I’d say you’re incorrect on that assumption. In fact, this is something you can try in the summer time with any car with AC. After a hot day in the sun, go drive around without the AC on and just the fans on and windows down. How do you feel? Then kick on the AC (leaving the driver’s window down, stimulating running a route delivering to mailboxes.). You’re telling me there is NO difference in feel without cool air blowing at your body?
I’m not putting the calculations of how many more dinosaurs will be used to in this, I’m merely focusing on the carrier being a little more comfortable during their drive.
Why aren’t you a mail carrier? You seem qualified and experienced to do it.