U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy released the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) “Delivering for America” 10-Year Plan, which drastically cuts hours and raises prices for USPS service:
“There’s no DeJoy in the Post Office tonight. Postmaster General DeJoy’s plan to raise costs and cut services is designed to sink the postal service, not save it.”
Since taking control of USPS, DeJoy’s policies have slowed down and unacceptably decreased service for millions of Americans who rely on it. Many Americans continue to face unacceptable problems in postal delivery performance, which has affected prescription medication delivery, mortgage and utility bill payments, insurance policies, small business deliveries, and other necessities during the pandemic. Mr. DeJoy’s plan will double down on these failures by again cutting service and raising prices. Higher postal rates will make it harder for small businesses to survive this pandemic and affect thousands of jobs across the country, including hundreds of jobs in Illinois.
At the end of December, the USPS had an on-time rate of 38 percent for nonlocal mail – compared to 92 percent one year earlier. The USPS Inspector General released a report last month that showed there were 19,000 undelivered pieces of mail in four Chicago postal facilities.
Last week, Durbin called on DeJoy to step down if he cannot reverse the policies that have decimated USPS service.
***Report Courtesy of US Senator Durbin***
