January 1, ‘You May Not Be Getting Mail Today’: USPS Workers Walk Out Over Pay Cuts

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1917: The U.S. declares war on Germany, enters World War I.

Reliable mail delivery is an essential service for Americans, and people are only becoming more reliant on it to receive their bills, essential items like prescriptions, and other important documents. However, over the past year, customers have been complaining about delivery delays and stolen checks. Now, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been hit with another problem that could make matters worse for customers.

According to reports, the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) and the USPS have been in disagreement over how rural workers should be paid for a long time. This disagreement has led to the development of the Rural Route Evaluated Compensation System (RRECS), a mostly automated system that “will base compensation on volume data collected over a 12-month period.”

The official implementation of RRECS started this month, and rural USPS workers should expect to get their first RRECS-based paycheck on April 28. However, several USPS workers have taken to social media recently to share how the new RRECS rules have resulted in significant pay cuts for them.

“I’m a postal worker. I took a 25 percent pay cut today,” one Reddit user wrote on April 1. The carrier revealed that their pay is plummeting from $65,000 to $47,000.

“Almost every carrier in my office is also receiving a pay cut. Anywhere from 5-30%. Absolutely no one got an increase in pay,” the user added.

Others say the new RRECS rules is resulting in reduced hours, further affecting pay.

“Basically just got told that [I’m] going from 6 days a week to 1-2 days a week,” another Reddit user wrote on April 1.

A video posted by USPS worker Kellman Kirkconnell warned customers about the situation.

“We just got told … a lot of us are losing money with our new pay system,” Kirkconnell said in his TikTok video, which amassed more than four million views before being removed from the platform. “I’m losing about $12,000 per year, guaranteed.” (He later clarified that he is actually losing $10,250 in a follow-up video.)

The pay cuts have already pushed some postal carriers to abandon their work, Kirkconnell said.

“A lot of you may not be getting mail today,” he said. “We’ve had some people walk out, and other people lost way more than I did.”

The USPS has not commented on concerns that the RRECS could affect customers’ mail deliveries. The agency provided a statement about the change, stating that “the compensation system for rural letter carriers is a nationally negotiated pay system codified in the parties’ National Agreement.”

However, staffing problems have already been a concern for customers. In December 2022, the USPS cited a staffing shortage as “the main factor” for delivery delays in several parts of the U.S., including Kansas City, Missouri.

Bottom line

This situation is alarming for those of us who rely on the USPS to deliver essential items. It is concerning that the USPS and NRLCA have been in disagreement for so long, and the implementation of RRECS could potentially cause further problems. USPS workers’ reduced pay and hours could lead to more staffing problems and further delivery delays.

We believe in the importance of a well-functioning postal service and the need to support our rural postal workers. The USPS must find a way to resolve this issue with the NRLCA quickly, and ensure that customers’ mail deliveries are not affected.

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Source: Best Life