National Newspaper Association today recognized a decision by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to suspend some service changes until after November elections.
DeJoy announced today that the Postal Service was fully able to handle election mail. In addition, he committed that until after the election:
- Retail hours at Post Offices will not change.
- Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are.
- No mail processing facilities will be closed.
- And we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed
NNA President Matt Adelman, publisher of the Douglas (Wyoming) Budget, said he appreciated the Postmaster General’s responsiveness. He said NNA believes maintaining service levels is critical to support Americans’ confidence in the mail.
“We want to note that the election is not the only focal point this year. To us, the challenges created by the pandemic are at least as critical, if not more so, than the concerns about election mail. We have always had confidence that USPS is completely competent to handle even a great upsurge in election volume. But the public health emergency is far from over. The Postal Service will continue to need support from the public and Congress to carry on its mission, even amidst coronavirus disruptions, until the nation has fully recovered.
“That said, we know this Postmaster General is eager to get on with cost-cutting, which NNA supports in general terms. His attention to the concerns of customers and members of Congress is right on target.”
The Postal Service’s announcement is here: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020/0818-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-statement.htm