Chicago postal workers demand more protection, citing July murder of Octavia Redmond
CHICAGO (WLS) -- On a brisk fall Monday, a group of letter carriers were fired up, calling on the U.S. Postal Service to improve their working conditions.
"Instead of being essential workers, we feel like we're expendable out there. We feel like we're not being taken care of," said Mike Caref with the National Association of Letter Carriers.
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The Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers rally in Federal Plaza is one of eight held across the state where workers aired several grievances against the U.S. Postal Service. One is being more transparency in their contract negotiations, which have been ongoing since their contract expired May 2023.
"They've been working without a contract for over a year, and it's high time that those negotiations take place and that they get a fair contract," said Congressman Chuy Garcia.
"The workers say there's also a staffing shortage and are concerned as to how that may impact access to mail-in ballots for the Nov. 5 general election.
"The postal service to date has yet to have a meeting with the employees to make them aware of how to handle the ballots in the mail as the November election is coming up," said ISALC President Luis Rivas Jr.
And they are demanding more protection, saying letter carriers have been assaulted and robbed while delivering mail, or worse. They mentioned Octavia Redmond, who was shot and killed on her route back in July.
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"Multiple routes are still being attacked, and there's no plan in place to say what you're going to do to help protect the letter carriers," said Elise Foster with the NALC.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service could not offer a comment on contract negotiations, but as far as safety, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service says robberies have dropped to 31 this year, down from 100 last year.
