Related'It makes me feel like nobody cares:' Boston residents share how USPS mail delays affect daily life
A USPS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. But in September, a spokesperson for the Northeast region said in an email that mail service in the Boston area is "current and within performance standards" and that nearly all first class mail in Massachusetts during the last quarter of the federal fiscal year arrived "within a day of the service standard. On average, mail in the state is delivered in 2.5 days."
Councilor Sharon Durkan questioned those metrics.
"The reality on the ground tells a remarkably different story," Durkan said. "Residents are missing critical communications, including legal documents and financial statements. Vulnerable neighbors are experiencing delays in vital medications. Small businesses are struggling with unreliable mail services."
Representatives from three different unions representing USPS workers in the Boston area said USPS' response to the council's request to testify is consistent with how leadership has responded to concerns raised by the workforce.
"You're getting a taste of the real Post Office. Anything you say, they're going to deflect, they're going to deny," said Scott Hoffman, a national business agent representing USPS clerks in the New England region of the American Postal Workers Union.
Hoffman and the other union leaders told the council that they believe several problems are contributing to the decline in service for residents. They said employee retention is poor, which leaves those who remain with overwhelming workloads.
At Tuesday's hearing, several residents testified in person and virtually about how late and inconsistent mail delivery and post office service impact their daily lives.
One resident said his post office has been unexpectedly closed when he's tried to pick up his mailed medication.
Another said her health insurance lapsed because she was supposed to receive and return a form in July that didn't make it to her mailbox until September.
Mitch Hilton, who was a letter carrier for nearly 36 years before he retired in 2006, said he has kept documentation of all the times this year when his mail was not delivered as scheduled. He also gets paid for part time work via checks in the mail, and said those have come late as well.