PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Residents in the Kenton neighborhood held a rally against the test program being run by the United States Postal Service.

The program, called “Consolidated Casing,” is supposed to speed up mail carriers and eliminate routes. However, neighbors complained that mail has been arriving late or at the wrong location. It’s also left mail carriers scrambling.

“There’s just a lot more work than there would normally be,” said Willie Groshell of the Oregon State Association of Letter Carriers. “We’re trying to do our best, and we want the people that live here in Kenton to understand what’s happening, so that they can be kind and loving to all the people doing the work here, and have an actual direction to voice their concerns.” More at KOIN

Below article courtesy of Communities and Postal Workers United

Close to fifty residents of North Portland’s 97217 zip code area rallied outside the Kenton Post Office today to protest their erratic, unreliable and haphazard mail delivery. Mary Beverage, president of Arbor Lodge Neighborhood Association, urged her neighbors to complain to Congressman Earl Blumenauer, who has agreed to collect their mail stories and deliver them directly to the highest decision makers in the US Postal Service.

Since late September, North Portland’s mail delivery has been a mess. Mail is arriving days late, in the dark, to the wrong address, and with constantly changing letter carriers.

A “PILOT” project, called “Consolidated Casing”, has been forced on residents and businesses in the 97217 zip code. The US Postal Service leadership in Washington, DC is trying to speed up mail carriers, eliminate the number of mail routes and break-up (deskill) their job into two – the “sorters” and the “street carriers”.

” None of this is the fault of anybody that is working here in Portland, from managers to clerks to letter carriers”, said Willie Groshell, Oregon president of the letter carriers union (OSALC). “They are all trying their best to make this experiment work and they have no choice or say in how this whole process is being done to them and their customers. The national postal service should have notified the customers in the 97217 zip code that they were to be used as a test site so that this experiment wouldn’t have caught everyone so off guard.

“Congressman Blumenauer wants customer stories and statements to ensure that he can keep USPS leadership fully informed of what is happening on the ground, so that together we can ensure great reliable postal service for all customers going forward. Postal patrons should email Blumenauer.casework@mail.house.gov.

What’s been the result of this “experiment” over two months? Numerous customer service failings during the test, including entire routes not receiving delivery, presequenced mailings curtailed beyond requested delivery dates, and carriers instructed to disregard the address when delivering walk sequence and/ or marriage mail. Other issues include hold mail that is temporarily misplaced or not processed/resumed in a timely fashion, changes of address that are not being recorded, mail that does not get forwarded and businesses that are closed by the time the carrier arrives.
AND exhausted mail carriers, working 10-12 hour days, mandated overtime, exposure to a wide variety of safety issues, and delivering on routes that are too long that they are not familiar with.

From the November, 2019 Postal Record (of the National Association of Letter Carriers, NALC)
…”For many letter carriers, this test has involved 10-12 hour work days, mandated overtime in violation of the National Agreement and exposure to a wide variety of safety issues. Earlier/later start times and extended days have created extreme impositions on city carriers’ lives and families. Affected carriers are reporting difficulties in obtaining adequate childcare, inability to attend important events and alienation from friends and family. In some test offices, carriers are herded like cattle down cluttered, congested, unsafe pathways. NALC has observed emergency exits blocked by test equipment, large quantities of staged mail and equipment blocking egress from the carrier cases, and increased length of exposure to inclement weather, all of which puts postal employees in danger. Letter carriers have reported increased feelings of anxiety, stress and frustration. Some carriers have reported sleep deprivation resulting from long hours and daily schedule changes. Additionally, other carriers report aggravated medical conditions because of the test. Peak season is upon us and it can be a stressful time for all postal employees. NALC is concerned that letter carriers involved in this test may face even greater challenges. Carriers are not the only people suffering from the USPS consolidated casing test; postal customers and mailers are suffering as well. NALC has observed numerous customer service failings during the test, including entire routes not receiving delivery, presequenced mailings curtailed beyond requested delivery dates, and carriers instructed to disregard the address when delivering walk sequence and/ or marriage mail. Other issues include hold mail that is temporarily misplaced or not processed/resumed in a timely fashion, changes of address that are not being recorded, mail that does not get forwarded and businesses that are closed by the time the carrier arrives. NALC has witnessed Delivery Point Sequence (DPS) and Flat Sequencing System (FSS) mail being returned to the plant for “re-processing,” creating delayed delivery….”