Most USPS delivery trucks don’t have AC and letter carriers are not provided with bottled water. Officials say seven workers suffered heat illness in San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO — 8/15/24 – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating a string of heat-related illnesses among United States Postal Office (USPS) workers in San Antonio.
Homer Hernandez is the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Alamo Branch 421, which represents about 1,300 mail carriers.
“We had seven dehydrations this year,” said Hernandez. “Two people ended up in the hospital.”
Hernandez says nothing has changed since last August when postal workers rallied for better working conditions.
“It’s not that USPS couldn’t afford bottled water, but they took the bottled water away from us at the time when it was mostly extreme heat,” he said. “So, we rallied to bring some attention to USPS and the postmaster in San Antonio.”
One year later, Hernandez says letter carriers are not given bottled water and most of the USPS delivery trucks don’t have air conditioning.
After a string of injuries, OSHA was called to investigate.
“They clocked [one delivery truck] at 132 degrees inside the vehicle, and it was only 92 degrees that day,” said Hernandez. “So, imagine now and next week when it’s going to be over 100 degrees, it will probably be 145 degrees [in the trucks]. Our carriers are so intimidated to call in that they are being dehydrated.”
In a letter from the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA investigators found San Antonio mail carriers who reported heat injuries received a questionnaire titled “Pre-Disciplinary Interview.”
According to investigators, USPS led employees to believe they would be punished for reporting heat injuries.
The Department of Labor threatened legal action against the USPS Serna Post Office. In the letter, an administrator for the whistleblower protection programs issued the following demands:
- Stop using the “Pre-Disciplinary Interview” questionnaire when addressing an employee’s report of heat-related injury
- Develop a questionnaire for employees who report heat-related issues that is titled in a manner that does not mention or lead employees to believe they could suffer discipline
- Post in a prominent place a copy of the ‘Statement of Rights’
- Confirm in writing that the postmaster, managers and supervisors for the Serna Post Office understand the prohibitions on retaliation and discrimination
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