Like thousands nationwide, letter carriers in the Quad Cities have been working without a contract for over 500 days.
Ross Thorpe is a rank-and-file letter carrier of the Local Letter Carriers Union Branch 318 of Moline and says the lack of a contract is hurting their daily operations and exhausting workers.
"I walk into my office and I just see a lot of people just kind of beat down, you know. They work a lot of hours and we work a lot of hours and we deliver a lot of packages and ballots and bills and mail," Thorpe said. "And, you know, we do all of this stuff and, you know, we've been working without a contract right now. So that's kind of why we're out there rallying."
According to Thorpe, the USPS letter carriers union cannot initiate a strike, so 513 days later, many workers are in a cycle of mandatory overtime. Thorpe says potential hires see the current state of operations and leave for businesses like McDonald's, where they can make the same wage with less stress.
"We're not allowed to do that. Now, at this point, I know that the two sides, our union and the USPS are negotiating," Thrope said. "So it's not that they're not negotiating. But what's happening is we as, you know, rank and file members, we're not, we don't know what's going on. We're not being told anything. We don't know. We really don't even know what we're bargaining for."
Since 2013, the United States Postal Service has been under a two-tier pay table system, with members in table one making over $70,000, which Thorpe says is top pay after working nearly a decade. Everyone who has joined since 2013 receives more raise increases but at a much lower rate of .25 cents every 46 weeks. Thrope says that makes it harder for workers to save for retirement and afford current expenses, especially with inflation.
"And as a rank and file member, I've got two kids, a wife, a house, you know, and lots of my brothers and sisters do too," Thorpe said. "We've got carriers across the country that are kind of living in their cars. They can't afford food. They're on welfare. They're doing laundry at a Y and showering there because they can't afford [it]. Luckily, in the Quad Cities, we don't have a cost of living like New York or L.A. or Boston, you know, or even Chicago, for that matter. But, you know. If I had to start out making, I think it's $19.30 and I lived in Chicago, I wouldn't be able to afford to live there. I'd have to live out of my car. And that's really sad because in the state of where we're at in the country and the labor movement, we should be able to afford a living wage."
Thrope says the Moline USPS is hiring for some part-time career carrier positions. He says the current Moline workforce consists of half the workers who have been there over 25-30 years in the branch and new workers under 2 years.
"We delivered everything during the pandemic. And we were an essential service during the pandemic," Thrope said. "But suddenly, we became less essential. And I think the problem is, like, the public hasn't forgotten. But I think our employer has forgotten a little bit."
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