Postal workers in Iowa’s largest city staged a picket late Wednesday to protest staffing shifts they say are delaying the sorting of mail.
Mike Bates, the president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 44, says 36 clerical workers at the main Des Moines post office have been moved out of those positions this year and there are longer lines at the post office and delays in mail processing.
“Customers deserve first class service 24-hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days. That’s what we do behind the scenes. Nobody really sees that,” Bates says. “They see the delivery part of the Postal Service.”
Managers say changes in some postal workers’ schedules or job titles are in line with the union contract and the moves are helping the Postal Service operate more efficiently within its budget.
(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Michael Leland)