DC residents report significant delays in mail delivery
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - People in D.C. are reporting significant mail delivery delays. Several people tell FOX 5 they didn’t receive mail for at least a week despite expecting important documents.
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"I think towards the end of August we were checking our mailbox every day because we had these documents coming in. Nothing was showing up," Barton Liange who lives in Navy Yard said. "We also ordered a supply of donations for Afghan refugees who settled in the area and that actually fully got lost. I believe USPS tracking says it’s somewhere on the way but it’s been over a month now," he added.
Dozens of people have taken to the Next Door App in frustration. One person wrote that her mail carrier told her they’re working with only a third of their staff due to some contracting COVID.
"We have had failure of delivery in all eight wards," Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton told Fox 5.
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Norton said she was told the delays have to do with both workers contracting COVID and the inability to recruit postal workers. She says she’s meeting with Postmaster General Louis Dejoy on Saturday.
"The postal service is essential. It’s been losing money. Congress will be able, before this season is over to show that we are behind our postal service. We will get the postal service the money it needs," Congresswoman Norton said.
USPS has undergone a number of changes and budget cuts in recent years that have affected service. Fox 5 reached out to USPS along with the union representing postal workers to get more details on what’s being done to fix the problems but have not yet heard back for comment.