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Trump hosts UK prime minister at White House for critical talks on Ukraine; Low marks for NC Congress members in 2024 conservation scorecard; Why carbon offsets often don't work, explained; Ohio regional transit group plans shift to 'green' hydrogen for bus fleet; 'Egg-citing' ID bill lowers barriers for raising backyard chickens.

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Senate Republicans say they'll change the House's budget resolution. Trump questions whether he called the Ukrainian president a 'dictator' ahead of his White House visit, and environmental groups question EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin's call for deregulation.

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The federal funding freeze has left U.S. farmers in limbo about their future farm projects, tourists could find public lands in disarray when visiting this summer, while money to fight rural wildfires is in jeopardy.

On National Postal Worker Day, Workers Face Challenges, Changes

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Friday, June 30, 2023   

Saturday is National Postal Worker Day, a good time to recognize the tens of thousands of employees of the U.S. Postal Service, many of whom work behind the scenes.

Now that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, postal workers continue to face challenges from inside and outside their organization.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the 200,000-plus-member American Postal Workers Union, one of three unions serving postal workers, said the pandemic was a good reminder to the public just how vital the Postal Service is.

"When so many people were locked down - the ability to get packages and to shop through the internet, to vote by mail, to take care of all our businesses - postal workers were out there on the front line," he said. "Many of us were sickened; far too many died."

Changing consumer practices, as well as staffing turnover and shortages, are among the current problems facing postal workers. Dimondstein said the staffing issues were exacerbated by hiring model changes made a decade ago, changing from career-status positions to add some non-career-status jobs. He said he believes this increased turnover has compromised service. He said the postal unions are working to strengthen pathways to career-status positions.

Dimondsen acknowledged that changes in consumer habits pose challenges to the Postal Service, but he said they also open up new opportunities.

"For instance, many banks are closing, neighborhood banks - there's no reason in the long run the post office couldn't get back to postal banking, which they did for 60 years," he said. "And short of postal banking, financial services - maybe paycheck cashing, etc., etc., or electronic bill paying."

Dimonstein also mentioned the possibilities of selling hunting and fishing licenses or providing electric-vehicle charging stations.

"We're going to have to have a nationwide grid," he said. "Wouldn't it be great if tens of thousands of post offices had charging stations right in front of the post office?"

Postal employees will meet the challenges, he said, by finding new ways to serve the people.

Disclosure: American Postal Workers Union contributes to our fund for reporting on Consumer Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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