WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Congressman Chris Pappas (D-NH) and Congresswoman Annie Kuster (D-NH) joined others in a virtual roundtable to thank postal workers and listen to their concerns moving forward.
Out of the 814,499 ballots that were cast in New Hampshire during the 2020 general election, 260,992 – about 32 percent – were absentee. Over recent months, the entire New Hampshire Congressional Delegation has spoken out against removal of postal sorting equipment and other initatives by U.S. Postal Service Postmaster Louis DeJoy as well as attacks on the U.S. Postal Service by President Donald Trump.
“I want to thank our dedicated postal workers for their service to New Hampshire during these incredibly challenging times,” said Shaheen. “Despite the personal health risks they face each day performing their duties and the Trump administration’s political attacks to undermine the Postal Service, our postal workers and letter carriers have continued to serve Granite Staters and have even helped to defend our democracy by successfully processing the surge of absentee ballots during the recent election.”
During the roundtable, assembled New Hampshire postal workers repeated calls for DeJoy to reverse his actions, repeating calls for the U.S. Postal Service to be released from onerous pension pre-funding requirements for postal workers not yet born as well as requests for allowing the U.S. Postal Service to engage in limited banking services.
Additionally, postal workers on the call expressed concern about impending cuts to overtime pay, which was crucial to keeping mail delivered during election season, as well as staffing shortages as postal workers in New England are forced to pick up the slack of nearby states that have been hit more heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic.
