At a congressional hearing Monday, Representative Ayanna Pressley sharply questioned postmaster general Louis DeJoy on how the US Postal Service is keeping its workforce safe in the era of COVID-19, and called on him to resign amid cuts to the agency that have slowed down mail service.
Eighty-three members of the postal service have died as a result of the coronavirus, DeJoy — President Trump’s appointee for the USPS head job — said at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Monday.
More than 6,000 have tested positive, including more than 220 in the Boston area, Pressley said.
“To direct the systemic slowdown of mail delivery during a pandemic within months of a national election is incomprehensible,“ Pressley said, “and this is certainly no way to repay the 600,000 dedicated and brave employees who risk their lives every day to deliver essential mail. The Postal Service is one of the largest employers of veterans and has one of the most diverse workforces in our country. Forty percent of postal workers are people of color, and for generations, working for the USPS was one of the only living wage jobs accessible to Black and brown Americans.”
Pressley noted that the same groups, essential workers and people of color, are disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, and pressed DeJoy on whether pursuing a hiring freeze when the coronavirus was affecting the postal service workforce was contributing to the delay in mail service.
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DeJoy insisted it was not.
Pressley also called on DeJoy to provide the House committee with the data it was collecting on postal worker illnesses and deaths. At the end of her questioning, Pressley called on DeJoy to resign.
“Mr. DeJoy, the hardworking people of the United States Postal Service deserve a better leader. In my opinion, the only thing you should be delivering is your resignation,” she said.
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The Oversight Committee on Saturday released internal Postal Service documents warning about steep declines and delays in a range of mail services since early July, shortly after DeJoy took the helm. Delays have occurred in first-class and marketing mail, periodicals and Priority Mail, the agency says in an Aug. 12 briefing prepared by Postal Service staff for DeJoy.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Christina Prignano can be reached at christina.prignano@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @cprignano.