Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Kenny Woo, a T6 employee, or 'day-off relief' employee, loads his truck at the Saratoga post office.
Understaffing leads to delivery delays
By Kara Chalmers
Although used to late-in-the-day deliveries, Suzanne Dalton was still surprised on Oct. 10, to not receive her mail--at all. For most of the 12 years she has lived on Beauchamps Lane in Saratoga, Dalton's home has been last on the mail route, meaning that she receives her mail late, often after 5:30 p.m., she said. But she said there had been only one other time that she remembers not receiving mail at all, a couple of years ago.
"It's just not acceptable--not delivering the mail," Dalton said.
According to the postmaster for the Saratoga Post Office on Allendale Avenue, Rick Araujo, while there was no mail delivery to a section of the city on Oct. 10, there were two deliveries on Oct. 11 to make up for the lapse--one in the morning and one at the regular delivery time.
Araujo said the reason for the nondelivery was because the temporary mail carrier, a member of the post office's supplemental work force, had been running late and did not feel safe delivering the mail and traversing the roads after dark, since she was new and not familiar with the route.
"We just made a decision based on safety," Araujo said, who added that not delivering the mail is rare. "Normally, I'd keep them working, even if it's late." He said that he erred on the side of safety when the carrier was concerned.
The volume of mail was the cause for the carrier to be out so late to begin with, Araujo said. After holidays, such as the Columbus Day holiday on Oct. 9, Araujo said there is always more mail than usual, since there is two days worth to deliver. He also said that election literature is slowing down workers, as well. Araujo said that beginning at this time of year, mail delivery gets even heavier due to the holiday season.
"The September fall mailing season added to an election year is quite busy," Araujo said.
Last Jan. 8, due to an unusual amount of employees who took sick leave and the influx of mail after the holidays, the mail did not get delivered to Rosemary Woodward at her home on Ravenwood Drive, but was instead delivered the next day at noon, she said. At the time, Woodward found the late delivery unacceptable.
The post office has two pools of employees from which to draw when career employees are out sick or on leave: part-time flex employees who fill in for people who call in sick and casual, or supplemental, employees for people who are out for long-term illnesses or other long-term leaves.
The permanent carrier who normally delivered Dalton's mail was out on long-term leave on Oct. 10, Araujo said.
According to Dalton, none of these excuses is acceptable to her either and she does not see this as a problem that community members should have to deal with.
However, the short-staffed Saratoga post office is symbolic of the staffing problem the U.S. Postal Service is experiencing everywhere in the nation, Araujo said. And in Saratoga, where the cost of living is so high, retaining workers is even harder, he added. Araujo said he has openings for all types of positions that he is trying to fill.
"We have openings all over," he said.
Post office employees are paid the same wage no matter where they live in the United States, except in Hawaii and Alaska. In addition, Saratoga has one of the highest pieces of mail per resident rates in the country, according to Araujo.
As for Dalton, since Oct. 10, her delivery has been more constant, coming as early as 5:30 p.m.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
