Boston City Council Grills USPS Over Mail Delays as Agency Refuses to Appear

BOSTON — October 8, 2024 — Boston City Council holds public hearing on citywide USPS delivery failures, with postal unions warning of deliberate understaffing and quiet office closures. Committee Chair Liz Breadon convened the October 8 hearing on Docket 1425, co-sponsored by Councillors Sharon Durkan, Henry Santana, and Benjamin J. Weber; USPS declined an invitation to appear. Tom Rooney, president of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 34, testified that the Postal Service retains only about 29 percent of new hires and that Roxbury carriers are not starting routes until 8:30 a.m., pushing deliveries to 8 or 9 p.m. American Postal Workers Union National Business Agent Scott Hoffman warned that the South Boston post office is at ongoing lease risk and described the USPS "temporary suspensions list" as effectively a graveyard for neighborhood branches — "it's hospice because it's gone." APWU Boston Metro Local 100 President Raymond Bell charged that scan falsification is "prevalent every day" and that internal metrics are manipulated when performance standards are consistently missed. U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley joined by video and called for removal of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, while residents from Roxbury, Grove Hall, Allston, and Charlestown testified to missed medications, lost ballots, and lapsed health insurance caused by chronic non-delivery.