Illinois lawmakers join letter carriers in protest against Postmaster General's cutback plan

CHICAGO - Senator Dick Durbin, Rep. Sean Casten and others joined the front lines alongside letter carriers on Monday, protesting the Postmaster General's plan to cut back.

The Illinois State Association of Letter Carriers held an informational picket. This comes during Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's visit to Downers Grove.

The letter carriers claim DeJoy's "Delivering for America" plan is cost-cutting and would impact daily mail collection.

The group also says it will harm the most vulnerable residents who rely on USPS to vote-by-mail, receive medication, make and receive payments, and other time-sensitive communication.

"If you shut down the postal processing facility in Downers Grove to save money, well, what happens to your postal worker when they're going to show up in the morning? They can't go to Downers Grove to pick up the mail. They have to get up earlier, and maybe they got to drive all the way to Lombard, to Lisle, maybe to Joliet. Go to another postal station. Are they going to work longer hours or are they going to say, look, I got a family. Our kids got to get to school. So that mail is just going to have to sit there for another day. This is how you break the postal service. It's not how you deliver the service that we all need," said Rep. Sean Casten.

The National Association of Letter Carriers says there are also staffing issues that make it difficult for mail carriers to handle all of the routes.