Postal workers in Waterloo walk out in protest of short staffing, toxic work environment

Postal workers across the country walked out today in protest of what they say is a toxic work environment, harassment from superiors and staff shortages that are impacting the way they operate.

In Waterloo, members of the Iowa Postal Workers Union hit the pavement to express their frustration.

"We are in the battle of our lives, fighting to get good staffing, stop the toxic work environment, make sure managers are trained on how to deal with people," American Postal Workers Union Vice President Debby Szeredy.

Iowa postal workers say they are fed up with the way the USPS is ignoring their calls for help.

"Employees are bullied, harassed, because they're trying to get us to do more with less and there's only so much an individual can do," said Kimberly Karol, President of the Iowa Postal Workers Union.

The Union says they are so short staffed, and that shortage is affecting their delivery times and impacting when Iowans get their mail, even when it comes to simply sending a standard envelope across a couple county lines.

"Recently I had an experience where I sent a letter to Des Moines and it took 10 days to get to Des Moines, where previously it only took two days," Karol said.

She says the new employees are not properly trained and treated poorly, resulting in high turnover.

"If the postal service invested in their employees, everyone in this country would be getting better service," Karol said.

She says this is a problem that needs to be at the forefront, especially with local leaders.

And she wants the public to help get the word out that a change needs to come.

"Send letters to their senators and their legislators, write letters to the board of governors about what they're seeing, the changes in their delivery,” she said.

An audit from the USPS Office of Inspector General on new hires shows the rate of turnover in 2022 was 58.9% compared to 38.5% in 2019.