Minnesota federal lawmakers want answers over missing rural mail carrier paychecks

WASHINGTON, D.C. [09/25/23] — Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar, and U.S. Representative Angie Craig (all D-Minn.) sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy seeking answers about an apparent payroll system error that led to an estimated 53,000 rural letter carriers missing or receiving only a partial paycheck on September 1. After hearing from Minnesotans affected by the error, the lawmakers pressed DeJoy on the Postal Service’s insufficient response to their significant error, and demanded immediate back pay for the impacted workers.

“Rural letter carriers – including carrier assistants – are essential workers whose services are critical to small towns and rural places in Minnesota and around the country,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter. “As you know, these carriers deliver medications to veterans, bills to seniors, and support businesses large and small, all for relatively modest pay.  Like a lot of American families, many rural letter carriers can’t afford a missed paycheck.  We understand that USPS offered affected employees the option to receive a salary advance in the form of a money order at 65 percent of gross pay.  However, that is an insufficient proposal that fails to address the scope of these employees’ needs, and does not demonstrate a commitment to getting these workers the pay they earned.”

In their letter, Smith, Klobuchar, and Craig called for DeJoy to answer the following questions by September 30, 2023:

1. Do you commit to paying all affected employees in full by October 1, 2023?
   1. If not, by what date will USPS pay all affected employees in full?
2. How many USPS employees were impacted by this payroll system error?
3. What types of employees were impacted by this payroll system error?
4. What caused this payroll system error?
5. What steps have been taken to prevent such an error in the future?
6. How has USPS communicated with affected employees about this error?

Read the full letter below.