Later letter carrier start times to affect Elyria Post Office delivery starting March 7

ELYRIA — The president of the union representing Elyria Post Office letter carriers said Wednesday that Elyria city customers will be getting their mail later in the day after changes to routes and delivery start times take effect next week. David Lozano, a retired letter carrier and president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Local 196, said Elyria-based carriers recently were notified by their postmaster that start times will be 9 a.m. effective March 7. That means that letter carriers will be sorting and picking up mail for their routes later in the morning, leading to longer work days and later delivery times including after dark. The changes will affect Elyria customers only, Lozano said. Four Elyria mail routes also have been eliminated, which will put a strain on already overworked letter carriers who will be forced to "do more with less," he said. Working after dark also is less safe for letter carriers, who have increasingly become targets for robbery and other violence, Lozano said. The decision on start times was an operational one, a U.S Postal Service spokesperson said in an email. "Start times have been adjusted to better align with our operations," spokesperson Naddia Dhalai wrote. She did not immediately respond to a follow-up email asking for more specifics. Lozano said the changes resulted from not having enough clerks to sort and prepare mail for letter carriers at the Elyria Post Office, 345 E. Bridge St. "These positions have been understaffed for quite some time," Lozano said. He said the Post Office has been trying to hire more clerks since August, but the process hasn't moved fast enough. The union plans to file a grievance with the Postal Service, but Lozano said that takes time. Hiring is also "convoluted" and "not-very-user-friendly" and no longer a lifelong career for some people, Lozano said. Letter carriers used to put in 30 years into the job, earn their benefits and retire, he said. It seems to be "a little more disposable" with more turnover among workers these days, Lozano said. "It's still a great job. It just needs to be staffed," he said. Local 196 represents 108 active letter carriers and 93 retired members in Elyria, Grafton, North Ridgeville, Oberlin, Wellington and New London. Carriers like Lozano try to provide a good service and become "very protective" of the customers on their routes, he said. The National Association of Letter Carriers entered contract negotiations with the U.S. Postal Service starting Wednesday. Wages and pay scales, staffing and contract compliance are expected to be among the issues NALC brings to the bargaining table, union President Brian Renfroe said in a news release. "The job of a city letter carrier was once sought after as a stable, middle-class job," Renfroe said in the news release. "Unfortunately, in many locations now, we cannot attract enough people, and we even have some that work multiple jobs early in their careers. This, frankly, is unconscionable, especially as the work we do is more valuable than it's ever been before." Lozano said he was hopeful staffing levels would change soon and for the better. "Once we get staffing levels fixed, customers can get a more sensible delivery time," he said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com