Temporary workers – who don’t receive benefits – say unreasonable demands are being placed on them by an uncaring postal service

Chevon Webb began working as a rural carrier assistant at a Virginia post office at the end of July. Before her 90-day probation period was over, she injured her knee.

“My supervisor called. I told her I was hurt and needed to go to the emergency room. She said she was going to send someone and no one came,” Webb said. When she returned to the office, her supervisor was no longer in, and she showed her swollen knee to the postmaster, who, according to Webb, looked at it and walked off.

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After work, Webb went to the doctor, who sent her to the emergency room. She later learned she had torn her meniscus and would require surgery, but could return to work on light duty.

“The postmaster told me she didn’t have any light duty for me,” Webb said. She went into work two days after her injury to fill out the paperwork for an incident report.

Webb said: “They said I didn’t report my injury. I said I did. They asked me to come in to do a pre-disciplinary interview and fill out the paperwork. I thought everything was OK. Then I get a letter in the mail on saying I was fired for improper conduct.”

More than 130,000 employees in the United States Postal Service (USPS) are classified as non-career employees – a status similar to a temporary employee where a worker does not receive the federal benefits of a career employee. These non-career employees handle large workloads but are often treated as an expendable source of labor. USPS has reduced its workforce by more than 200,000 positions since 2005 in response to budgetary constraints imposed by Congress.

The Guardian spoke to several former and current USPS workers, classified as non-career employees, who were fired or said they were mistreated after suffering on-the-job injuries.

These temporary workers say they are uniquely vulnerable to mistreatment at a federal agency with one of the highest rates of workplace injury in the United States.

Webb, the Virginia postal worker, was not entitled to union representation, since she was in her 90-day probation. She has filed official complaints against two of her supervisors and is still waiting for worker compensation.

“I can’t get another job because I can’t work until after my surgery,” Webb said. “I don’t know where my next paycheck is going to come from. I can’t pay my bills, my medical expenses, co-pays, or my medication.”

At the same office, Keshonda Arrington started working in June 2018, but recently told the office she was four months pregnant and requested to be placed on light duty.

I recently came back from an injury. It was by far the worst process I’ve ever gone through US postal worker

“They told me I should resign because they are not required to provide light duty work for CCAs [city carrier assistants],” Arrington said.

She still hasn’t been given light duty and expressed concern over continuing to work full duty, citing an instance of a co-worker having a miscarriage eight months into their pregnancy. “Once they found out I was pregnant, they had no use for me. I think I’m still employed, but I’m not getting paid.”

In Fredericksburg, Virginia, Blix Birkenbuel-Hesse was fired in September 2018 after her husband had to pick her up to take her to hospital because of heat exhaustion. “The trucks don’t have any conditioning at all,” Birkenbuel-Hesse said. “I couldn’t catch my breath, I was pouring sweat. I was getting dizzy and started having to rest on people’s steps, which I never did.”

A week later, her supervisor told her she was being terminated. She currently has a pending complaint with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Natyisha Johnson, in Bridgewater, New Jersey, was fired in September 2018 after reporting her postmaster for harassment. The month before, Johnson asked what to do with leftover unsorted magazines in her mail truck. She was told to bring them back with her at the office, where two supervisors and the postmaster yelled at her for not delivering them.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Workers facing disciplinary action for injuries on the job are a common occurrence for USPS workers. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

Johnson previously had issues with the postmaster, who yelled at her on at least two previous occasions for not delivering a package because of dogs on the premises, which carriers are told not to deliver to for safety concerns. She had filed a complaint with human resources against her postmaster for one of the occasions.

“I started to cry and put back the magazines into the missorted mail,” Johnson told me.

Johnson has epilepsy but with the help of medication had not experienced a seizure in two years. That week, Johnson said her postmaster continued to harass her. On Friday, Johnson had a seizure at work and woke up in the hospital.

Shortly after, Johnson said her postmaster decided to conduct a series of performance reviews, where she was given all unsatisfactory scores.

“She made it clear that human resources told her I had made a complaint against her. I felt she only terminated me when she found out about the complaint,” added Johnson. “I challenged my termination and still have not received any response back.”

Workers facing disciplinary action for injuries on the job are a common occurrence for USPS workers. In April 2018, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in favor of a class-action lawsuit that accused the USPS of creating a discriminatory program to get rid of injured employees. The decision affects around 130,000 current and former USPS employees. The lawsuit is still in litigation.

In 2017, 42,000 USPS employees had compensation claims accepted for on-the-job injuries, and 12 workers died on the job, according to the American Postal Workers Union.

Data shows the USPS had the most severe injuries reported on the job from January 2015 to December 2016 at 395 injuries – a rate of 61.7 severe injuries per 100,000 employees, ranking fourth in the US behind a waste management company and two poultry processing companies.

One unnamed worker said: “I recently came back from an injury. It was by far the worst process I’ve ever gone through. I was attacked by a dog, fell, and sprained my knee and ankle. I couldn’t walk or do anything.”

It took over a month for them to receive any pay or compensation.

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The USPS has reduced its labor costs by $10bn since 2006, which has created a labor shortage at post offices across the country. This reduction of labor has come as the USPS shifted to rely more on temporary, cheaper non-career positions while placing extra duties and heavy workloads on their employees

Another worker said: “The workloads are unreasonable. It has caused me heart issues, lost time with family and feelings of wanting to quit resurface on a daily basis.”

“I don’t know if the public can really understand just how much stress we are under,” said another. “The postal service cares about numbers only, not service. Some of us carriers still do our best to provide good customer service.”

The USPS declined to comment on individual allegations from former employees. A USPS spokesperson told the Guardian. “The postal service takes the safety of its employees very seriously. Employees are educated on the importance of safety. Information pertaining to accidents are provided to OSHA and the Office of Worker’s Compensation as required.”