Bemidji Community Shares Concerns on Postal Delivery Delays at Listening Session

By Zy’Riah Simmons

A listening session was held in Bemidji yesterday with the staff of Minnesota’s U.S. Senators to discuss ongoing postal issues related to package and mail delivery.

Rural mail carriers in Bemidji picketed last month because of what they say are unfair working conditions for United States Postal Service employees and the prioritization of third-party packages from businesses like Amazon over essential items like bills and medications.

People from the city of Bemidji and surrounding areas were at the meeting to share their thoughts and concerns on USPS mail delivery and delays that have been going on for a while.

[We came] up here [to] hear firsthand from constituents about what is happening in Bemidji,” said Sara Silvernail, state director for Sen. Tina Smith. “And I think one of the things that the Senator says most often to her constituents is that solutions are solved by the people closest to the problem. And that’s why we’re here today, is to figure out what those solutions are. And the first way of doing that is hearing directly from the people that are experiencing the situations.”

Staffers for Sen. Smith and Sen. Amy Klobuchar listened as the community poured out their concerns about area postal services. They provided possible solutions to ensure mail arrives on time.

“We’ve gotten a call from the mayor. I mean, we knew, but to have this kind of turnout and to hear the heartfelt stories from the community make a huge difference in us being able to communicate their message,” said Erika Nelson, state director for Sen. Klobuchar. “Hearing from the community, hearing the carriers’ commitment to the community, and how what’s happening is really, you know, breaking their hearts and they want to find a solution.”

Former employees of the Bemidji post office shared their opinions about what they saw happening behind closed doors and explained why they decided to retire early.

“That’s the last thing I wanted to do,” said one former postal worker. “I wanted to continue working with my coworkers. I feel like I let them down. I also – because now they’re working working more because I’m not there. My customers are getting a hold of me, going, ‘What’s going on over there?’ I said, ‘Well, I think I’m out, I’m done.'”

“I started complaining in May about no power steering in my truck, and it’s the mail truck. And I went all summer with no power steering,” said another former employee. “I would pull up by the driveways and I’d have to walk packages, because I’d pull in driveways and I just don’t have the strength to turn that vehicle around with no power steering.”

One person brought up her regrets at how she saw customers and residents being treated. “You know, we have a relationship with them. So when we were asked to treat them like they don’t matter – I’m sorry, It’s just, it’s very – it’s a very hurtful situation.”

“We’ve heard from some very brave postal workers who are feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that they’re doing,” said Silvernail. “And we’ve heard from the constituents who are concerned about medications in the mail that they’re not getting on time. So we have to take those problems back to our senator and figure out how we can create solutions that matter to the people of Bemidji.”

With many issues brought up at the meeting, the main concern was – when will these problems be resolved?

“It’s hard to know when the solutions will actually come to fruition because a lot of this is up to the Postmaster General himself and making some of these systemic changes,” explained Silvernail. “But I will say that Sen.  Smith and Sen. Klobuchar have drafted the Postal Delivery Accessibility Act that holds that the Postal Service accountable for the work that they’re doing, and our hope is that through that legislation, some of these issues can be solved.”