APWU Members & Supporters Join National Day of Action to Improve Mail Delivery & Stop Planned Delays in Rural Maine

On Tuesday, members of American Postal Workers Union Local 458 were joined by a representative from Congressman Jared Golden’s office and members of IAM S6, IBEW 1837, USW 900 and the Maine Education Association at a rally in Lewiston to demand that the USPS to improve staffing, improve service and cease efforts to delay mail delivery in rural Maine. The action was one of over 100 rallies across the country as part of APWU National Day of Action to demand a fair contract, better service and public input into planned cuts and consolidations.

View a short video of the rally

Scott Adams, President of the Portland-based APWU 458, took aim at the USPS latest plan to delay mail delivery for rural Mainers. He noted that while a recent Bangor Daily News article quoting press releases from the USPS and Senator Susan Collins stated that it had backed off a plan to consolidate mail services from the USPS’s distribution center in Hampden to Scarborough, the agency doesplan to delay all mail in rural offices that are more than 50 miles away from the Scarborough facility. In 2025, the revised plan, which Adams called “snake oil,” would keep the mail overnight in those rural offices and not send it back for processing until the next day.

“They’ve already left us with a one-day delay, so what they’re doing in Hampden has no effect on that and it wasn’t good news,” said Adams. “If we save some positions in Hampden we could lose them out in the field and we’re also sacrificing service.”