Attacks on USPS workers prompt employees to demand greater protection on the job

U.S. Postal Service workers across the Rockford area are joining letter carriers from across the country to demand greater protection on the job after recent attacks on mail delivery people.

Rockford mail carrier Jay Larson was killed March 27 during a mass stabbing in southeast Rockford.

Postal worker Octavia Redmond was shot to death July 18 in Chicago's West Pullman neighborhood.

Both postal service employees were doing their jobs — delivering mail on their regular routes — when they were killed.

The Protect Our Letter Carriers Act in Congress — House Bill 7629 and Senate Bill 4356 — would provide $7 billion in funding over five years to upgrade technology that would make letter carriers less of a target for robbery and violence.

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Postal carriers have what they call an arrow key that can open buildings, mail boxes and collection boxes. Robbers have been known to target letter carriers to steal these keys so they can sell them.

Upgrading the keys with digital technology would devalue the keys, but it's costly.

The bill would also require federal prosecutors to prioritize the prosecution of anyone who attacks or robs letter carriers, and it would stiffen federal sentencing for perpetrators.

While the attacks on Larson and Redmond are not believed to be tied to arrow keys, union leaders say their deaths highlight the dangers of the job of postal workers and the need for greater protections.

According to information from the United States Postal Inspection Service, robberies of letter carriers has increased by 30%, said Rockford United Labor President Sara Dorner.

"They're carrying medication. They're carrying checks, goods," Dorner said. "But they also carry these keys that allow them to access different apartment buildings. And so people are taking that and then using the key to go and rob apartment buildings. This is a $7 billion infrastructure bill to change the key infrastructure to create mechanisms where ... it's not valuable to somebody who steals the key because they can't use it."

Hundreds of U.S. Postal Service workers and union members plan to converge at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29, in Rockford's Davis Park to rally support for the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act.

National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 245 Rockford President Lawrence Steward said the rally is meant to raise awareness and that carriers from as far away as southern Wisconsin and the Chicago suburbs as well as political leaders are expected to attend.

"People have no fear about assaulting us at all," Steward said. "People have no fear about threatening us."

Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at  (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on X @jeffkolkey .

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Attacks on USPS workers prompt employees to demand greater protection on the job