GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) -- According to the local postal workers union president, the Green Bay Post Offices are only allowed to operate seven of their 10 mail-sorting machines at this time.
According to Hearney, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's efforts to make the postal service more profitable include orders from higher management to only operate on the seven remaining sorting machines plugged in. Two are unplugged and removed from the office. A third one was repaired by Hearney this week -- his main job is in equipment maintenance -- and he convinced supervisors to let him plug the machine back in. However, Hearney was told that it is only to be used again in emergencies only.
"All we're asking for is a fair chance to get out the elections in a timely and efficient manner," Hearney said.
"We cannot politicize the post office," said Congressman Mike Gallagher. "The men and women who work hard to deliver our mail deserve our support. The best way to support them is to stop perpetuating the lie that mailboxes and machines are being destroyed to mess with the election. That is a dangerous conspiracy theory.”
After DeJoy's first day of Senate testimony regarding his recent operational changes to the United States Postal Service ahead of the 2020 Presidential Election, local postal service supporters organized a non-partisan rally at the downtown Green Bay post office to protect the sanctity of mail in voting this fall.
"We want to stay safe in this election, and one of those institutions that's helping us stay safe is the post office allowing for those absentee ballots to get safely to clerks and to people to fill them out," organizer Loren Price said. "We recognize that there's been some statements by DeJoy that he's going to stop some of these removals [of mail-sorting equipment]; what we're encouraged by is that the Senate and the House are investigating, so we'll know for sure."
Present at today's rally was State Representative Amanda Stuck, who worked as a rural postal carrier to support herself while finishing her degree. She is also running for Congressional Representative Mike Gallagher's 8th district seat this fall. Save the Post Office reached out to Representative Stuck, Representative Gallagher, and both Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson.
Senator Tammy Baldwin sent the organizers a statement to read as speakers had begun speaking on the lawn adjacent to the 118 N Monroe Street post office.
"We know that there's going to be a record increase in the number of people voting by mail because they don't feel safe during a pandemic to go out and vote in person," Representative Stuck said. "And so we know it's going to be even more important that we have the capacity to process those ballots in a timely fashion."
Hearney encourages anyone voting by mail to not only request their ballot as soon as possible, but to return it as soon as possible. Most local governments around northeast Wisconsin are sending their absentee ballots out in September around northeast Wisconsin.
The United States Postal Service did not respond to our request for comment. The House of Representatives is returning to Capitol Hill tomorrow for legislative work regarding the postal service on Saturday, August 22. Postmaster General DeJoy resumes his Senate testimony on Monday, August 24.
