PORTLAND (Portland Press Herald) — Recent complaints filed against local Postmaster James Thornton accuse him of instructing his staff to sort Amazon packages first, significantly delaying other mail. The willful delay of mail being a federal offense.
Mark Seitz, a 16-year veteran of the postal service filed the complaint. He is also the standing president of the Maine State Association of Letter Carriers and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Local 92.
“The postmaster is telling the supervisors here to leave it, or telling the clerks to not scan it or leave it behind,” Seitz said “…We’ve even been told, at times, ‘I want everybody back in the office by seven, so make sure you deliver all the Amazon parcels, and if you can’t finish, then bring everything else back, but Amazon must go”
“Thornton is willfully delaying thousands of first-class and priority parcels so that fourth-class Amazon parcels can go out for delivery instead,” according to the complaint to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. It was filed July 13 and obtained by the Portland Press Herald this week.
But this isn’t how mail is intended to operate. First-class mail is anything with a stamp or a meter mark, and receives priority. Second-class mail includes periodicals, third-class mail typically consists of catalogs, and fourth-class mail is standard bulk mail – including Amazon packages.
Seitz claims that he is not entirely certain as to why Thornton is prioritizing Amazon deliveries. Though, he suspects it could be in response to pressure from superiors on the national level.
The Postal Service has been struggling to make itself financially viable for years now. With the pandemic, the service has seen a new strain from the surge in online shopping. This isn’t helped by the contract USPS signed with Amazon in 2013 in attempt to stave off financial ruin.
The private bulk contract are allowed by law, but must produce more revenue than they cost the postal service. However, the agency lost ~$8.8 billion last year, and many suspect that Amazon is bleeding the postal service dry.
Amazon has not responded to an interview request, nor has Thornton.
