Letter carriers will protest Thursday afternoon outside the Main Post Office in Dallas. Members of the National Association of Letter Carriers will picket outside the post office along I-30 west of Downtown Dallas starting at 4 p.m.
"We continue to demand protection from violence and crime on the job NOW. Letter carriers across the country are experiencing violent attacks on the job at an unprecedented rate. This must STOP," the union posted on Twitter announcing the picket.
Since December, three postal workers in Dallas have been robbed while working.
December 28, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service says two people robbed a letter carrier outside an apartment building near I-45 and Botham Jean Boulevard. January 12, a man wearing a mask held up a carrier at an apartment complex near Lemmon and the Dallas North Tollway. January 29, a letter carrier was robbed outside a complex near the Dallas North Tollway and President George Bush Turnpike.
No letter carriers were hurt in any of those cases, and the U.S Postal Inspection Service has not made any arrests.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service says 305 employees were attacked in the first six months of 2023, up from 412 total reports in all of 2022.
"We’re doubling down on our efforts to protect our Postal employees and the security of the mail. We are hardening targets – both physical and digital – to make them less desirable to thieves and working with our law enforcement partners to bring perpetrators to justice,” Postal Inspection Service Chief Gary Barksdale wrote in a statement.
Barksdale says the U.S. Postal Service is replacing 12,000 blue collection boxes with new boxes the agency says present "hardened targets." The Postal Service says it is also installing 49,000 electronic locks that require a code, replacing those where a letter carrier might carry a key.
The National Association of Letter Carriers is also planning protests Thursday in Oklahoma City and Jacksonville, Florida.
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