For postal and UPS workers, the peak season started in March with the pandemic. and it never let up. Photos: IMF Photo Cory Hancock (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), Michael Shea
Every year, workers at the Postal Service and UPS expect to work long hours between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “This is like our Super Bowl,” said Kimberly Karol, president of the Iowa Postal Workers (APWU). “Employees really do rally together.”
But this year has been like no other. Workers were still catching their breath from last year’s holiday peak when the pandemic struck and online ordering ratcheted up. It was like Christmas all over again and it never stopped.
UPS and Postal Service Workers Struggle With COVID and High Volume
Letter carrier Steve Guerra sorts mail at his station inside the Roxbury Post Office in Nubian Square before heading out to deliver mail and packages in Boston on December 1, 2020.
Lane Turner / The Boston Globe via Getty Images
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Every year, workers at the Postal Service and UPS expect to work long hours between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “This is like our Super Bowl,” said Kimberly Karol, president of the Iowa Postal Workers (APWU). “Employees really do rally together.”
But this year has been like no other. Workers were still catching their breath from last year’s holiday peak when the pandemic struck and online ordering ratcheted up. It was like Christmas all over again and it never stopped.