Ranking Member Raskin Joins More Than 70 Members Demanding USPS Protect Workers from Extreme Heat

E&E News: ‘Turn A/C off and drive them out,’ USPS says to force workers into heat

Washington, D.C. (August 15, 2024)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Rep. Greg Casar, Rep. Judy Chu and 74 other Members of Congress are calling on the United States Postal Service (USPS) to immediately implement the nation’s first-ever federal heat rule, recently proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Letter carriers have reported systemic heat illness issues, resulting in multiple deaths: 

• July 6, 2018, Woodland Hills, CA: Peggy Frank died in a non-air-conditioned mail truck. The temperature hit a record-setting high of 115. 
• July 22, 2020, Washington, DC: Louise Franklin died in a non-air-conditioned vehicle. The high temperature was 94 degrees, and the heat index was 104. 
• June 17, 2021, San Jose, CA: Dalvir Bassi died from a heat stroke. The temperature was 94 degrees. 
• June 20, 2023, Dallas, TX: Eugene Gates died when the temperature hit 98 degrees with a heat index of 116. 
• June 6, 2024, Fayetteville, NC: Wendy Johnson died shortly after a shift working in an un-airconditioned vehicle in 95 degrees.

The 77 members of Congress released a letter today urging USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to “choose action over delay” and save lives by implementing the federal heat protections in his workforce now. With USPS failing to protect so many of its own employees, Casar and the Members of Congress lay out a simple solution: begin following the federal heat rule proposed by the Biden-Harris Administration immediately.

“USPS has more than 300,000 mail carriers delivering our daily mail in extreme temperatures that have reached triple digits throughout much of the nation this summer. Many risk suffering from dangerous heat illnesses, heat-related injuries and even death.” said Juley Fulcher, worker health and safety advocate at Public Citizen, which has endorsed the letter. “The goal of the USPS should not be to do the minimum required by current law. The USPS should immediately implement the life-saving heat standard proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”

The letter urges DeJoy to:

• Immediately implement the proposed standards in OSHA’s workplace heat rule.
• Address systemic falsification of records related to heat illness prevention training.
• Prioritize postal vehicle repair and replacement in areas where extreme weather can impact letter carriers’ safety.

“While the standards in the proposed rule are currently optional, the final rule will have the effect of law when published by OSHA,” the members wrote. “In the interim, the Postal Service is still required to protect its workers from extreme heat and can guarantee that they are meeting this duty with these standards.”

The letter is signed by U.S. Representatives Alma S. Adams, Ph.D (NC-12), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Earl Blumenauer (OR-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Cori Bush (MO-01), Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (CO-08), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-24), Judy Chu (CA-28), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-03), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Dan Goldman (NY-10), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Bill Keating (MA-09), Tim Kennedy (NY-26), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Andy Kim (NJ-03), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Greg Landsman (OH-01), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Betty McCollum (MN-04), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Grace Meng (NY-06), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Katie Porter (CA-47), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Adam Smith (WA-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul D. Tonko (NY-20), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Maxine Waters (CA-14), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24).

The full letter can be viewed here.