The Office of Congresswoman Stacey E. Plaskett hosted a Virtual Community Check-In on Tuesday night to discuss both accomplishments and ongoing issues that her office plans to address moving forward.
Right from the beginning, Nellie Varlack, the district director for Plaskett’s office, addressed the delays with the Postal Service.
“The congresswoman and her team continue to be aware and monitor the ongoing difficulties we face with the U.S. Postal Service,” she said.
Varlack said that they realize that the U.S. Postal Service issues impact a myriad people in the Virgin Islands community. “Business owners awaiting their products, individuals who need prescriptions and so many others. As a direct result of our office’s intervention and persistent advocacy, the robotic labeling issue brought to our attention in October is resolved,” Valrack said, addressing delayed packages at that time. Since then, Plaskett had arranged a mail barge to beat delays on larger packages.
“However, there is still a considerable backlog of packages for the U.S. Postal Service,” Varlack said.
“Employees are working on clearing out in both Jacksonville and Puerto Rico stations. Given the backlog and of course the expected increase of packages arriving in the territory for the holidays, there inevitably will be delays,” she said.
Varlack expressed confidence that U.S. Postal Service workers are working diligently to ensure that packages are delivered promptly to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“Our team has engaged with the U.S. Postal Service about getting mail brought directly to us from the mainland or possibly having our own mail processing distribution site. However, the U.S. Postal Service, while under government oversight, is not funded by the federal government. They are self-funded and rely on revenues from the sale of their services. Therefore, they must justify their cost with a return and investment,” Varlack said.
According to the 2020 Census, the population of the U.S. Virgin Islands is fewer than 90,000 people. The U.S. Postal Service has stated that this volume of mail is insufficient to justify the cost of flying mail directly to the Virgin Islands, especially given that there is a nearby island with a population of three million within 40 miles.
“There are only 22 regional postal service distribution centers for our entire nation and the issue of delayed mail, particularly during the holidays, … is not unique to our territory,” said Varlack.
Plaskett was in Washington addressing congressional matters, but she joined the call to speak and answer questions. One question from the audience regarding the U.S. Postal Service was whether the post office would ever be held accountable.
Plaskett reminded the listening audience that, unfortunately, the U.S. Postal Service is not a federal agency. “Our leverage with them is not the same with other federal agencies. We encourage people to send your tracking number so that we can have an investigator go after it,” said Plaskett. She also reminded listeners that delays are occurring throughout the United States. Plaskett previously released a recording with updates on Dec. 6 that can be seen here.
Plaskett’s office is encouraging those experiencing postal delays to contact her office directly at 340-778-5900 on St. Croix or 340-774-4408 on St. Thomas/St. John to share their concerns or complaints rather than posting on social media. “We can guarantee that we will answer the phone or return your call and share your information with U.S. Postal Services representatives,” said Varlack.
To view the entire town hall that addressed other updates and accomplishments for the congresswoman in 2024, click here.
