WASHINGTON — Rep. Jasmine Crockett is leading a group of 15 House Democrats who want answers from the U.S. Postal Service about its labor practices after the death of Eugene Gates Jr., a Dallas letter carrier who collapsed on the job during a heat wave.
Gates, 66, died June 20 at the hospital from what his widow believes was a heat-related illness, although the cause has not been officially determined. He had worked for the postal service for more than 35 years.
“His unnecessary and untimely death was likely preventable and a stark reminder of the costs of the global climate emergency and the effect of more frequent and damaging extreme weather events,” Crockett and her colleagues wrote Friday in a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
The letter by the Dallas congresswoman was co-signed by 14 of her fellow Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, including Rep. Greg Casar of Austin.
The lawmakers cited cases over the years in which postal workers succumbed to extreme heat and USPS was hit by fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
“Despite these numerous and continued violations, it appears the Postal Service has yet to comprehensively address this issue and adopt nationwide work conditions policies that prevent these avoidable, tragic deaths,” they wrote.
John Watzlawick died in 2012 after delivering mail in a heat wave in Missouri. California carrier Peggy Frank was found dead in her non air-conditioned mail truck in 2018 while temperatures soared to at least 115 degrees.
OSHA has an “open and ongoing” investigation into Gates’ death. By law, the agency has up to six months to complete its investigation.
Many mail delivery vehicles do not have working air conditioners. Next generation delivery vehicles are on the way, but those trucks aren’t expected to start being deployed until mid-2024 and the issue is urgent, the lawmakers wrote in their letter.
“With the increase in extreme heat indexes across the country, we have serious concerns that the Postal Service’s failure to invest in and fix existing vehicle air-conditioning units and failure to effectively implement policies to reduce employee exposure to extreme conditions place our letter carriers at risk, especially in the coming months,” they wrote.
The lawmakers posed a series of questions for the postal service to answer by July 21 about its policies and responses to local unions’ requests to adjust delivery times to avoid peak temperatures.
His widow Carla Gates said that in the past her husband had been allowed to start at 6 a.m. during times of extreme heat. She said he told her that was the reason he had a light that could be attached to his hat - so he could see what he was doing if he started while it was still dark.
Carla Gates said she was surprised to learn he had received a warning in May that union officials described as a lack-of-productivity infraction.
He was the type of person who would have worked through his breaks and lunch to increase his production after such a warning, she said.
She said she’s still waiting for the autopsy results, but has no doubt they will show his death was heat-related.
“I’m ready for it to get out so that something can be done, not just for the postal workers but for anyone that is working outside,” she said. “My husband was in perfect health and he was pushed (by the disciplinary action)… I’m not pointing fingers at anyone. I just want to see change.”
The Postal Service has previously said it provides mandatory heat-related training to all employees and the resources they need to perform their work safely.
Gates was a member of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Lone Star Branch 132.
Kimetra Lewis, president of the Lone Star Branch, said the union is reviewing records to see if that heat-related training is actually happening in all cases.
She said the postal service takes steps to account for extreme winter weather, but gives little to no consideration when it comes to blistering heat. She said she thinks the disciplinary warning Gates received had an impact on him.
“Nobody wants to get disciplined,” she said. “And it was still lingering. It had not been resolved at the time of his death.”
Lewis said she’s not calling for mail delivery to be completely halted on super-steamy days, but for carriers to be granted more flexibility to stay safe.
“Don’t try to pressure them to get it done in the same amount of time they would get it done if it wasn’t hot,” she said. “That’s our concern.”
Local carriers continue to have heat-related incidents and the postal service is not doing enough to address the situation, she said.
“Their main focus is their numbers… all they’re concerned about is getting the mail delivered,” Lewis said.
