Suvarna Garge (Editor)

Postal worker

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit

A postal worker is one who works for a post office, such as a mail carrier. In the U.S., postal workers are represented by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union - NPMHU, the National Association of Rural Letter Carriers and the American Postal Workers Union, part of the AFL-CIO. In Canada, they are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and in the United Kingdom by the Communication Workers Union.

Contents

The US Postal Service employs around 584,000 people. The bulk of these work as:

  • Service Clerks - Sell stamps and postage, help people pick up packages and assist with other services such as passports.
  • Mail Sorters - Physically sort the mail to go to the correct place. As automation has become more common, some of these people now operate the sorting machines.
  • Mail Carriers - Deliver the mail. In densely populated areas this is done on foot. In urban areas the carriers often use a mail truck and in rural areas carriers drive their own vehicles.

    • Most postal workers in the US make between $36,000 and $43,000 per year.

    The phrase was not very often used until a spate of workplace violence incidents by postal workers in the late 1980s made headlines. The incidents also led to the coining of the phrase "going postal".

    Notable postal workers

  • Charles Bukowski, writer and poet

    • Postal workers in fiction

  • The Postman
  • Postman Pat
  • Mr. McFeely
  • Cliff Clavin
  • Jacob Singer
  • Newman (Seinfeld character)
  • The Postman Always Rings Twice

    • References

    Postal worker Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA