Postal Workers Upset With Sorting System

A group of South County postal workers said Friday that they are stretched beyond their capacity and cannot finish their routes, and they put part of the blame on an automated mail sorting machine at the San Juan Capistrano branch.

Homes on some routes do not get their mail until after 5 p.m., and some mail carriers are putting in unwanted overtime every day, said Mike Rotcher, a 15-year postal employee.

Postal authorities admit that there are some kinks yet to be worked out with the new system.

“We are changing, dropping, adding routes, and there is going to be a learning curve,” said Richard Maher, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service. “We realize it is hard right now, but this is not a permanent situation.”

Before the new sorting machine was installed, letter carriers sorted mail for their routes and arranged it in the order of delivery. When the machine took over the job, that cut 2 1/2 to 4 hours off the time that carriers had to spend in the office every day.

With more street time available for letter carriers, postal workers say, managers reassigned more than 100 routes, resulting in delays because carriers are unfamiliar with their new routes.

Also, postal workers say, the machine often makes mistakes and spits out a large stack of mail that carriers have to sort anyhow.

Maher said the automatic sorting machine is not 100% accurate but “is very efficient. . . . Some routes are getting out later, but all in all, service is good.”

Disgruntled letter carriers, however, say they will picket the Mission Viejo post office branch at 28081 Marguerite Parkway on Sunday to make their point.

“Some carriers are skipping lunch breaks, driving way too fast and pushing themselves too hard,” Rotcher said. “I hate to use the word ‘stress,’ but it’s getting very tense here.”