SAN ANTONIO — Four U.S. Congressman sent a letter to the U.S. Postmaster General last week after letter carriers said local stations stopped providing bottled water. At the same time, San Antonio has been seeing weeks of 100+ temperatures.
KENS 5 reached out to USPS Wednesday for a response but the resulting statement didn't address water bottles or the letter signed by by those congressmen.
The initial statement said in part, "In connection with the HIPP, the Postal Service provides mandatory heat-related and other safety training and instruction to all employees and assures they have the resources needed to do their jobs safely..." It then went on to explain the HIPP program but did not mention the recent policy change on bottled water.
KENS 5 asked for a statement that addressed the bottled water policy directly and USPS sent the following response:
"The Postal Service will provide a written response directly to the Congressional Members who inquired about water supplies and other issues in San Antonio. The statement provided to KENS yesterday is all the information we have at this time," Communications Specialist Becky Hernandez said.
KENS 5 has reached out to three of the four congressmen and currently none of those congressmen report seeing any response. The letter was signed by U.S. Congressman Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro, Henry Cuellar, and Tony Gonzales.
Congressman Cuellar said USPS needs to provide that response, especially after congress provided relief funding for the postal service.
"We need to have conversations with the postal service. I understand that they are an independent commission but when they run out of money they always come to congress," Cuellar said. "They come to congress when they need help, and they need to pay attention to the members of congress who represent so many postal workers."
Cuellar said his office has also sent USPS a letter about the need for air conditioning in vehicles.
"If you are in an air conditioned office in DC, that's one thing. When you are out there delivering the mail, and it's hot, and you don't have access to cold water, and you don't have an air-conditioned vehicle it makes a big difference," Cuellar said. "Ride along for one day and see how you feel about it."
Congressman Greg Casar spoke to KENS 5 Wednesday. Casar said USPS need to look at ways to improve safety in addition to bringing back bottled water for mail carriers.
"Change course and do it the way you were doing before. And it would be even better to say 'we acknowledge this heat wave' and we are going to do things even better than before," Casar said. "Provide a phone number that you can call if someone needs to say 'hey I need to slow down a little bit.' In Dallas, after the death of a mailman, they had letter carriers go out earlier in the day. We should be thinking proactively."
Congressman Joaquin Castro met with local mail carriers Thursday night to talk about working conditions as well. Castro said on social media, "This week, @RepCasar, @RepCuellar, @RepTonyGonzales & I sent a bipartisan letter calling on USPS to reverse this dangerous new policy."
KENS 5 will continue to follow this story as congressmen await further answers.