(California News Service) This Saturday is National Postal Worker Day and Postage Stamp Day, a time to appreciate the effort it takes to process millions of packages and letters a month.

It is not just the letter carriers, but also the clerks, the maintenance people, the people who help sort mail and drive it between facilities.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, explained the work behind the scenes.

"It's an impressive operation, with 600,000 or so people," Dimondstein pointed out. "And it's still an amazing thing; you can put a 63-cent stamp on a letter, and you can go from one side of the country to the other. And it takes a lot of people and a lot of dedication to make that happen."

Back in 1789, the first postmaster general presided over a system with 75 post offices and 2,400 miles of post roads serving a population of 4 million people. Now there are about 33,000 post offices serving 334 million Americans.

A recent report found the Postal Service faces serious staff shortages because so many employees are quitting. The report showed turnover at the agency jumped from 38.5 percent in 2019 to nearly 59 percent in 2022.

Rick Ruiz, president of the American Postal Workers Union California Area Local 4635, said he has strong reservations about possible service delays once Postmaster Louis DeJoy implements his ten-year plan to move letter sorting and distribution from the local offices into large regional hubs.

"I don't believe it's been well-thought-out," Ruiz emphasized. "How is it going to impact service? Is your mail going to get there when it's going to get there? Are you going to have to wait an extra day for your medication? The California local is concerned that the delayed mail is not being accurately reported. And that management is turning a blind eye to service standards."

Ruiz is calling on national management to be more transparent about the effect the ten-year plan will have on employees, on service levels and on the number of post office locations.