AKRON, Ohio — This Sunday, mail carriers across the country, including right here in Northeast Ohio, are getting ready to voice their demands at dozens of rallies.
“We are a cherished service and it’s something we need to protect,” said Jamie Lukens, President of National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 897 (Barberton).
At Hawkins Avenue and West Market Street in Akron, people like Lukens are preparing to launch a national call to action on behalf of more than 260,000 mail carriers in Summit County and across the country.
News 5 asked Lukens to explain how the industry has changed from when he first started to today.
“It’s changed (tremendously). When I first started in 1997, predominantly letters,” said Lukens.
Now, Lukens said the loads are much heavier and way more demanding.
That’s why he’s calling for a single-table pay scale, fewer temporary workers, more permanent hires and a higher starting wage to get new workers to stay despite the job’s physical and mental pressure.
Ben Harris, Akron’s NALC Chapter President, said 55% of the people who take this job quit in the first year.
“It costs a lot of money to train new employees and get them on the job and to get them working and right now, our retention rates are not good,” said Lukens.
Lukens and Harris said safety is another issue that needs attention before contract negotiations begin.
“We recently have had two carriers within the last 12 months robbed at gunpoint,” said Harris.
Last December, News 5 told you about one of those incidents when we learned three men robbed an Akron postal worker at gunpoint in the 200 block of West Long Street.
RELATED: Postal worker delivering mail robbed at gunpoint in Akron
“When I first started, you could walk through any neighborhood without fear,” said Harris.
Unfortunately, Harris said mail carriers don’t have this ability anymore, so he hopes their safety concerns are heard, especially with December’s incident being the third reported instance in 2025 where an Akron postal worker was threatened with a gun while on the job.
Meantime, the local United States Postal Service division emailed a statement to News 5, which said, “We respect our employees’ rights to express their opinions and participate in informational picketing while off the clock.”
“I would just hope that they would be able to meet in the middle,” said Lukens.
Aside from their efforts this weekend, Harris said some federal lawmakers could potentially introduce legislation that would put an Assistant U.S. District Attorney in every district to prosecute postal crimes and crimes against carriers.
Harris encourages voters to call their congressperson, so he said this law has the potential to move forward.
“It’s a good bill, and it’s going to put money into just protecting the people out there who are trying to do their job,” said Harris.
If you would like to support their demonstration, you can meet mail carriers at 1655 West Market Street in Akron at 3 p.m., where they will host their rally regardless of the weather.
