Across the country and especially in rural parts of Missouri, U.S. Postal Service staffing shortages are being blamed by some for delays in mail delivery.

Some postal carriers say the lack of staffing hampers the ability to split overloaded routes and is at the heart of the issue affecting prompt mail delivery.

Bryce Shanklin, a rural letter carrier for the Postal Service, said he understands initially, the workload can be daunting, even seven days a week and with low starting pay. But he does not understand why more people do not stay on and commit to a longer-term Postal Service career, where the benefits are good.

"Perks are wonderful. I never have to worry about being laid off," Shanklin pointed out. "The other benefit is all the federal holidays, ones like Presidents' Day, most people don't get that off. And then, your health benefits; I haven't seen better health insurance than what I have with the federal government."

In 2020, the Postmaster General put a plan into effect known as "Delivering For America," to minimize employee turnover by converting more staff to career status. Since the plan was implemented, the number of conversions has grown to 125,000. But the American Postal Workers Union argued the Postal Service is still short-handed.

Shanklin added rural routes including deliveries for online retailers can be very time-consuming.

"Amazon trucks, DHL, UPS, FedEx, they're all running in the city. But you get out rural? That falls on the Post Office," Shanklin emphasized. "Even if you have postal vehicles, you're making two trips -- making three sometimes, more of course at Christmas -- just to get those packages to get out."

But Shanklin acknowledged once the carrier has a routine down, the work is satisfying.

"I started in '05 during Christmas, I was like, 'There is no way I can do this job.' And then a couple years later, I could do a dozen or so routes like the back of my hand," Shanklin recounted. "Of course, with every job, it's not always for everybody, but you just put a little effort into it, it's really easy. It really is pretty easy."

Shanklin's rural customers even have an online appreciation committee to thank him for his efforts and friendly demeanor on the route. He added if more people appreciated their carriers, it couldn't help but affect their job satisfaction as well.

More than 1,100 caregivers at Portland's Providence St. Vincent Medical Center have voted to unionize, joining the Service Employees International Union Local 49.

Hospital staffers, including certified nursing assistants, cooks, lab assistants, pharmacy techs, environmental workers and patient representatives, will soon begin collective bargaining with management over a new work contract.

Finn McCool, senior food service attendant at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, said changes to working conditions in the hospital were a major driver to organize.

"There's a lot that makes St. Vincent a great place to work, but we've also seen just tons of changes over the years around staffing and benefits," McCool explained. "My fellow caregivers really knew that jobs were only going to get harder."

The St. Vincent caregivers will join thousands of other unionized workers at Providence hospitals in Oregon, Washington state and other parts of the country. Providence officials released a statement, recognizing the union and saying they were prepared to work with it toward a new contract.

McCool noted the company made several changes to staffing and work policies without feedback from its employees, with changes to the employees' health care benefits causing a major upheaval.

"It's been a recent change to our health care plan with Aetna switching over, and that was probably a very large reason why a lot of us decided to vote yes," McCool pointed out. "We had our own internal health care system. We changed to a different thing. Co-pays changed. Things were definitely a lot harder with increased deductibles."

McCool stressed political uncertainty, particularly in the government's health care policies, was also a significant concern.

"We're seeing a lot of changes going on with the government with cuts, especially right now," McCool observed. "What threatens us is cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Our CEO said, 'These cuts are threatening the hospital.'"

The multistate Providence Health System announced it will close the maternity center at one of its Montana hospitals in October.

Opponents are hoping the corporation will reverse its decision at negotiations starting next week. The Family Maternity Center at Missoula's Providence St. Patrick Hospital has delivered about 450 babies each year over the last several, and serves many people from the surrounding small towns.

Robin Haux, labor program director for the Montana Nurses Association, said the layoff notification came as a big surprise and will affect moms and babies, nurses and Missoula's other hospital.

"Not only were the nurses provided just a four-month turnaround, so was the community, so was Community Medical Center," Haux explained. "This has triggered a pretty large scrambling of trying to get prepared."

The cut comes as U.S. lawmakers close in on the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," the Republican budget megabill proposing cuts to Medicaid which could close rural hospitals. Providence said the closure is due to "declining birth volumes" and "workforce shortages."

Megan Carey, labor and delivery nurse in the Family Maternity Center at Providence St. Patrick Hospital, said no one from the Family Maternity Center was included in the decision.

"We were told there was a discernment team as well as external stakeholders," Carey pointed out. "It's just really disappointing that administration could not look inward to better go about this process."

Carey added Providence sent what she calls an "unsettling" message informing nurses they could apply to work in other departments at St. Patrick Hospital but there would not be enough jobs for them all.


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As more women enter the construction industry, a group in Philadelphia is working to support them and advance diversity amid political challenges to DEI programs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a nearly 45% increase in women in construction over the past decade.

Amy Novak, president of the Philadelphia chapter of Professional Women in Construction, said recent federal actions against DEI initiatives have prompted the relaunch of their empowering committee, which focuses on development and educational sessions.

"We choose to focus on empowering women to solve issues, be a part of the resolution of issues," Novak explained. "And also to feel supported, to be an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion programs."

The Biden administration implemented widespread diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across nearly all areas of the federal government from military operations to airline safety policies. Critics argued the programs amount to unlawful and unethical discrimination.

Novak said a recent Professional Women in Construction report showed strong support for diversity, equity and inclusion among those involved with the group. She added her group is committed to growing the talent pipeline in construction, architecture and engineering from trades to professional roles by expanding partnerships that boost early STEM interest, starting in middle school.

"We have our Connecting Committee, which goes out and regularly interacts at college campuses," Novak pointed out. "Not just to women who are in engineering, architecture, construction majors, but those majors as a whole, educating them about different careers within construction."

Novak stressed the goal is to expand into high schools next year, to reach students as they start making career decisions. She added the group's Student Recognition Program, launched in 2020, highlights young women pursuing careers in STEM and construction, aiming to inspire younger girls and strengthen the future talent pipeline.


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