Postal workers are being attacked, robbed and killed. These proposed laws could save lives.

Long gone are the days when rain, snow, sleet or hail was the only concern of your letter carriers as they navigated their routes to deliver your mail. Now, there is rarely a day that goes by we don’t hear a story of a letter carrier somewhere getting assaulted or robbed at gunpoint while simply doing their job.

Friday, on the city’s Far South Side, letter carrier Octavia Redmond, 48, was fatally shot by an unknown assailant while delivering mail.

Over the past two years, more than 140 letter carriers in Chicago alone have been victims of crimes, and those responsible are rarely apprehended or held accountable. Meanwhile, the United States Postal Service has done little to protect our letter carriers.

During my 13 years as president of the Chicago local union representing letter carriers, we worked endlessly to bring attention to the plight of our members. We successfully lobbied the Illinois General Assembly to pass a law that would allow judges to increase the criminal penalty for anyone assaulting a postal worker while doing their job.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin even reached out to the Postal Service in Chicago repeatedly to do more to protect letter carriers. Yet they have only exacerbated the problem by urging businesses and homeowners to install more cluster box units, particularly in new developments. This came at the expense of the safety of letter carriers.

These cluster boxes outside of high-rises and apartment buildings in Chicago had mostly been popular in the suburbs. Now, they are becoming more prevalent in neighborhoods in Chicago, and they utilize the same archaic arrow key system that is at the center of the crimes against letter carriers.

The National Association of Letter Carriers has consistently advocated for door-to-door delivery as the preferred delivery method to best serve the needs of our customers and safety of our members.

Recently, our association stood in support as bills were introduced in Congress, both in the House and the Senate, that would address a major part of our concerns. The Protect Our Letter Carriers Act (H.R.7629 and S.4356) would seek to increase the prosecution rate by prioritizing federal prosecution of offenders and seeking harsher sentencing for the robbery and assault of letter carriers. It would also provide the Postal Service with the resources to replace the current blue collection boxes with a high-security electronic version.

Meanwhile, Durbin has introduced legislation that would put postal police back on the streets to help protect letter carriers. The Postal Police Reform Act (S.3356), strongly supported by the Postal Police union, would provide more protection by restoring the presence of the postal police force to safeguard the mail and postal employees on and off postal property while on duty.

Locally, the Chicago branch of the NALC has worked with members of the City Council on a proposed ordinance that would stop the proliferation of cluster box units so we could maintain the centralized door-to-door delivery in Chicago that is safer for letter carriers and our customers. But the proposal has been stuck in committee.

Customers have a choice before their mode of delivery is changed or created with new developments. Cluster box units reduce the quality of service and put both carriers and customers at risk.

Together, all these proposals would serve as a deterrent to crimes against letter carriers, devalue the much sought-after arrow keys and restore faith in our mail system. Our postal unions are united as we call on all our congressional representatives, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City Council to support and pass all these legislative initiatives that would protect our letter carriers in Chicago and across the country.

Mack I. Julion is assistant secretary treasurer of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Chicago Sun-Times or any of its affiliates.

The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.

Get Opinions content delivered to your inbox.