Port Jervis community rallies behind a sacked mail carrier with 53 years of service
The people of Port Jervis are rallying behind a popular mailman who was let go last week after more than five decades of service.
Since 1970, Tom Calvario, 75, has delivered mail in the town. According to a Facebook post by Port Jervis Mayor Kelly Decker in support of Calvario, he used to be the mayor’s mail carrier.
“Tom was my mailman back in the ’70s and early ’80s – a time you knew who your postman was. He still has the same route and does it with more ambition that anyone I know,” says Decker.
Dozens of people rallied outside the Port Jervis Post Office on Sussex Street on Wednesday morning, and others expressed their displeasure on social media.
Calvario, a military veteran, believes his issues at work began approximately five years ago when a new postmaster was hired. He claims he was reprimanded for minor offenses such as failing to turn his mail truck’s wheels at the proper angle when delivering mail and neglecting to carry dog spray.
He claims he was fired on Nov. 28 for “unsatisfactory performance” after being accused of not delivering the mail quickly enough.
The postal worker claims he received a letter commendation from Post Master General Louis DeJoy a few days before for his exceptional service.
“It’s kind of hard to understand how you’re an exemplary employee all this time and then, all of a sudden, I’m not good no more. It’s kind of sad,” said Calvario.
The United States Postal Service has stated that it has no comment on “administrative actions.”
The National Association of Letter Carriers represents postal workers.
“I have an information request into the Postal Service, and we are in the process of an investigation,” says Joe DeStefano, president of Hudson Valley Merged Branch 137. I communicated with the Postal Service about proceeding with the grievance procedure about Calvario’s firing.”
Calvario’s dismissal, according to Decker, is “preposterous.”
“A letter from my office will be going out tomorrow morning to the both local Port Jervis postmaster and our Rep. Pat Ryan,” Decker said.
Rep. Ryan was unable for comment immediately. As of Wednesday afternoon, a change.org petition for the dismissed mailman had 880 signatures.
“I love them, and they love me,” Calvario says. “All I want to do is go back in time and be the mailman again.”
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