By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), has requested temporary relief from any new testing or vaccine requirements for large businesses. This is in response to the potential for “catastrophic” effects.

In a Tuesday, Reuters-viewed letter, Doug Tulino (Deputy Postmaster) asked OSHA to postpone by 120 days USPS’s deadline to meet its vaccine-or-testing mandate. The mandate applies to large employers and covers more than 80 million Americans.

The USPS is one of America’s largest civil employers. It says that it can not meet current deadlines. Additionally, USPS faces lengthy legal requirements for medical information collection and collective bargaining.

USPS also mentioned a shortage of staffing, and said it would need to train “tens to thousands” of managers and supervisors in order to ensure compliance.

USPS seeks approval to keep using COVID-19 mitigation policy while this request is being processed. USPS maintains 30,000 locations across the USA.

USPS stated that it respectfully suggested that the country cannot afford to suffer additional harm if its ability to deliver mail or packages is severely affected.

Biden’s rules that require federal employees to be vaccinated by the government or receive medical exemptions for religious or other reasons by Nov. 22, do not apply to USPS.

USPS warns that the new rules could lead to the departure of many employees. Requiring USPS, it added “to absorb what could inevitably be a dramatic loss of employees at a time when the labor market is extremely tight and in the middle of the Postal Service’s Peak Season would have a potentially catastrophic impact on our ability to provide service.”

OSHA didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment. In November, the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), which requires workers in larger organizations to be regularly vaccinated and tested for disease in a weekly basis, was implemented. The ETS mandate was reinstated by a U.S. appellate court last month.

Arguments on this issue will be heard by the Supreme Court Friday.

OSHA granted compliance extensions last month and stated that it will not issue any citations prior to Jan. 10, nor will it issue citations for testing violations before February 9, if employers have been working towards complying.

USPS maintains 30,000 locations in the United States.