Fight for the Future: Postal Workers Rally Against Privatization

In a resounding show of solidarity, thousands upon thousands of postal workers and members of the community took to the streets for a National Day of Action on March 20 to say, “HANDS OFF OUR PUBLIC POSTAL SERVICE – THE U.S. MAIL IS NOT FOR SALE!” From Fairbanks, AK to Honolulu, HI, from San Juan, PR to Bangor, ME, and throughout the country – postal workers and allies took action at over 250 locations to fight for our jobs, our service, and our future.

Spending the day holding informational pickets, handing out leaflets, speaking with customers, holding press conferences and talking with the media, postal workers underscored the importance of a vibrant, public Postal Service. Postal workers wanted to inform the public and speak about the serious and dangerous threat that postal privatization poses to our jobs and services. If the administration’s plan to sell off the USPS goes through, it will result in higher prices, reduced delivery days, and the end of universal delivery.

POSTAL PRIVATIZATION WOULDN’T JUST MEAN THE END OF RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE SERVICES, IT WOULD ALSO DESTROY MORE THAN 600,000 GOOD UNION JOBS. Furthermore, postal workers operate under a universal service obligation, we affordably move the mail to all 169 million addresses every day. Private delivery companies would only go where they could make a profit. That is why we spent the day speaking one on one with customers and reaching out to local media to get the word out that the U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale!

In February, the public Postal Service came under a serious and unprecedented threat by the billionaire “Wall Street” class when the Washington Post reported that the new presidential administration intended to fire the Postal Board of Governors and shift Postal Service operations to the Commerce Department, currently headed by the billionaire Howard Lutnick. They want to aggressively – and illegally - take over and dismantle the public Postal Service in a sell-off to the highest bidders for their own private gains and profits.

“WE’RE TRYING TO ALERT THE PUBLIC – THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY – THAT OUR POSTAL SERVICES ARE TRULY IN DANGER. THIS IS NOT A ONE-OFF DAY, THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF AN ONGOING FIGHT,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein, while addressing attendees at the Brentwood Post Office in Washington, DC.

“THIS IS REALLY A FIGHT BETWEEN WALL STREET AND MAIN STREET. THEY WANT THEIR HANDS ON THIS MONEY,” he continued, in reference to the nearly $80 billion that the USPS generates in revenue each year, “…AND WE WANT TO TAKE CARE OF THE 169 MILLION ADDRESSES THAT WE MOVE THE MAIL TO GET DELIVERED TO EVERY DAY. WE’RE NOT GOING TO LET THEM GET THE POST OFFICE,” he concluded.

But the fight doesn’t end today! A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives recently introduced House Resolution 70 (H. Res. 70), expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.

Visit apwu.org/action to write to your House representative and urge them to cosponsor H. Res. 70 to stand with the Postal Service and its dedicated workforce against the threat of privatization. Our March 20 National Day of Action was a big success, showing the strength of our solidarity to defend a Postal Service that belongs to the people, and not the billionaires. To see all your photos from across the country, CLICK HERE.