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postal workers
Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor DOGE
Help family farmers and other rural folks defend a strong public U.S. Postal Service from the Trump administration’s attacks.
Mar 22, 2025
Since 1775 when Benjamin Franklin became the very first postmaster general, the United States Postal Service has faithfully fulfilled the many lofty goals that are now inscribed outside the entrance of the U.S. Postal Museum in Washington D.C.: “Bond of the Scattered Family; Enlarger of the Common Life; Carrier of News and Knowledge; Instrument of Trade and Commerce.”
Affordable universal reliable communication is not something many people can take for granted. In fact, the USPS was such a great American idea (like our national park system) that it has since been replicated across the globe. Under the pretense that the USPS is “bankrupt,” though, President Donald Trump and other neoliberal free marketeers are hellbent on imposing an austerity program and ultimately privatizing this vital public service.
During Trump’s last stint in the White House, USPS was forced to shutter half of its mail processing centers, leading to longer delivery times, and 10% of the nation’s post offices, mostly in rural towns, were put on the auction block. Despite such, the USPS continues to have some of the highest public approval ratings of any federal government agency. After all, who else can you trust to make sure you get your seed orders or drug prescriptions in a timely fashion?
Now is the time to speak up and insure the proud iconic eagle of the USPS is not replaced by some anemic vulture version.
How did this quite preventable (and orchestrated) mugging of the USPS come about? Well, one needs to go back a few decades when the government first opened the door for corporate competitors to undermine the viability of the USPS. At just 73 cents to deliver a first class letter, USPS rates remain among the lowest in the industrialized world. Given the surge in packages, accelerated by the pandemic, private outfits like Fedex and Amazon are now allowed to mooch off the USPS’ amazing efficiency to help deliver their own packages (saving themselves up to 75%). Contrary to some naysayers, the USPS does not get a dime from U.S. taxpayers—it provides a valuable public service at cost to consumers. So attacks on the USPS claiming it is “horribly wasteful” are just flat out wrong.
The USPS is also hamstrung from taking advantage of other ways to expand its services that many people, especially rural folks, desperately need. For example, the USPS still offers money orders, but many other countries’ postal systems offer a much wider range of popular financial services such as checking and savings accounts, even low-interest loans. One recent study found that the USPS could earn an extra $8-9 billion per year just by providing basic banking options to the millions of Americans who now subsist on the fringes of the financial system. It is no surprise that Wells Fargo is drooling over the possible demise of USPS (as revealed in a recently leaked internal memo), since they hardly want any other option for those now subject to their predatory lending practices.
Now is the time to speak up and insure the proud iconic eagle of the USPS is not replaced by some anemic vulture version. Family Farm Defenders is among dozens of organizations that have joined the Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service. And just like many family farmers rely upon cooperatives for their collective bargaining against agribusiness, postal workers also deserve to have their labor rights respected as fully unionized federal employees. Please contact your elected officials to insure the future of USPS as a vital public good, and next time you are at the post office thank the workers for their essential service! As the unofficial motto of the USPS goes: “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Neither should DOGE!
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Democrats Demand Hearing on 'Backroom Agreement' Between DOGE and DeJoy
"Any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," wrote a group of House Democrats.
Mar 17, 2025
A group of House Democrats is demanding that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conduct a public hearing on the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's plans for the U.S. Postal Service, in light of recent reporting that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says he signed an agreement with DOGE to assist the nation's mail service "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies."
The news follows Washington Post coverage from February, when the outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. In December, the Post also reported that Trump was eyeing privatizing the Postal Service. Elon Musk, a GOP megadonor who is playing a core role in Trump's efforts to slash federal spending and personnel, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
Postal workers unions are fiercely opposed to any effort to privatize the Postal Service.
"The Trump administration... is now subjecting the USPS, America's most trusted federal institution, to the chainsaw approach of Elon Musk and DOGE. This broad assault on the independence of the USPS demands congressional oversight, especially from the committee with jurisdiction over the USPS," according to the letter, which was signed by 20 House Democrats.
In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he signed an agreement with representatives from Elon Musk's DOGE and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) so that DOGE could help the U.S. Postal Service, which has experienced billions in financial losses in recent years, work to address "big problems."
The Postal Service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to DeJoy's letter.
DeJoy cited challenges facing the Postal Service, such as "mismanagement of our self-funded retirement assets," "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice," and "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation."
The letter demanding a public hearing, which was addressed to House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), was spearheaded by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)
"This backroom agreement between the billionaire-led DOGE and Postmaster DeJoy sets off alarm bells about this administration's plans for the Postal Service's role as a cornerstone public institution," according to the letter. "The Postal Service facilitates the delivery of more than 115 billion pieces of mail each year, a significant portion of which is delivered to rural, low-income, and hard-to-reach areas that would not otherwise receive service if not for the universal service obligation, which has received bipartisan support in Congress and is integral to the mission of Postal Service."
"We agree that there are steps Congress could take to strengthen the financial sustainability of the Postal Service, but any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," they continued.
The group is urging that the committee hold a hearing and wrote that they have prepared a letter to send to DeJoy asking that he furnish any signed agreements he made with the GSA and DOGE. The group is urging that Comer also sign on to that letter.
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Postal Workers Unions Ready to 'Fight Like Hell' Against Trump-Musk Attack on USPS
"The public Postal Service is a democratic right, and we won't back down in defending it...Together, we say: The U.S. Mail Is Not For Sale!" said the American Postal Workers Union.
Mar 12, 2025
Following reports that the Trump administration is interested in restructuring and perhaps even privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, unions representing postal workers are fighting back.
On March 20, postal workers who are represented by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and their allies will hold a day of action to resist "threats of privatization and political interference to the public Postal Service," according to the union's website. Locals around the country are participating.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents U.S. Postal Service employees who are city letter carriers, will host local rallies on March 23 at NALC branches to "fight like hell" against "dismantling" the widely cherished public delivery service.
On Tuesday, NALC also held an event in Atlantic City, New Jersey where workers rallied against changes to the Postal Service.
U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. The agency, which is overseen by a bipartisan board of governors whose members appoint a postmaster general to run day-to-day operations, has functioned as an independent entity since the passage of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. Congress passed that law to make it freestanding and to shield it from "political tinkering," according to The Washington Post.
Also according to the Post, which cited postal experts, putting the Postal Service under the Commerce Department would likely violate federal law.
In December, the Post reported that Trump had designs to privatize the Postal Service.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who is playing a core role in the Trump administration's efforts to slash government, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
President of APWU, Mark Dimondstein, warned against privatization in a Q&A posted to the union's website on Monday.
"The USPS is owned by the people and exists to serve everyone with universal, affordable service; if privatized, it would exist to make maximum profit to enrich corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires," he said. "Privatization is bad for workers, bad for unions, and bad for the people. Prices go up and service goes down, while the bosses and billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos laugh all the way to the bank."
"Let's be clear-eyed and ready for battle and declare 'The U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale!' Onward!" said Dimondstein.
According to materials distributed by NALC, "any effort to privatize or restructure USPS is a direct threat to: 640,000 postal employees, including 200,000 city letter carriers represented by NALC The universal service every American relies on Millions of households and businesses, especially in rural America."
This is not the first time that the Postal Service has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Trump was interested in privatizing the Postal Service during his first term, but backed off the idea in the face of opposition.
In April 2020, a Postal Service Board of Governors member resigned over the Trump administration's attempts to politicize the Postal Service. Louis DeJoy, a Trump campaign donor, was appointed Postmaster General in 2020. DeJoy recently announced he plans to retire soon.
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'Hell No!' Postal Workers Protest Illegal Trump Takeover Scheme
"The 295,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers have a message to deliver to the White House: Hands off the Postal Service."
Feb 24, 2025
Postal workers and labor movement allies rallied in Washington, D.C. on Monday to protest U.S. President Donald Trump's reported plan to seize control of the independent and beloved Postal Service, a move that could pave the way for full privatization of the country's mail operations.
Monday's rally was organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which said last week that Trump's proposal to bring the Postal Service under the purview of the Commerce Department is "unconstitutional and illegal."
"The 295,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers have a message to deliver to the White House: Hands off the Postal Service," the organization said in a statement after The Washington Post revealed details of the executive order Trump is reportedly preparing to sign.
At Monday's rally, attendees—including letter carriers and union leaders—chanted "Hell no!" and waved signs that read "Fight Like Hell" to display their readiness to oppose any Trump administration takeover of the USPS, which is extremely popular with the American public.
"I want all of my postal worker brothers and sisters to know, this has nothing to do with your performance," Fredrick Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, said at the protest. "This has nothing to do with you as workers. You provide the highest level of service to the American people."
"This is about an unmitigated consolidation of power by this administration, power to put more money and more resources in the hands of the billionaires as opposed to spreading the wealth amongst the people who create the wealth every day," Redmond added.
We are standing with @NALC_National today to say #HellNo to dismantling our postal service! We are going to #FightLikeHell to protect our workers and communities! #solidarity pic.twitter.com/Ljr8npqYWL
— Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Union (@IUBAC) February 24, 2025
Monday's rally followed protests over the weekend in Portland, Oregon, where postal workers voiced concerns about the future of the USPS under Trump's leadership.
"People in rural areas wouldn't be able to get their medications that they depend on, they might not get mail at all, if it's privatized," Jae Burlingame, a longtime mail carrier, told a local media outlet on Sunday.
According to The Washington Post, Trump is weighing an executive order that would terminate every member of the Postal Service Board of Governors and absorb the USPS into the Commerce Department, which is led by Trump-appointed billionaire Howard Lutnick.
Trump said Friday that Lutnick was "going to look at" potential USPS changes and touted the billionaire's "great business instinct."
"Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones."
The Postal Service is currently self-funded, relying on the sale of postal services and products such as stamps rather than tax revenue.
CNN noted Friday that "other countries have privatized their postal services in the past. But a plan to privatize the 250-year old service that predates the formation of the United States could dramatically change the way Americans receive deliveries, and even who would be able to get service."
"Current law requires the USPS to deliver to all addresses, even rural ones that are too costly for a private business to serve profitably," the outlet added. "Even many online purchases handled by private companies such as United Parcel Service depend upon the Postal Service to handle the 'last mile' of delivery to homes."
Christy Hoffman, president of the UNI Global Union, said last week that "we have seen the perils of privatizing postal services in Europe, which have led to reduced services, increased prices, job losses, and cut off rural communities where it is unprofitable to deliver mail."
"Instead of privatizing USPS," Hoffman added, "Trump should be supporting the Postal Service to seize opportunities in e-commerce, expand services, particularly to marginalized and remote communities, and safeguard a precious, public-owned, communication network that is ultimately irreplaceable."
In a letter to the U.S. president over the weekend, a group of Democratic lawmakers led by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.)—who attended Monday's rally—warned that the "unprecedented and reckless plan to dismantle the Postal Service as an independent agency would directly undermine the affordability and reliability of the U.S. postal system."
"Congress prescribed a clear and critical mandate for the Postal Service: to deliver efficient, reliable, and universal service to all Americans," the lawmakers wrote. "Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones, especially in rural or less-profitable areas that the private sector refuses to service."
"We urge you to immediately withdraw all plans to dismantle one of our nation's most cherished public institutions and uphold the Postal Service's independent status as required by law," they added.
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