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      Why Postal Banking Can Help Solve So Many Problems at Once

      We need a public option for banking that is focused on providing a basic service to people who need it as opposed to satisfying wealthy shareholders, and USPS is perfectly placed to provide that public option.

      Annie Norman
      Aditi Sen
      May 29, 2023

      he need for a public banking option is urgent. Nearly 10 million households, a disproportionate number of whom are people of color, are unbanked in the United States.

      Unbanked or underbanked households must pay expensive fees for non-bank financial services to access their own money for paying bills, cashing checks, remittances, rent, and ATM withdrawals — costing upwards of $2,400 annually.

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      Opinion
      postal banking
      Mail delivery workers unload a truck on Flatbush Avenue on July 22, 2022 in the Flatbush neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.

      A Vital Reason to Protect the Postal Service From Privatization

      Rather than weakening this vital public infrastructure, policymakers should focus on strengthening—and expanding—this beloved federal service.

      Sarah Anderson
      Feb 04, 2023

      Postal jobs have long been a road to the middle class for Black Americans. The Postal Service began employing Black workers shortly after the Civil War and became a major source of good, middle-class jobs for this share of the workforce in the early 20th century.

      During the 1940s, civil rights advocacy, combined with wartime needs, created even more opportunities for Black postal workers. By the mid-1960s, their leadership had increased significantly, with the three biggest post offices in the country — New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles — all headed by Black postmasters. By the end of the 20th century, Black employees made up 21 percent of the U.S. postal workforce.

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      Opinion
      US Postal Service
      Postmaster General Louis DeJoy speaks at a press conference

      Even After Electric Vehicle Progress, Advocates Say DeJoy Should Still Be Fired

      "Any increase in E.V. acquisition at USPS is in spite of DeJoy, not because of him."

      Jake Johnson
      Dec 26, 2022

      Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's widely praised announcement last week that the Postal Service will buy tens of thousands of electric vehicles in the coming years to help replace its aging delivery fleet should not be enough to save the scandal-plagued USPS chief's job, advocates said, pointing to his refusal to support a more ambitious electrification plan and his ongoing efforts to slash jobs, consolidate mail facilities, and hike prices for consumers.

      "The bottom line is that any increase in E.V. acquisition at USPS is in spite of DeJoy, not because of him," Vishal Narayanaswamy of the Revolving Door Project, toldThe New Republic's Kate Aronoff. "Electrification would be proceeding much faster if we had a board that could fire him."

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