"The Post Office is a Sacred Institute not a Corporate Carve up" read a sign held aloft by a woman in walker at a rally today which brought together over 60 postal workers and their allies outside a Wells Fargo branch in midtown New York pushing back against the Trump administration's plan to privatize the United States Postal Service.
Wells Fargo Equity published a blueprint memo in February to investors laying out a plan by the White House to privatize postal services. The plan would lead to the closing of local Post Offices, selling of USPS owned land which the memo estimates could yield $85 billion, price hikes to send a letter or package - increases of 30 - 140 percent are expected, and an end to the "Universal Service Obligation," where mail is delivered six and sometimes seven times a week to 169 million addresses. The plan is also a threat to union jobs. The Postal Office is known for its fair hiring practices, equal pay, and being the largest employer of veterans.
"We are proud of what we do. The Postal Office has never been about profit, the postal service is about service and they will degrade the service to the American people if their plan goes through," said Jonathan Smith, president of New York Metro Area Postal Union, he American Postal Workers Union (APWU) told WBAI. "If you look at the documents we put out they talk about how much money they can make on packages and goods and stuff like that, no concern about the universal service that is guaranteed to the American people in the Constitution, where we deliver to every American every day no matter where you live."
The Postal Service has been the target of repeated Republican administrations. Under the Bush administration, USPS was told to prefund retiree health benefits to cover 75 years, under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, where it was forced to set aside billions of dollars. USPS was also instructed to reduce retail hours and consolidate facilities. Asked why it seemed the severest changes came under Republican Administrations, Smith said Republicans would be hurt the worst in suburban areas.
"Where it is not profitable for them (USPS) to deliver, they will be the first to shut down, the first ones without services, the first ones to go further distances to get their mail," argued Smith. "So it boggles my mind, especially in red areas where Republicans represent that they would like to shut down the post office....Right now it is a cherished service...it is done silently and bipartisanly, we don't deliver Democratic mail, we don't deliver Republican mail, we are proud to deliver America's mail."
Not only will urban, and suburban post offices be affected under the plan, rural ones would be, too. One in five Americans live in a rural environment and they are already smarting under the effects of postal policy changes.
Service was our highest priority. That is not the case anymore. Where in most places in the United States used to get delivery in two to three days, it is now taking seven to fifthteen days for the same kind of mail. That is very difficult for people who are mobilily challenged because we don't have public transportation and that is very difficult for the elderly to receive their medications on time," said Kimberly Karol, President of Iowa Postal Workers. "The United State Postal Service is something we must do everything we can do to preserve."
Chanting "US mail is not for sale," were members of APWU NY Metro, Letter Carriers union, Communication Workers of America (CWA), Painters Union, IBEW, the Writers Guild, Actors Equity, New York City Labor Movement. Postal Unions are pressing for the passage of HR70 - a resolution introduced in the House that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure the USPS remains an independent establishment and is not subject to privatization.
Rebecca Myles, WBAI Pacifica Radio, New York.
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