Postal Service Workers Rally Against Privatization

Superior rally was one of hundreds across the country

SUPERIOR, Wis. – United States Postal Service employees are rallying across the country to protest the Trump Administration’s proposed plan to privatize the agency.

“U.S. Mail Not for Sale.” That slogan written across the t-shirts and signs of postal workers lined up along Tower Avenue in South Superior.

Post Office employees are asking for public help.

They want people to contact their elected officials to prevent the agency from becoming privatized.

They hope the nationwide rally will help build support behind their cause.

“The public tends to forget about us. We’re so standard, we’re so reliable, we’re so always there that people forget about us so we like to bring awareness and remind people and hopefully get the citizens not just us employees and retirees to call members of Congress and Senate,” said Jerry Paine, local union steward at the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 337.

Workers say privatization would put many of the agency’s 7.5 million jobs in jeopardy and could mean a reduction in pay and benefits for employees.

They say customer service and prices could also be affected.

“I think if you take a poll of people across the country, almost everyone would say they’re in favor of the post office, they wouldn’t be in favor of privatization, because if they privatize it, things would get more expensive especially for people out in the rural communities like we have up here,” said Bryce Harp, a city letter carrier in Superior.

Recent surveys have consistently ranked the U.S. Postal Service as the most popular government agency.

The Postal Service has not been profitable for many years. It lost about $2.7 billion last year alone, mostly due to a law mandating that the agency pre-fund retiree health benefits.