GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Amidst possible changes to the United States Postal Service, groups are gathering nationwide to protest calls to privatize or bring it under the control of the Commerce Department.
On Thursday afternoon, members of the National Association of Letter Carriers and other postal workers gathered in Green Bay to protest the cuts that have already hindered service.
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Former Postal Union President Kelly Heaney who has been with the union for 28 years, said that they take a lot of pride in delivering to houses everyday, but these cuts have hindered public trust.
“That trust will make it so they can privatize the Post Office, middle income will be lower income and workers will get benefits cut, it’s really sad to see,” Heaney said.
Heaney added that these cuts include potential job losses in the thousands, which was part of plans from a recent letter from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sent to Congress.
“They want to cut 10,000 jobs, and all of the jobs they’re cutting are from people that do the work behind the scenes,” Heaney said.
These job cuts also could coincide with several billions of dollars being cut from the budget, which Heaney says could heavily impact rural areas.
“We’re the only agency that delivers to every house in America up to seven days a week, if you order express,” Heaney said. “Without that service, medicine is delayed, bills are delayed and timely gifts can be delayed.”
Jennifer Ewald, the local union President said they wanted to bring public awareness to the issue of possible privatization of the Postal Service, which could increase costs.
“This is a nationwide event, and it’s important because it’s our public service,” Ewald said. “If we went private, you may not have daily mailing service and the costs of mail would increase exponentially.”
A report from February also suggested that President Donald Trump may put the U.S. Postal Service under the Commerce Department’s control, making it an executive branch takeover.
The U.S. Postal Service was once an executive branch department, as Congress named it one in 1872, about 97 years after the Post Office was first created, with Benjamin Franklin as the first postmaster general.
However, postal strikes in 1970 resulted in the Postal Reorganization Act, signed by former President Richard Nixon, whose action made it an independent, self-financing agency which we know today as the U.S. Postal Service.
