Thousands of U.S. postal workers rally to stamp out privatization plans

Thousands of workers across the United States hit the streets to say “Hell No!” to dismantling the postal service this weekend.

UNI Global Union affiliate the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) organized rallies in cities throughout the country on Sunday 23 March in response to threats from the Trump administration to privatize the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

NALC President, Brian Renfroe, declared the moves by the government as an assault on all 640,000 postal employees and on 8 million jobs attached to USPS. Speaking at a rally in Los Angeles, he called it an attack on an institution central to the U.S. economy, on 51.5 million rural households & businesses, and the 300 million Americans who rely on USPS.

The rallies come after outgoing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed to work with Elon Musk’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ to cut 10,000 jobs and billions of dollars from the USPS budget.

Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum turned up in support of postal workers at the protests as they brandished signs saying ‘Fight Like Hell!, ‘U.S. Mail Not For Sale’  and ‘Hell No! to privatization’.

NALC says it “opposes any plans to eliminate the USPS leadership, abolish regulatory oversight and carve up postal operations.”

In a show of solidarity, Mark Dimondstein, President of UNI postal affiliate, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), joined a rally with NALC members in Silver Spring, Maryland, along with AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.

APWU held their own action day on 20 March with thousands upon thousands of postal workers taking part. In a rally in Washington D.C., Dimondstein said: “We’re trying to alert the public – the people of the country – that our postal services are truly in danger. This is not a one-off day, this is the beginning of an ongoing fight.”

Cornelia Berger, Head of Post & Logistics, at UNI Global Union said:

“Postal workers are the lifeblood of public service, connecting every home, no matter how remote. Attempts to dismantle the USPS aren’t just reckless – they’re an attack on democracy itself. We stand united with NALC and every postal worker saying loud and clear: Hands off the USPS!”