When hundreds of USPS employees rallied on Boston Common for a good deal on Sunday and vowed to “fight like heaven” against a protest toward privatization of a 250-year-old people good, hundreds of them left their postal-blue uniforms at house.
As speaker after speaker reminded them that every advantage they have actually received from the government they work for was brought about by coalition cooperation, opposition, and making their voices heard, many of the postal workers, their supporters, and some wearing dark t-shirts, stood for hours against a constant and windy March weather.
James Capone, president of Branch 764 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said,” We’re going to make them hear us.”
Postal workers were first given the opportunity to bargain collectively in 1970, according to Capone, and the postal service has continued to exist since the early 1980s without the benefit of additional federal funding or support.
” We’ve run on stamps,” Capone declared.
He claimed that despite that, the organization has continued to deliver mail cheaply across the nation despite incredibly difficult circumstances.
” We’re out there delivering whenever there is a disaster, whether it was Katrina, Helene, the wildfires in Maui and Los Angeles, or a global pandemic. Everybody was getting a service that was necessary, affordable, and affordable, according to Capone.
The federal government is now implementing changes to service and staff. He said there is a straightforward reason.
They want to cut our service in order to give it to private companies that will raise prices, according to Capone.
The Postal Service would be stripped of its independence, the Postal Service would be deposed, the Postal Service would be” stripped of independent oversight,” and the Postal Service would have no such independent regulatory authority on pricing and service, according to rally organizers.
According to them, there are plans to reduce service to rural areas, “including 51.5 million addresses where private carriers frequently do not deliver,” and raise shipping costs, “affected small businesses and major private shippers” as well.
According to them, the Trump Administration also wants to” carve up the USPS” and sell its functions to private interests, “jeopardizing 7.9 million jobs tied to the postal industry.”
Our 200, 000 letter carriers deliver 376 million pieces of mail to nearly 169 million delivery points every day, helping to support a$ 1.92 trillion mailing industry. This is essential because it is especially important in rural areas where USPS delivers medications, ballots, and other important packages. The proposed executive order, or  , threatens 640, 000 postal jobs, including over 73, 000 veterans. And it would be unconstitutional and illegal,” Capone said.
Post Master General Louis DeJoy, a first-term appointee to the Trump administration, just announced last week that he is willing to work with Trump and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate 10,000 postal service jobs.
DeJoy described DOGE as” an effort aligned with our efforts,” noting that “even though we have accomplished a great deal, there is much more to be done” in a letter to Congress.
Postal workers are fighting for the survival of the centuries-old service itself, according to Capone, saying they are demanding a fair contract — they have gone more than 700 days without one. Capone urged the audience to remember the grandparents who require medication and are unable to leave their homes, as well as the military personnel who want correspondence from home.
He claimed that that service is merited and worthwhile.
He declared,” We’re going to fight like hell, and we’re going to win this fight.” We must be loud.
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, who listed a dozen family members who are or were postal employees, including his mother, joined the rally-goers.
According to Lynch, congressional Republicans who refuse to” stand up and prevent that lawlessness” and the “lawlessness and disregard” of the current presidential administration can take the blame for the cuts to USPS. The crowd booed loudly and widely when Lynch mentioned Musk, calling him” Trump’s henchman.”
Trump and Musk fired more veterans and federal employees than any other president in the nation’s history, according to Lynch.
Not just about labor issues, according to Lynch, but democracy itself is the subject of a rally against cuts by Trump and an “unelected goon squad run by a billionaire – the richest guy in the world.”
He said,” This is not just about postal jobs; it’s about the future of our country.” This is a dangerous time for this nation. Something strange is happening in this nation. Something spooky and sinister.
A participant in the audience yelled “you don’t say” in mock surprise!
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