On Monday, October 8, 2018 the members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 469 and American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Branch 715 gathered at the Post Office on Springhill Avenue in Mobile for an informational rally. Dozens of postal workers and letter carriers lined the street to raise awareness of the danger of privatization of the Postal Service. Postal unions across every congressional district participated in similar rallies to say the "US Mail is not for sale".
Recently, the White House Office of Management and Budget unveiled a plan for privatization of the Postal Service promoted by billionaire and corporate funded "think tanks' with powerful influence in the Trump administration and Congress.
The Postal Service has remained a self-sustaining, independent establishment of the federal governement since its creation in 1792 and does not receive taxpay funding. It relies completely on revenue from products and services.
Privatization of the Postal Service could mean profit would be the driving force over service the citizen of the United States. As with many privatization efforts, rurual communities and low-income would be most negatively affected due to increase rates and limited services. Eugene Williams (NALC retired) also noted that in some households with homebound individials, their letter carrier is the only person an they may see.
The "universal network connects the country's rural, suburan, and urban communites at fair and reasonable rates, provideing equal access not matter who we are and where we are located." states the AFL-CIO in their recent news release.
The Southwest Alabama Labor Council joins with the postal unions and the AFL-CIO to "unequivocally opposing the privatization of the Postal Service so it remains an independent establishment of the federal government."
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