THOUSANDS of workers across the United States have hit the streets to say ‘Hell No!’ to dismantling the postal service.
The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) organised rallies in cities throughout the country on Sunday 23 March in response to threats from the Trump administration to privatise the US 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 US economy, on 51.5 million rural households and 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!’, ‘US Mail Not For Sale’ and ‘Hell No! to privatisation’.
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 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 DC, 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.’
In reference to the nearly $80 billion that the USPS generates in revenue each year, he added: ‘This is really a fight between Wall Street and Main Street. They want their hands on this money.
‘And we want to take care of the 169 million addresses that we move the mail to get delivered to every day. We’re not going to let them get the Post Office.’
APWU said: ‘In a resounding show of solidarity, thousands upon thousands of postal workers and members of the community took to the streets for a National Day of Action on March 20 to say, “Hands Off Our Public Postal Service – The US Mail Is Not for Sale!”
‘From Fairbanks, AK to Honolulu, HI, from San Juan, PR to Bangor, ME, and throughout the country – postal workers and allies took action at over 250 locations to fight for our jobs, our service, and our future.
‘Spending the day holding informational pickets, handing out leaflets, speaking with customers, holding press conferences and talking with the media, postal workers underscored the importance of a vibrant, public Postal Service.
‘Postal workers wanted to inform the public and speak about the serious and dangerous threat that postal privatisation poses to our jobs and services. If the administration’s plan to sell off the USPS goes through, it will result in higher prices, reduced delivery days, and the end of universal delivery.
‘Postal privatisation wouldn’t just mean the end of reliable, affordable services, it would also destroy more than 600,000 good union jobs. Furthermore, postal workers operate under a universal service obligation, we affordably move the mail to all 169 million addresses every day.
‘Private delivery companies would only go where they could make a profit. That is why we spent the day speaking one on one with customers and reaching out to local media to get the word out that the US Mail Is Not for Sale!
‘In February, the public Postal Service came under a serious and unprecedented threat by the billionaire “Wall Street” class when the Washington Post reported that the new presidential administration intended to fire the Postal Board of Governors and shift Postal Service operations to the Commerce Department, currently headed by the billionaire Howard Lutnick.
‘They want to aggressively, and illegally, take over and dismantle the public Postal Service in a sell-off to the highest bidders for their own private gains and profits.
‘But the fight doesn’t end today! A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives recently introduced House Resolution 70 (H. Res. 70), expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatisation.
‘Visit apwu.org/action to write to your House representative and urge them to co-sponsor H. Res. 70 to stand with the Postal Service and its dedicated workforce against the threat of privatisation.
‘Our March 20 National Day of Action was a big success, showing the strength of our solidarity to defend a Postal Service that belongs to the people, and not the billionaires.
- Newsroom workers on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for more than 29 months solidified their place in labour history on Monday when a federal court issued a rare injunction ordering the newspaper to restore the health care it illegally took from its employees and return to the bargaining table.
The order from the Third Circuit US Court of Appeals represents a major victory for workers engaged in what is now the longest ongoing strike in the United States.
The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) on Monday, requiring the company to, among other orders, restore the health care it illegally took away from editorial workers, addressing a core demand of the union workers who have struck for more than 29 months.
‘It is further ordered that the Respondent, PG Publishing Co., Inc. d/b/a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and its officers, agents, successors, and assigns, shall: …rescind the changes in the terms and conditions of employment related to health insurance for its unit employees that were unilaterally implemented on about July 27, 2020,’ the order, written by Judge Cindy K. Chung, reads.
The PG is also required to bargain with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA Local 38061, submit bargaining progress reports to Region 6 of the National Labour Relations Board, and negotiate with the workers’ union on any changes in wages, hours, or any other terms of employment.
‘Members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh have stood and fought against the Post-Gazette’s illegal union busting since October 2022, and today we have been given the victory that we’ve held the picket line waiting for so long,’ said guild President Zack Tanner, an interactive designer at the PG.
The order for a 10(e) injunction is a win not just for the striking workers ‘but for all workers in Pittsburgh who want to stand up and fight,’ he said.
The union workers remain on strike against the Post-Gazette. However, they’ll meet in the coming days to discuss the court order and whether it will lead to the strike’s conclusion.
Restoration of health care was a core demand of the unionised newsroom workers who walked off the job on October 18, 2022. The order, written by Judge Cindy K. Chung, also requires the PG to submit bargaining progress reports to Region 6 of the National Labour Relations Board and negotiate with the workers’ union on any changes in wages, hours or any other terms of employment.
The Post-Gazette could soon face further consequences. The same court that issued the injunction is expected to rule on the NLRB’s request for enforcement of its September 2024 ruling, which ordered the PG to restore working conditions consistent with the entire 2014-17 contract, including paid time off, wages, employees having a guaranteed work week, and the right to question company discipline, among other issues, as well as back pay to workers for wage reductions and increased health care costs.
Unlike previous rulings against the PG, the Third Circuit Court’s order has both enforcement power and directly addresses strikers’ demands.
‘NewsGuild-CWA members have a saying: whatever it takes,’ said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. ‘Guild members have struck for 29 months knowing we were right and the company broke federal law. Today the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with us. We’re thrilled and will continue doing our job holding power to account, especially when it’s the boss.’
The striking production and advertising workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG) accepted a buyout offer after the newspaper outsourced production of its print edition, eliminating 31 union jobs.
Journalists and newsroom staff represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061) remain on strike.
‘The Post-Gazette chose to outsource jobs rather than do the right thing and bargain,’ said CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis.
‘They have not bargained in good faith, but we have stood together to negotiate the best possible severance package for the production and advertising workers. As always, we have their backs, and we know that they will continue to stand in solidarity with our striking journalists for justice at the Post-Gazette.’
With some workers having been on strike for 29 months, CWA’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike is the longest-running current strike in America. Journalists, editors, artists, and other workers went on an unfair Labour practice strike demanding the company bargain in good faith and restore the terms of the contract it illegally, unilaterally tore up, including slashes to health care, time off, and other core tenets of any union contract.
‘They leave this strike with best wishes and admiration from the members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh,’ wrote striking PPG journalist and member of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA Ed Blazina. ‘We are proud to have stood alongside these folks during this bitter strike. And we will carry on striking with their fight and sacrifice very much in our minds and hearts. For two and a half years, they have fought against an employer set on destroying them. Our union siblings have simply made the best deal they can so they can move on with their lives. For us Guild members, the strike goes on as we are in a different position.’
