‘None of our jobs are safe’: Postal workers union sounds alarm amid fears of privatization
American Postal Workers Union President Miriam Bell is sending warning letters to carriers and other U.S. Postal Service workers amid concerns that Elon Musk and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will privatize their operations.
Reporter Amee Vanderpool wrote on Tuesday that Bell’s email was a response to a letter from DeJoy that was also sent to House and Senate leaders last week, which said that the new administration’s team would “assist” the service in addressing the “mismanagement of the agency’s retirement assets and Worker’s Compensation Program.”
When he came into office, President Donald Trump created the “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)” by executive order and tasked tech billionaire Elon Musk with navigating it. That initiative has been behind the upheaval and dismantling of government agencies. Websites, grants, programs, and employees have been cut or frozen under the promise that Trump will save taxpayers trillions.
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DeJoy sent another letter to officials on Monday, saying that he’s received a “great deal of inquiry” from officials asking if the postal service was being privatized.
DeJoy didn’t answer. Instead, he claimed, “the Postal Service is engaging in a historic level of transformational change.”
Bell told union members, “None of our jobs are safe at this point. Our collective bargaining rights are not safe. Please don’t think it’s no big deal. There has been no rationale utilized with past mass firings, and we have no reason to believe this would be different.”
What has been different, she continued, is that the agency falls under Congress’ purview.
Bell also announced the union was set to hold a nationwide rally on March 20 in 150 locations. The goal is to “educate the public on why privatization is bad business.”
“An increase in postage rates up to 140%, reduced delivery areas, and more detrimental changes need to be shared with the public so they can contact their representatives and urge them to oppose privatization,” the email continued.
DeJoy crafted a 10-year strategic plan that pledged to solve delivery problems and ensure the postal service would “break-even” by 2023. The net loss that year was $6.5 billion. The previous year, however, the USPS made a net income of $56 billion, wrote Vanderpool.
