SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – U.S. Postal Service workers across the country, including in Sioux Falls, are rallying against the Trump Administration’s talk of transforming the U.S. Postal Service.
In February, President Donald Trump said he was considering transferring the USPS into the Department of Commerce, which many worry could be the first step in privatizing the service.
“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money, and we’re thinking about doing that, and it’ll be a form of a merger, but it’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better than it has been over the years,” Trump said.
Around 30 people in Sioux Falls made their voices heard Thursday regarding their thoughts on proposed changes to the U.S. Postal Service.
“Just saying simply that our U.S. mail is not for sale. It is the right to the public by our Constitution,” Danielle Jones, a spokesperson for the local chapter of the American Postal Workers Union, said.
Jones says they do not want to see the U.S. Postal Service get privatized.
“If they were to privatize, are they going to sell off certain parts of the post office? Are they going to sell off, you know, the operations portion of it, the customer service portion of it with delivery, the transportation, you know, we’re kind of concerned to see what happens with that,” Jones said.
And it’s not just Union members that are concerned.
“I worked there for many years, I was a rural carrier and I know how important it is as a service to the nation. And, you know, the pricing is just what it should be for our nation rather than a privatized price, which I think would really go way up for everyone,” retired mail carrier Linda Burri said. “And it’s our only form of private communication left in the world. So we need the mail and we need it to stay a service for the United States people.”
“People think that because they’re not in the post office industry that they really don’t have a say or they don’t really feel a certain way. Just educate yourself with what’s going on,” Jessica Waterman, whose boyfriend works for the Postal Service, said. “And look at the damage that it will do if the government takes it over and the lives that will be definitely impacted on this.”
Federal law establishes the postal service as a core function of the government, so privatizing the USPS would require Congress to pass a new law.
Another rally is scheduled for Sunday with that one being organized by the local chapter of the National Association of Letter Carriers.
