About 150 United States Postal Service workers and community members gathered at the East Liberty Street post office Sunday afternoon to protest the potential privatization of USPS. President Donald Trump recently stated that he plans to disband the USPS Board of Directors and place the organization under the Department of Commerce, which has sparked concerns surrounding job security for current postal workers and higher delivery costs for people in rural areas.
The protest was one of many rallies happening nationally in an effort by the National Association of Letter Carriers to prevent the privatization of USPS. During the protest, group members marched in a loop down East Liberty Street, holding “hell no to privatization” and “fight like hell” posters while chanting in support of the movement.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, John Odegard, a branch president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said the purpose of the protest was to help raise awareness and to pressure lawmakers to maintain current USPS independence.
“We’re trying to bring awareness to the people,” Odegard said. “The people are aware, and if they don’t like what’s going on, they can put pressure upon lawmakers and people in Washington to let them know, don’t fix what isn’t broken.”
Speakers at the protest explained the history of USPS and the threats that could come at the expense of privatizing USPS if Trump continues to cut spending. In a speech at the protest, Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi thanked the postal workers in attendance for their work.
“You are servants of the people, you are helping to keep us safe, you are helping to keep us connected to our loved ones,” Rabhi said. “The work that you do is absolutely critical and important, and, of course, Donald Trump and Elon Musk want to privatize it, because all they care about is making money.”
The Huron Valley Area Labor Federation supports nearly 50 local labor unions, including the Ann Arbor NALC branch. ALF Representative Ian Robinson told The Daily USPS has sentimental and practical value to many Americans and Trump’s plan to privatize the public sector poses threats to the quality of mail delivery.
“Everyone can remember important things that came by mail,” Robinson said. “So there’s a lot of sentimental attachment to it, I think. But it’s also a practical need for many people. And then I think people are beginning to realize there’s been a kind of war all the way back to (former President) Ronald Reagan on public sector workers, right? … That’s been the Republican Party’s mantra for all the years ever since. They’re always trying to reduce the funding, and that in turn reduces the quality.”
Robinson also said he felt it is important for individuals to organize and show up to protests in order to gain more attention from politicians.
“It’s sort of a chain reaction,” Robinson said. “So the more of us that get out and show our opposition to these kinds of policies, the more others will be encouraged to, and gradually will create enough of a groundswell that the elected politicians will have to start paying attention.”
Rackham student Anil Bansal, who attended the event, told The Daily they believe protests are an important way for community members to make their voices heard.
“Students should be getting their voices heard and be actively involved in trying to help their community,” Bansal said. “As for the post office as a whole, I think the event should start with locally caring about their post office here, and then also branch out and care about post offices everywhere.”
Daily Staff Reporters Kayla Lugo and Sarah Spencer can be reached at klugo@umich.edu and sarahsp@umich.edu.
