On July 24, hundreds of postal workers, labor allies, and members of the community took to the streets of New York City in a high-spirited rally to tell Wall Street bankers, billionaires, and anyone who wants to privatize our postal service that “The U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale!” Spurred by an outrageous proposal from Wells Fargo Equity Research, activists protested in front of the 7th Avenue Wells Fargo branch. Wells Fargo’s memo to their investors, titled “USPS Privatization: A Framework” outlined the money their billionaire clients could make in a sell-off of our public Postal Service.
Protest attendees handed out flyers to the public, chanted, and displayed signs warning against attempts at a private takeover of the Postal Service, while members of the union and the community, including small business owners, shared their stories about the importance of the public Postal Service.
To raise awareness about this privatization threat, APWU also created an ad to alert the public. It is currently running on television and social media nationwide to postal customers across the country.
“If you want to see higher parcel prices, closed post offices, and unreliable mail delivery, side with Wells Fargo,” APWU President Mark Dimondstein said. “If you want affordable, universal service no matter who you are or where you live, stand with us! Postal workers and the public are united in saying the ‘U.S. Mail is Not for Sale!’”
In its report to investors, Wells Fargo called the USPS “an obvious source of value.” They suggest that mail and parcel operations be split and that “Parcels could be carved out and sold or IPOed (placed on the stock market).” If Wells Fargo’s plans come to fruition, they predict prices would rise “by 30-140% across product lines” which would also benefit private shipping corporations like FedEx and UPS. They want to sell off our cherished local post offices too. In the report, they propose selling off our Main Street post offices so that “value can be harvested” from real estate. All so they can get their hands on the more than $80 billion in revenue the USPS generates each year.
That is why postal workers and community members said, “enough is enough!” Postal workers bind our nation together. More than 600,000 postal workers serve our communities around the clock to accept, sort, transport and deliver ballots, financial correspondence, medications, letters, and care packages from loved ones, connecting our communities together. On July 26, the Postal Service will celebrate its 250th anniversary, and we want to make sure it lasts another 250 and beyond to serve the public, as intended in the U.S. Constitution.
“We rallied in New York to take the message straight to Wall Street, and to alert members and the public across the country of the threat to our public Postal Service. APWU members and postal customers are united in our fight to defend and expand our national treasure,” said Dimondstein. “A big salute to the local and national leaders in the New York area for their organizing, and to the members and supporters who came out to make this event a success as the struggle continues.”
