From big cities to small towns, postal workers organized hundreds of rallies across the country in the past week to defend a beloved public service—and the nation’s largest union employer—against privatization and DOGE attack.
“Whose Postal Service?” workers chanted in New York: “The people’s Postal Service.”
“U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale” was the rallying cry March 20 at 250 rallies organized by the Postal Workers (APWU). “Fight Like Hell” was the theme March 23 for another 210 rallies led by the Letter Carriers (NALC).
A hundred people came out to the NALC rally in St. Petersburg, Florida, covering all four corners of the busiest intersection in town, said Roger Ezra Butterfield, a recently minted steward in APWU.
“I’ve been going to pickets for about 15 years, for farmworkers, for nurses, but I’ve never seen such a positive reception,” Butterfield said. “The ratio of getting flipped off to getting cheered on was heavily in our favor. There was so much honking, people shouting ‘We love postal workers!’ It was incredibly exciting.”
A hundred and twenty showed up for the APWU rally in Des Moines, Iowa, said letter carrier Margo O’Neill. “We were fired up,” she said. “More than anything I was glad to have the chance to express solidarity with APWU. I’m glad we can start working together.” Mail handlers and rural carriers came too: all four major postal service unions were represented.
