Workers are battling an overhaul of the U.S. Postal Service that would cost thousands of jobs and slow the mail for half the country.
In the name of efficiency, a letter mailed within Cheyenne, Wyoming, would travel to Denver and back. And if you miss a package, your local post office would no longer have it. It might be 45 minutes away.
In March, Buffalo became the first place to fend off the closure of its mail processing plant, in a team effort by Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 and Postal Workers (APWU) Local 374.
The unions turned out 300 people to picket in front of the plant, and 700 to pack a public hearing, said Branch 3 President David Grosskopf. They deluged USPS with feedback in its online survey.
They lined up the support of their state reps and city council; they got neighboring town councils to pass resolutions too. They even got their senator to call the Postmaster General personally—and it didn’t hurt that their senator was Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Within a few weeks, the plant consolidation was canceled.
Thankfully the employees made a stand to protect their jobs and place of work. Now the rest of us need to be ready when these situations arrive at our doorstep.