GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A group of postal workers showed their concern Sunday as the United States Postal Service looks at potential cuts to the workforce. Around 100 people gathered in Grand Rapids to protest the changing conditions in the industry. This movement sparked to life after the agency announced plans to cut thousands of jobs earlier this month.
The rally is among several others going on around the country. This crowd had one message for the USPS postmaster.
“We’re out here protesting the proposed privatization and the attacks on the post office by the current administration. We're trying to save service, universal service, for everybody,” Andrea Faulkner said.
Faulkner has been a letter carrier for the past 20 years.
“We touch every building in the country every single day. We're on every property at every address. Nobody else can do that,” she said.
Faulkner is one of around 640,000 employees at the USPS.
“There's no game in town where people can send a birthday card to their grandkids. You're going to FedEx that for $20, drop it in the mail for less than $1 and it will get it there,” Faulkner said.
The government agency has been in service since 1971. Earlier this month, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sent a letter to Congress announcing that roughly 10,000 workers were being let go and the department's budget was getting slashed by billions.
“People are willing to fight for their jobs, are willing to fight for America, and then we're not just laying over and just doing what we're told to do,” National Association of Letter Carriers Local 56 Vice President Dennis Ryder said.
Ryder expressed the need to keep these jobs here.
“I think we proved that through COVID and that people rely on us to get things done when things are against the wall, and that we've delivered for America then, and we should be delivering for America throughout our future, in the next generations,” Ryder said.
Faulkner adds that she wants to continue serving the people in her community.
“The reason is people trust us with sending prescriptions. And there are people who are shut-ins who don't get prescriptions any other way,” Faulkner said.
According to the letter the postmaster sent to Congress, they plan to make the cuts in the next few weeks through a voluntary early retirement program.
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