Northwest labor press., August 06, 2021, Page 8, Image 8

PAGE 8 | August 6, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
USPS turns 246, unions rally, vow to keep it going for years to come
Union and community members
celebrated the 246th birthday of
the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
at a rally July 26 outside the
East Portland Post Office on
Southeast 7th Ave. Joining in
the festivities was the first post-
master general, Ben Franklin,
and Oregon Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum. Messages of
support for the postal service
were sent by Oregon’s Demo-
cratic congressional delegation,
and from Portland Mayor Ted
Wheeler.
But as they celebrated with
cake, balloons, and songs, party-
goers also worried about the fu-
ture of the USPS.
Leaders of the Republican
Party have made no secret that
they would like to see the Post
Office privatized. USPS’ current
postmaster general, Louis De-
Joy, is a corporate CEO and
megadonor to the GOP. He is
currently under investigation by
the FBI for shady political cam-
paign fundraising activity in-
volving his former business.
In a letter to President Joe
Biden earlier this year, Oregon
U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer,
Suzanne Bonamici, and Peter
DeFazio wrote: “Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy has
demonstrated time and time
again that he does not care about
this critical service on which
Americans rely. It is clear he is a
danger to the future and integrity
of the USPS. We again urge you
to work with Congress and re-
move him from office.”
The National Presidents’ Con-
ference, comprised of local and
state presidents of the American
Postal Workers Union (APWU),
passed a resolution in June call-
ing for the immediate removal of
vere. We need a new revolution-
ary postmaster general who will
fight for the postal service and
against the tyranny of the priva-
tizers and against the business
model of cuts, closures, mail de-
lays, and higher prices,” he said.
Attorney General Rosenblum
said she will do all she can to
help protect the USPS.
Oregon is among 21 state at-
torneys general to submit a
warning to the USPS opposing
DeJoy’s 10-year plan.
“This plan is just unaccept-
able. The proposed changes to
first-class mail service standards
would particularly harm rural
residents in Oregon, and low in-
come communities,” she said.
“This is also the opposite of
what Congress has directed, in
that the United States Postal
Service is required by statute to
give top priority to important
letter mail.”
Last year, Rosenblum joined
other attorneys general to suc-
cessfully sue to block DeJoy’s
plan that could have created de-
lays around the 2020 election.
“The judge saw that plan to
undermine the U.S. Postal Serv-
ice for exactly what it was—a
political move to hamper an es-
sential service that millions were
relying on to vote, to pay their
bills, and even to receive life-
saving medication,” she said.
The first postmaster general, Ben Franklin (played by Letter Carriers Branch 82 retiree Dave Medford), enjoys a bite
of birthday cake at the East Portland Post Office July 26 where union and community members celebrated the 246th
birthday of the U.S. Postal Service.
DeJoy, citing “abdication of his
oath of office, for pressing for-
ward an agenda and 10-year
business plan that will further de-
grade and delay service and in
time destroy the U.S. Postal
Service as we know it.”
In May, DeJoy unveiled his
10-year plan for USPS that fea-
tures slower first-class deliver-
ies, reduced post office hours,
and higher postage prices.
The Postal Regulatory Com-
mission responded in July with
a 232 page report warning De-
Joy that his plan was unrealistic
and did not meet the needs of
the American public. The vice
chair of the commission urged
the USPS to pause the plan.
At the Portland rally, Ben
Franklin (played by retired
Branch 82 letter carrier Dave
Medford) said he was pleased to
be back among “revolutionar-
ies” and “postal protectors” to
commemorate the founding of
the USPS.
“We American revolutionaries
and the Continental Congress es-
tablished the postal service as a
revolutionary network of post
riders and post roads. I (Franklin)
ordered surveys and created post
routes from Maine to Florida. I
even established overnight deliv-
ery between New York and
Philadelphia, a hot-bed of revo-
lutionary organizing.”
He reminded partygoers that
it was Paul Revere, a post rider,
who rode from Boston Harbor
out on his post route to spread
the alarm and warn that the
British were coming.
“Today, we need another
Benjamin Franklin, or Paul Re-
If you are hurt on the job,
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Raymond Thomas
James Coon
Cynthia Newton
Chris Frost
www.tcnf.legal
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum was the keynote speaker at the
Postal Heritage Day celebration July 26 in Southeast Portland. The event
marked the 246th birthday of the U.S. Postal Service.
Sydney Montanaro
Scott Sell
Chris Thomas
820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204