[ad_1]
A few dozen postal workers met on Monday for a special delivery – but it was neither a package nor a letter.
They were sending a message to the public: The privatization of the US postal service, a decision the Trump administration envisioned, would affect not only postal workers, but also many things that people take for granted.
The union leaders of the National Letter Carriers Association (NALC) of Local 247 in Hampton and Local 609 at Newport News, as well as members of the base, expressed their concerns on the streets during from outside the main Post Office Agency, on the Aberdeen and Briarfield roads.
According to them, a privatization proposal could jeopardize Saturday service, deliveries on rural roads and even work for veterans, a group of 25 per cent of postal workers, the organizers said.
"It's important to keep the post office in the hands of the government," says Walter Brummage, NALC organizer and local commercial officer. "If she privatizes, everything for which they worked so hard will be lost."
The union also said that privatization could also affect e-commerce and many small and medium-sized businesses that depend on USPS services.
This would mark the end of the famous "forever" stamp, says Michael Bostic, a postman at Newport News and the congressional liaison officer who organized the rally.
The "Forever" stamp, which debuted in 2007, allows customers to pay a fee for a stamp that can be used for any first class letter, even if rates go up in the future.
"Everyone thinks we are paid in tax dollars," Bostic said. "Our paychecks come from the" eternal "stamps and envelopes we sell."
But the post office does not sell enough stamps "forever" to pay the bills.
Over the past decade, the USPS has suffered revenue losses of several billion, including $ 2.7 billion for 2017, according to data from the USPS postal website.
On Monday, postal workers waved placards and chanted, "The American mail is not for sale." Among them was 53-year-old Walline Wilson, mailman and mailman for 30 years, who works in Hampton's neighborhood in Fox. Hill.
"I'm not just here for me, but for the next generation of postal workers," said Wilson, whose mother was also a factor. "We want to keep a six-day delivery and Sunday a partial delivery."
In June, the Trump administration released a comprehensive report on government reorganization aimed at streamlining many federal departments and agencies, including the possible privatization of the US postal service.
According to this report, "the current model of the USPS is untenable." It presents extremely high fixed costs, generous benefits combined with a universal service obligation, which forces the factors to visit more than 150 million addresses, six days a week, according to the same source. report.
Due to a law passed in 2006, the USPS was forced to pre-finance its retirees, which has had an impact on revenue growth since 2007. The agency already has more than $ 100 billion of unfunded liabilities, according to the report.
Protests against the Trump government's privatization proposal also took place around Virginia on Monday in Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Richmond. Similar rallies have also been held throughout the country.
You can reach Vernon Sparks by phone at 757-247-4832 or on Twitter at @lvernonsparks.
[ad_2]
Source link
