Postal Workers union rally for funding, protections for postal workers

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A POSTAL WORKER holds a sign, chanting during a informational demonstration in front of the Main Post Office in St. Louis on Tuesday, August 25, 2020. Post office employees are rallying across the country for Save the Post Office Day. The U.S. Postal Service has struggled during COVID-19, projecting a $13 billion loss this year as a result of low mail volume and was left out of Congress’ $2 trillion relief package passed in March. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

St. Louis – On Tuesday, Aug. 25, demonstrators nationwide participated in a day of action to save the U.S. Post Office.

The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) St. Louis Gateway District Local 8, joined by Democratic 1st Congressional Democratic nominee Cori Bush, State Senator Karla May (D-St. Louis) St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones, St. Louis Labor Council President Pat White, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), Missouri Jobs with Justice, STL Not For Sale and Service Employees (SEIU) Local 1 rallied outside the Main Post Office downtown to demand $25 billion in funding for the critical service and protections for the Postal Service – including a stop to the mail slowdown instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and a reversal of the harmful policies he enacted.

Restrictions on overtime, removal of sorting machines and other harmful policies have resulted in a slowdown of mail delivery.

REBECCA LIVINGSTON, president of the St. Louis Gateway American Postal Workers Union, makes comments during a informational demonstration in front of the Main Post Office in St. Louis on Tuesday, August 25, 2020. Post office employees are rallying across the country for Save the Post Office Day.
The U.S. Postal Service has struggled during COVID-19, projecting a $13 billion loss this year as a result of low mail volume and was left out of Congress’ $2 trillion relief package passed in March. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

“The US Postal Service is a bedrock institution for every American,” said St. Louis APWU Gateway District President Becky Livingston. “Our elected leaders must support $25 billion in funding to make sure the Post Office can run effectively, and Postmaster DeJoy must reverse his harmful slowdown policies immediately.”

Postal workers and allies called on Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt, who are currently on recess while the Senate is out of session, to support these crucial protections and urge them to vote yes on the Delivering for America Act, a COVID-19 relief package that provides $25 billion in emergency funding for the Postal Service and reverses harmful policies that have caused the slowdown. The bill passed out of the House of Representatives with bipartisan support on Saturday.

(Look for expanded coverage in the Sept. 3 edition of the Labor Tribune.)

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