Postal workers in LA, other cities warn of privatization risk: 'U.S. mail is not for sale'
LA postal workers warn of privatization risk
Postal workers across the US are set to protest Thursday.
LOS ANGELES - Postal workers in Los Angeles and nationwide were expected to protest on Thursday.
They are raising red flags and said President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to sell off the USPS would hurt millions.
What we know:
Rallies were set for Thursday with rallies happening in Buffalo, New York and arts of Illinois.
The protests are aiming to send a message that the U.S. mail is not for sale.
Locally, postal workers in the Inland Empire prepared by making signs ahead of this nationwide day of action.
Members of the American Postal Workers Union are speaking out against what they call a "proposed hostile takeover of the U.S. Postal Service."
Last month, President Trump said he was considering a federal takeover of the independent, self-funded agency.
The USPS, which employs about 635,000 people.
Now, there's reportedly a deal with DOGE to cut 10,000 jobs through voluntary retirements over the next 30 days. And workers worry that that's just the first step towards more cuts and privatization. Their fear is that a private company will put profits first at the expense of universal service.
Postal workers and their union insist that a for-profit business plan will only disadvantage postal customers, especially those who live in rural areas where they say customers would likely expand and experience rate increases and fewer delivery days.
What they're saying:
Congresswoman Maxine Waters rallied with postal workers in South LA.
"The post office belongs to the people, it's in the Constitution. We depend on it, and some of the people who even voted for him did not know he [Trump] would use his ‘gangster mentality’ to run over our departments, and they certainly didn't know they were going to bring down the United States Postal Office," she said.
"I'm here today with people who work here, who've sacrificed, who've given many years to the postal service, who love their work… we're not gonna let it go… he's gonna be challenged on this issue as he's gonna be challenged on other issues. The people are gonna say to him, ‘you may not have our post office,’ and as they say here today, ‘our post office is not for sale’ to you [Trump] or Elon Musk."
Rep. Maxine Waters joins postal workers rally in South LA
Workers are sending a message to President Trump, calling his proposed plan an illegal takeover by the White House. They say Congress is the only one of the three branches of government that can change the structure of the postal service.
"You can't sell it to the highest bidder. It doesn't work that way. We deliver to every household in America. It's beyond sad. It's. It's depressing to even think that they can just take it away like that," said Rick Ruiz, President of American Postal Workers, Local 4635.
"What they're going to come and do is they're going to take the Los Angeles, the Philadelphia, the New York, the Atlanta. But the places out in rural America, they're not going to get their mail. We're all Americans. We're all Americans. And this is an American institution," another postal worker added.
The U.S. Mail is Not for Sale
The LA postal workers' rally is scheduled for Thursday, March 20 between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the LA Mail Processing Center at 7001 S. Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90052.