The NALC has organized over 250 Fight Like Hell rallies across the country, all protesting against multiple threats to the union, including Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” DOGE planning to lay off ten thousand workers, and the Trump Administration’s ambitions to privatize the USPS.

A privatized USPS would create a myriad of problems for both the American people and Letter Carriers. Currently, the USPS is under the jurisdiction of Congress, which is held accountable by representatives elected by the American people. A privatized USPS would only be held responsible to private shareholders, who will most definitely reel back services in both rural and low-service areas, areas that need the USPS the most. In Seattle, a privatized USPS would mean higher shipping prices, an issue that would only contribute to Seattle’s high cost of living compared to other cities.

After speeches and remarks from representatives of multiple labor unions, the NALC Branch 79 rally attendees, both letter carriers and NALC supporters in the hundreds, marched around Westwood Center in West Seattle in the cold, dreary Seattle weather, with a resounding message:

THE US MAIL IS NOT FOR SALE!

The post NALC Branch 79 Rallies to “Fight Like Hell” in Seattle, WA first appeared on Labor Today.

“The Postal Service is more than just a delivery system—it’s part of the backbone of our democracy, our economy, and our communities. It’s older than the country itself! Benjamin Franklin was appointed as the first Postmaster General in 1775, before we even declared independence. And for nearly 250 years, the Postal Service has connected every corner of this nation, no matter how rural, no matter how small the town—because the mail belongs to the people, not to billionaires that only care about profits.

“The White House is now pushing to move the Postal Service under the Department of Commerce. That might sound like just a bureaucratic shuffle, but let’s call it what it really is—the next step toward privatization! And we know what privatization means: higher costs, worse service, and abandoning rural America because it simply isn’t profitable to deliver to those communities.”

Justin Claussen, NALC Branch 491 Steward

Other speakers provided experiences of how essential the postal service is, including a firefighter speaking on how postal workers are sometimes the first to call 911 for citizens in an emergency situation, especially with elderly people. When asked how many mail carriers have had to call 911, many hands were raised in the crowd, putting perspective on the fact that carriers do more than just deliver mail.

Many speakers touched on the topic of rural Americans being affected by the potential privatization. Mark DeBelts, another member of Branch 491, commented to news sources, “If the privatization came around, it would affect maybe 55 million rural communities, and we as South Dakota, we live in a rural community. So, it would affect everybody.”

Claussen would end the event motivating attendees to start connecting with other members saying, “this fight won’t be won by individuals, it will be won by a movement” and by building working-class power.

The post Multiple Unions Rally in Sioux Falls in Solidarity with NALC to “Fight Like Hell” Against USPS Privatization first appeared on Labor Today.

Good afternoon brothers and sisters, I’m M. Drezner and I am a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). I want to thank the hard working members of the National Association of Letter Carriers for putting this on not only in Sioux Falls, but around the country. This is not the first time the postal service has come under attack, as brother Justin summed up at the beginning of the event. The working class of this country has sacrificed its blood to establish many standards we enjoy today and have had to fight and claw protections away from the ruling class so that we might all have a better standard of living. But those protections, if not safeguarded with the constant strengthening of a class-oriented trade union movement, are always subject to rollbacks and are always under threat from those with a voracious hunger to privatize and commodify every facet of our society.

A paper was published, or rather leaked, last month detailing Wells Fargo’s thesis for what privatizing our postal service would look like. In this document titled “USPS Privatization: A Framework” Wells Fargo lays out what it believes is a plan that would “enhance parcel profitability” (their words) and when I looked through all the sweeping changes they would make to our postal system, it was borderline horrific. One of the cornerstones of this document were the acquisition of real estate, selling all the land that the postal service occupies which they estimated to be in the realm of $85 billion. Not only that, but Wells Fargo also believes that USPS should raise its rates 30-140% citing that it would be good for FedEx and UPS. USPS has been a constant counterweight to the greed of FedEx and UPS by providing affordable shipping methods.

Another topic that Wells Fargo wants on the chopping block is pensions and what they described as “healthcare liabilities” (because heaven forbid workers use their healthcare that they pay for). Wells Fargo believes that these pensions should be instead offloaded to taxpayers to foot the bill, relieving the company of its obligation to their members and most likely moving to a 401K that is volatile and can make the ruling class even more money.

Currently, USPS provides what is called Universal Service Obligation or USO which requires mail to be delivered to all US address within six days. This ensures that citizens located in Alaska and Hawaii receive their mail in a timely manner. Under privatization, there would be no guarantee when a package would arrive to those states, or any state for that matter.

And rural Americans? It is noted that the rural community has a “strong affinity” for the postal service, but provides no recourse for them under privatization. So essentially, we are leaving rural Americans disconnected from their family and friends, kicking them to the curb because they’re not “profitable”.

The prevailing belief throughout this entire plan is that the ruling class, not content with its vast levels of wealth, wants to continue stripping away all services to Americans at the whims of ever increasing levels of profit. National programs that are privatized often experience poorer service at massively increased rates and that is the threat we are faced with today.

But while the situation may be dark and the road ahead uncertain, the undeniable truth is that this country runs every day because of the working class. Our brothers and sisters in the NALC work long days to ensure the postal service runs and that Americans receive their mail. One of the working class’ greatest tools is solidarity and it’s what has brought all of us here today, because an injury to one is an injury to all. In the face of an attack, the rank-and-file movement is ultimately what can prevent a disaster from taking place. Any union is only as strong as its rank and file.

As Harry Bridges, former President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union said, “the most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity”. Brothers and sisters in the NALC, the class-oriented trade union movement is with you on this day and we join you in the struggle against privatization of USPS. Solidarity to the working class!

The post Class-Oriented Trade Unionism Stands Against the Privatization of the USPS first appeared on Labor Today.

Many areas of language in the contract are also being changed to introduce speedups. Letter carriers are allowed time in the morning to organize mail (“fixed office time”) which has been reduced from 33 to 20 minutes. Full cost of living adjustments (COLA) are still reserved for those at the top pay bracket, leaving everyone else with a “diet” version (a percentage of a penny for every .4% of inflation). The overtime rule also changed to carriers making 2.5 times after 12 hours a day or 60 hours in a week, however, the contract now allows for forced overtime. Health insurance premiums will be going up as well for letter carriers. Despite much of the smoke and mirrors, many workers are seeing this TA as a pay cut.

Now, workers are banding together and forming caucuses to work inside their NALC locals. Build a Fighting NALC (BFN), is one such caucus that has gained traction over the last six months and is attracting new members from around the country. BFN has stated that members should vote “No” on the TA stating, “This is what the contract looks like when the NALC doesn’t put up a fight”.

The measures the BFN are fighting for are:

• $30/hr starting wage
• End mandatory overtime
• Cutting down years of service to reach top pay from 13 to 6
• Right to strike
• Full COLA

Full tentative agreement can be viewed here.

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