USPS workers are rallying against President Trump looking to privatize the Postal Service. NBC 5’s Alanna Quillen tells us the details.
Dozens of postal workers took the streets in protest in North Texas on Thursday.
Members of the American Postal Workers Union, or APWU, rallied on Thursday morning at two main post office locations in Dallas and Fort Worth, joining a nationwide "Day of Action" in response to proposed changes to the United States Postal Service.
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WATCH HEREThe union says the protests are a response to what they describe as a "hostile takeover" of the Postal Service. The rallies are among 150 similar events held across the country under the theme "U.S. Mail is Not for Sale."
In February, President Donald Trump announced plans to consider moving USPS under the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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The APWU argues that such a move could threaten jobs and raise prices for mail services for millions of Americans. Adding to the controversy, Elon Musk, the President's senior advisor, has expressed support for privatizing the Postal Service, saying it could operate more efficiently under corporate control.
Union leaders strongly oppose this idea, saying that privatization would devastate employees and customers alike.
"It would be very up in the air for the people who work for the Postal Service – it would dismantle homes and families," Cake said. "But the most important thing is that it would affect the people who utilize the service,” said Jonathan Cake, president of the APWU's Dallas chapter.
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The APWU said the Postal Service is a vital institution, dating back to 1776 and enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Only Congress has the power to change its structure, and union leaders are urging lawmakers and the public to reject any privatization efforts.
"The Postal Service is facing one of the most serious threats in its 250-year history," the APWU national chapter said in a statement posted online. "This is nothing short of an illegal hostile takeover, a direct threat to the public institution that serves 169 million addresses across the country, no matter who we are or where we live."
The union warns that weakening the Postal Service could impact veterans, small businesses, and rural communities, as well as threaten the seven million jobs tied to the mailing industry.
APWU leaders say more rallies are planned as they continue their fight to protect the Postal Service from political interference and corporate control.
As Musk's Department of Government Efficiency works across the government to cancel contracts and shrink agencies, DOGE signed an agreement with the U.S. postmaster general Louis DeJoy last week.
According to CNBC, the agreement will allow a "DOGE reform team" to help in finding efficiencies in the postal service, which lost over $9 billion dollars last year.
The agency has been exempt from DOGE-directed federal employee reductions so far.
In a letter to Congress about the agreement, DeJoy said the USPS plans to cut 10,000 workers in the next month through a voluntary early retirement program first announced in January.
The post office has cut 30,000 jobs since 2021.
