Last week, union members and working people across Oregon took action to save the United States Postal Service, as part of the national Save the Post Office campaign to maintain the solvency of the world’s largest postal delivery service.
Answering the nationwide call-to-action, union members in Salem, Ashland, and Phoenix hit the streets to call on President Trump, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and their allies to immediately halt their allegedly intentional slow down of services and ensure funding to keep the USPS operational.
Rallies to save the postal service come after Postmaster General DeJoy announced a plan to cut back on costs at the USPS, which included decommissioning sorting machines, removing drop-off boxes, and more. These actions came less than 100 days before an election where millions of voters are set to cast their ballots by mail due to the safety risks of voting in person during the pandemic.
Save the Post Office Rally in Salem
In a matter of days, DeJoy quickly backtracked on his perceived initiative to slow service ahead of the November election, in an effort to make clear that these efforts were not intended to tamper with the upcoming election. Although a quick reversal, the consequences of such actions were devastating. Reports of livestock perishing in transport and medicine not arriving on time grabbed headlines soon after, highlighting the urgent importance of a fully-funded postal service.
In order to ensure the USPS is able to process the significant surge of mail-in ballots this fall, House Democrats passed a bill authorizing $25 Million to fund the postal service. The HEROES Act, which House Democrats passed in May, also planned to allocate $25 Million for the USPS, in addition to freeing up $10 million originally allotted to the service through the CARES Act, which has since been held up by the U.S. Department of Treasury. While Democrats have put forward millions in funding to save one of America’s oldest and most treasured institutions, Senate Republican leadership has made no effort to pass these bills out of Congress’ upper chamber.
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