We cannot allow President Trump to use the COVID-19 crisis to eliminate the U.S. Postal Service as we know it. The U.S. Postal service is the most trusted brand in America. Instead of trying to protect the 600,000 working people it employs and the hundreds of millions it serves, the president is hellbent on privatizing the agency.
The U.S. Postal Service will “run out of cash” in September without federal assistance. Make no mistake: President Trump wants this to happen as a way of weakening our democracy, and we have to stop him. Postal workers are on the front lines, working often without face masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. At least 500 postal workers have tested positive for the coronavirus. If anything, they need more support, not less.
Under normal circumstances, 1.2 billion packages of medicine travel through the USPS annually. During a global pandemic, this service is beyond essential. Any effort to diminish the U.S. Postal Service is a flagrant attempt to weaken our democracy. The agency is indispensable to vote by mail and complete the Census, among other important tasks. To learn more about the many ways Letter Carriers help in our communities, check out our podcast from February.
We will beat this virus and rebuild the economy, but only if Congress protects workers in the next COVID-19 relief package. Now is not the time for cuts to critical services like the United States Postal Service.