Dozens of United States Postal Service workers spent Monday’s federal holiday rallying in downtown Birmingham to oppose a White House proposal to privatize the postal service. Several postal worker unions and other community members were there. They held signs and chanted “U.S. mail is not for sale.”
The rally was one of hundreds held in cities across the nation. Many postal employees worry they’ll lose their jobs if the Trump administration moves forward with a proposal to privatize the federal agency. Camise Samuels, president of the Birmingham postal workers union, says the agency doesn’t receive government support.
“The post office does not get any taxpayer money,” he says. “We are self sufficient and they are trying to destroy our jobs.”
A White House proposal to overhaul the postal service says there are benefits to privatization. Those include more flexibility to increase prices and cutting the number of delivery days.