By Abigail Gocek OMAHA, Neb.- The United States Postal Service, or USPS, offers the citizens of the United States a free service in which to receive mail. Article 1 Section 8 of the United States Constitution gave congress the right to establish post offices and post roads in which to deliver mail. Earlier this year, President Trump commented on potentially privatizing the service.
A Transformative Moment: The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970
According to the Constitution Center, the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 revolutionized the service by declaring the USPS an independent entity in which timely service would be provided to all addresses within the nation. The Reorganization Act was signed by former President Richard Nixon following multiple strikes from postal workers demanding better wages and working conditions.
Omaha American Postal Service Union President Phil Thomas says the USPS services over 150,000 addresses today, however remote.
Concerns Over Privatization
“It’s unlikely, if it’s privatized, that that would stay in place,” Thomas says. “There’s just not a lot of profit in that and the American public deserves to be serviced by a service, not a business.”
This February President Trump expressed his desire to privatize the United States Postal Service, or USPS, calling the service a “tremendous loser for this country”. The Federal News Network reports President Trump’s plans to restructure the postal service began in his first term with the proposed 2018 government reorganization plan. According to PBS, President Trump said in February he would place the USPS under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Department.
In response to President Trump’s comments, the National Association of Letter Carriers began their ‘Fight like Hell’ campaign that same month to protest privatization, protect workers rights and more, reports UNI Global Union. Declaring March 20 a national day of action, postal works across the country staged protests. Omaha postal workers organized two protests within the city: the first on March 20 followed by another March 23.
Impact on Rural Communities
USA Today reports that privatization of the USPS could lead to higher costs or decreased services in rural locations. Thomas says if the USPS becomes privatized, individuals in certain locations could possibly lose access to the service entirely.
“It is highly likely that people would not get their medicines from rural areas,” Thomas says. “They wouldn’t get any checks or anything like that, so you’d basically isolate a lot of American of the American public.”
