‘Save the Post Office’ protests come to town
The fight for full funding of the U.S. Postal Service took to local post offices on Saturday as part of “Save the Post Office Saturday.”
In Pottstown, a group of about 20 protesters from throughout the region carried signs with slogans supporting one of America’s oldest federal institutions.
The protest was one of thousands being held across the country.
Those protests included one in Philadelphia outside the historic Post Office founded by Benjamin Franklin.
The American Postal Workers Union is planning another #SavethePostOffice Day of Action today.
The protests come as Congress is working on a stimulus bill to include funding for the post office. Representatives were called back as reports grew of cuts at the post office that has many worried about voting by mail, which many are expected to do this year because of the pandemic.
The House is expected to pass a $25 billion stimulus for the post office, but it is not expected the measure will be taken up, much less passed, by the Senate.
Amid this uncertainty, Pennsylvania and five other states filed a lawsuit against Potsmaster General Louis
DeJoy and the Postal Service.
A top Republican donor and contractor who does business with the Post Office, DeJoy was appointed by President Donald Trump in May and, since then, has implemented changes, including removal of mail-sorting machines and a ban on overtime, which has resulted in increasing delays in shipping times.
The reason DeJoy has
given for the changes is the billions of dollars the postal service has been losing in its operation.
Democrats see an ulterior motive behind the costcutting measures.
“The suit by the attorneys general claims the service delays could disenfranchise voters and that DeJoy’s suspension of some of the policy changes until after the election only addressed some of the issues,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday.
“DeJoy said Friday that the Postal Service would prioritize election mail — even as President Donald Trump continued to attack mail voting with conspiracy theories,” according to the Inquirer.
That’s not the only lawsuit in the works.
Johnny Corson, president of the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP, said the organization’s national office has also filed a lawsuit against DeJoy and the Postal Service.
“As the country faces an uphill battle against COVID-19, and systemic racism, we’re witnessing a significant onslaught against our postal system at a time when prompt mail deliveries matter more than ever, especially for voters of color” read the statement adopted by the Pottstown chapter.
“The NAACP is determined to save the United States Postal Service, even if our leaders in Washington aren’t.”
Katy and Steffen Personette of Gilbertsville found out about the protest through “We the People,” an activist arm of the Pennsylvania Budget & Policy Center where she is an organizer.
“We don’t want them to take away our ability to vote by mail,” said Kathy Costello of Collegeville. “We want the Post Office to stay the Post Office and to be funded.”
“I fear we may not be able to get our medicines,” said Costello’s sister Barbara Hamilton of Pottstown, who is a member of Indivisible Mid-Montco.
Micah Smith, 6, of Royersford and his younger brother August, 3, were perhaps the youngest protesters outside the Pottstown Post Office Saturday.
They were not terribly keen to talk to a reporter, but their mom Chelsie said she and her husband Matt gave the kids a lesson about the Post Office and why its important before they came.
“It’s really important, and the Post Office needs funding,” she said, “especially with an election coming and in the middle of a pandemic.”