US postal servicefaced with the uncertain future after resigning this weekPostmaster General Louis Dejoyand the proposal of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Ministry of Effectiveness of the Government that Postal ServiceCould be privatized.
The trade unions representing postal staff dealt with the idea of privatization and introduced protests throughout the country.
While they support the efforts to modernize,including those initiated by DejoyThe heads of the trade unions warned that allowing private corporations to operate the US post office eventually harm everyday citizens, especially an estimated 51 million people living in rural areas who depend on the postal service.
“It's a terrible idea for all we serve,” said Brian L. Renfroe, President of the National Letters Association during a panel discussion at the National Print Club in Washington, DC.
What happens next can depend on who will become the next general postmaster. The US Postal Service The Governor Council, an independent establishment of a powerful branch that supervises the postal service, retained a global consulting firm to make a search for the 76 CEO and CEO.
The USPS currently employs about 640,000 workers to provide supplies from internal cities to rural areas and even island islands.
Trump and Musk appear to make major changes in USPS
In FebruarySaid TrumpIt can undergo the US postal service under the control of the business department in what would be the executive branch of taking over an agency that has been an independent entity since 1970.
“We want to have a mail that works well and does not lose a huge amount of money,” Trump said during the ceremonial swearing of Trade Howard Lutnick. “We are thinking about it. And it will be a fusion, but it will remain a postal service and I think it will work much better.”
Although he did not say anything about privatization at the event, the President expressed the support of this idea in the past. In December suggested the privatization of the service due to the competition that faces AmazonUPS, Fedex And others.
“It's an idea that many people have had for a long time. We look at it,” the president said.
Meanwhile, Musk expressed support this month at the Technical Conference for Privatization of Postal Services and said, “We should privatize anything that can be proportionally privatized,” said The New York Times.
Protest of workers, warning Americans may lose their beloved service
Throughout the country, workers have been protests in recent days, many sang “US Mail Not for Sale” and some hold the signs that read: “Mail belongs to people, not billionaires,” a reference to Muska.
Renfroe said that the aim of the protests is to inform the US public that drastic changes are being considered for postal services.
“Our message is,” No. “Private business is interested in doing things that are profitable, as they should be,” he said.
How did USPS end up in such a bad financial situation?
Since the reorganization in 1970, USPS has been largely self -financing. Most of the annual budget of $ 78.5 billion come from customer fees, according to the Congress Research Service. Congress provides relatively small annual funds-asi $ 50 million in the fiscal year 2023-k subsidies of free and reduced postal services.
In the middle of problems involving a declineLosses of $ 87 billionFrom 2007 to 2020. However, the service reported a $ 144 million profit last year, attributed it to Dejoy's ten -year plan to modernize the STEM operations and losses. The service reported a net loss of $ 2.1 billion in the same quarter of last year.
“By constantly improving our product portfolio, we increase our competitive position on the transport market,” Dejoy saidIn a written statementFebruary accompanying the results of the first quarter for the fiscal year 2025.
The heads of the trade unions said on Wednesday that they hope that the next General of Postmaster is adhered to the Modernization Plan and is considering using the postal service to provide other public services, including basic banking, charging electric vehicles and even US work.
“Our network of physical places, retail places … Our delivery network, puts us in a position to do so many different things,” Renfroe said.
This story was originally listed on Fortune.com
