Seattle, Spokane, nation rally to Save 6-day Delivery

Nearly 70 turned out at Spokane Valley Post Office on March 24 to call on the USPS to Save 6-Day Delivery.

The Save 6-Day Delivery rally drew hundreds to Seattle’s Westlake Park on March 24.

Bob James, President of the Washington Association of Letter Carriers (and WSLC Vice President), prepares to address the Seattle crowd March 24.

UPDATE (Mar. 25) — The National Association of Letter Carriers held a day of action on Sunday, March 24, to mobilize public support to retain Saturday delivery service.

“Our fight is about the cost of losing Saturday mail delivery and how it would affect people in each and every state,” said NALC President Fredric Rolando said.

Thousands of letter carriers joined friends, family, co-workers and community coalition partners at specified post offices in major media centers, holding signs and wearing T-shirts reflecting the feelings of the citizenry.

See more great pics from Sunday’s rally in The Seattle Times.

(Mar. 22, 2013) — In this week’s legislation to avert the latest federal government shutdown, Congress included language intended to force the U.S. Postal Service to maintain Saturday delivery of first-class mail — for now. However, some who want to end Saturday delivery this year, as proposed by the Postmaster Patrick Donahoe, point out that the language is vague and does not prohibit altering what products USPS delivers on Saturdays as Donahoe proposes.

So the fight to save six-day delivery is far from over.

On Sunday, March 24, the National Association of Letter Carriers is conducting a Day of Action with unions, small business customers, civic organizations and faith groups gathering outside post offices across the nation to oppose the proposed ending of Saturday delivery service. There are two events in Washington state:

In Seattle, gather 2-4 p.m. at Westlake Park, 401 Pine St.  Download the rally flier.

In Spokane,  gather 3-5 p.m. at the Spokane Valley Post Office, 11712 E. Sprague Ave. Click here for details.

All are urged to join these rallies rally and tell Congress to strengthen the USPS for the future and protect six-day mail delivery.

Donahoe’s plan to shrink the USPS and end six-day service is an attack on the future of this great institution, on the customers who need it and on the employees who support it. These ill-advised cuts would hit small-business owners, senior citizens and rural residents the hardest. Says National Association of Letter Carriers Fredric Rolando:

We want to make this fight about the cost of losing Saturday mail delivery and how it would affect people in each and every state.

Cutting Saturday mail would delay important household and business transactions, including bills, invoices and personal correspondence, and may force customers to shift to high-cost competing services. Established by the Constitution and using no taxpayer funding for its operations, the Postal Service is a vital public institution that we cannot afford to see dismantled.

The root cause of the agency’s fiscal problems is the unique congressional requirement — the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act — that USPS prefund retirement benefits for decades into the future. Repeal of that requirement would restore financial stability to the USPS.

For more information, see The Stand’s report: Congress broke USPS, and now must fix it.

AFL-CIO Now contributed to this report.