Stop the postal slowdown

APWU is calling on all labor supporters to support their fight against proposed service standard changes that will slow down mail delivery across the U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 4, 2024) — The American Postal Workers Union (AWPU) is sounding the alarm on a proposed a mail slowdown plan that will have serious impacts on postal customers all across the country and threatens to undermine one of the most trusted institutions in the United States, the U.S. postal service.

This change to service standards, proposed by postal management and the Board of Governors, would slow down service across the U.S., at a time when private companies are ramping up their offers of same-day and next-day delivery. The union reports proposed changes include abolishing afternoon mail pickups for many communities across the country, especially in rural communities, and extending USPS’s ‘service standards’ by another day. Additionally, Sundays would no longer count as a day towards meeting that service standard.

AWPU is concerned that such a slowdown will drive customers away from the postal service, ultimately damaging an essential service that working people across the country rely on.

People’s World reports that this change was presented to the Board of Governors by Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in November. DeJoy, a former CEO of a USPS competitor, has long been open about his desire for this public service to turn a profit, even if that impacts service quality. This most recent proposed slow down builds on DeJoy’s 2021 changes to service, which added days unto delivery times, particularly for mail traveling from coast to coast.

There is still time to stop these changes to service standards and fight to protect and strengthen the postal service. Letter carriers deliver mail to 152 million U.S. businesses and households, and are vital community members. Stand with postal workers as they fight to preserve a postal service that prioritizes people, not profit.

TAKE A STAND: send an email through the AWPU form and urge the USPS Board of Governors to stop the slow down.