Over 60 Labor Leaders Urge Congressional Leaders to #SaveThePostOffice

May 25, 2020

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On May 11, over 60 Labor leaders sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, copying both the Postal Board of Governors and the Postmaster General, urging them support the United States Postal Service.

The letter states, “As representatives of our 17 million members and all American workers, we write to thank you for your national leadership during this ongoing crisis to protect the wages, salaries, and benefits of working people and to help families make it through these deeply challenging times. We write to ask you to extend that protection and help to the 640,000 steadfast employees of the United States Postal Service (USPS) who every day carry out their essential services on behalf of the people of this country.

It concludes, “At a moment when the federal government has stepped up to support struggling businesses of all shapes and sizes, and invested in critical industries, from aviation to agriculture, it is both fitting and urgently necessary to address the needs of the USPS and its workers now.  The mission of the Postal Service, written in federal law, is “to bind the Nation together” through “the correspondence of the people.” It is our collective responsibility to preserve that bond. The Postal Service is older than our nation itself and is the only federal agency enshrined in the United States Constitution. We ask for your commitment to support the Board’s request to stand by this unique and irreplaceable national service and the dedicated Americans who work every day to fulfill its mission.

The letter is signed by Richard L. Trumka, President, AFL-CIO, and the president of each postal union: Fred Rolando, President, NALC; Mark Dimondstein, President, American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO; Paul Hogrogian, National President, Nat’l Postal Mail Handers Union; Ronnie Stutts, President, Nat’l Rural Letter Carriers Association.

Cosigners also include Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers; Robert Martinez, Jr., International President, International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers; Sara Nelson, Int’l President, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA; James T Slevin, President, Utility Workers Union of America; Tom Conway, International President, United Steelworkers; Paul Shearon, President, Int’l Federation of Professional & Technical Employees; Christopher M. Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America; James P. Hoffa, General President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Mary Kay Henry, Int’l President, Service Employees International Union; F. Leo McCann, President, American Train Dispatchers Association; Lee Saunders , President, AFSCME; Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director, National Nurses United; Lonnie Stephenson, Int’l President, Int’l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Raymond M. Menard, President, American Guild of Musical Artists; Cecil Roberts, International President, UMWA; John Samuelsen, International President, Transport Workers Union; Paul M. Rinaldi, President, NATCA; Marc Perrone, International President, UFCW; Daniel E. Stepano, General President, OPCMIA; Terry O'Sullivan, General President, LIUNA; Richard Lanigan, President, OPEIU; Kenneth E. Rigmaiden, General President, Int’l Union of Painters & Allied Trades; Harold J. Daggett, President, International Longshoremen's Association; Matthew Loeb, International President, IATSE; Harold A. Schaitberger. General President, Int’l Association of Fire Fighters; Michael Sacco, President, Seafarers International Union; Anthony Shelton, President, BCTGM; Joe DePete, President, Air Line Pilots Association, International; Jerry C Boles, President, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; D. Taylor, President, UNITE HERE; Lily Eskelsen García, President, NEA; James P. McCourt, General President, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers; Marshall Ainley, President, Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association; Everett B. Kelley, Nat’l President, American Federation of Government Employees; Ernest Logan, President, AFSA; Stuart Appelbaum, President, RWDSU; Gabrielle Carteris, President, SAG-AFTRA; Tefere A. Gebre, Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO; Elizabeth Shuler, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO; Jennifer Dorning, President, Department for Professional Employees; Jimmy Hart, President, Metal Trades Department; Richard Kline, President, Union Label & Service Trades Department; Michael Sacco, President, Maritime Trades Department; Larry Willis, President, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Rick Bloomingdale, President, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO State Federation; Michael Louis, President, Missouri AFL-CIO State Federation; Charles Wowkanech, President, New Jersey State AFL-CIO; Alan B. Hughes, President, Arkansas State AFL -CIO; Ben Valdepeña, President, California State Employees Association; Patrick J. Eiding, President, Philadelphia Central Labor Council; Elise Bryant, President, Coalition of Labor Union Women; Cynthia Estrada, Executive Council Member, UAW; Clayola Brown, National President, A. Philip Randolph Institute; Warren Fairley, IVP SE, EAIP, Boilermakers; Fred Redmond, Vice-President, United Steelworkers; Bruce R. Smith, GMP Council Chairman, GMP/USW; George E McCubbin III, National Vice-President, AFGE District 12; Jerame Davis, Executive Director, Pride at Work; and, Al Ekblad, President, AFL-CIO Western District.

Click here to view the full letter.

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