Dear John,

Last month, hundreds of postal workers demonstrated outside the USPS Board of Governors meeting to protest plant consolidations, eroding mail service delivery standards, and lack of adequate staffing -- all part of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s ten-year plan to privatize the postal service and distribute the work to corporate cronies to make private profits.

Organizer Sinikka Melvin of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) said, “We gathered to let the Board of Governors, Postmaster General DeJoy, and the public know that ... we can’t take this essential service away from [our] communities.”

Why target the Board of Governors? Because they are the only ones who can fire Louis DeJoy. This is the only way to block his plans to cut 50,000 Postal Service jobs and close hundreds of post offices, while systematically delaying mail delivery and increasing costs to the public. Lest we forget, a record number of voters -- over 65 million -- cast postal votes in 2020.

Since last December, two remaining holdouts on the Board of Governors, both DeJoy allies, have been on “holdover” status after the expiration of their terms. Now President Biden has the opportunity to nominate replacements who will value the USPS as a cherished public service -- and who will be up to the task of firing DeJoy.

Sign and send the petition to President Biden: Nominate the two new members to the USPS Board of Governors needed to fire Louis DeJoy and expand postal services.

DeJoy and his Republican friends want to hand over this vital American institution to for-profit corporations like the United Parcel Service and FedEx. For decades they’ve worked to privatize a host of public services to pad the profits of their wealthy donors and favorite CEOs.

It’s never been a good idea. It breaks my #1 rule on privatization: Don’t privatize when the purpose of the service is to bring us together -- reinforcing our communities, helping us connect with one another across class and race, and linking up Americans who’d otherwise be isolated or marginalized.

Privatization would lead to reduced services and higher rates for everyone, but especially rural communities. Private companies have no incentive to reach the hardest-to-serve areas because there’s not enough profit. And when they actually do it, they’ll charge an arm and a leg to get it done.

This is why folks in remote areas and indigenous communities depend on the Postal Service for essential deliveries, from medications to Social Security checks and vote-by-mail ballots. Unlike private delivery services like FedEx or UPS, the U.S. Postal Service is required by law to deliver all letters at the same rate, no matter how distant or remote.

We are also on the precipice of perhaps the most consequential presidential election of my lifetime. Again, a record number of voters cast postal votes in 2020, and the Postal Service handled approximately 135 million pieces of election-related mail just between September 1 and November 3, 2020 alone. That means a slim majority of voters (54%) say they voted in person in 2020, compared with 46% who voted by absentee or mail-in ballot.

This service, and its leadership, is critical for our democracy.

Send a message to President Biden to demand he appoint two new members to the USPS Board of Governors who are willing to fire Louis DeJoy and end his 10-year plan to privatize the post office.

Let’s work together to stop DeJoy from turning a national treasure into a for-profit disgrace.

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action