What The Hell America!

Postal workers and labor movement allies rallied in Washington, D.C. on Monday to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s reported plan to seize control of the independent and beloved Postal Service, a move that could pave the way for full privatization of the country’s mail operations.

Monday’s rally was organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which said last week that Trump’s proposal to bring the Postal Service under the purview of the Commerce Department is “unconstitutional and illegal.”

“The 295,000 active and retired members of the National Association of Letter Carriers have a message to deliver to the White House: Hands off the Postal Service,” the organization said in a statement after The Washington Postrevealed details of the executive order Trump is reportedly preparing to sign.

At Monday’s rally, attendees—including letter carriers and union leaders—chanted “Hell no!” and waved signs that read “Fight Like Hell” to display their readiness to oppose any Trump administration takeover of the USPS, which is extremely popular with the American public.

“I want all of my postal worker brothers and sisters to know, this has nothing to do with your performance,” Fredrick Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, said at the protest. “This has nothing to do with you as workers. You provide the highest level of service to the American people.”

“This is about an unmitigated consolidation of power by this administration, power to put more money and more resources in the hands of the billionaires as opposed to spreading the wealth amongst the people who create the wealth every day,” Redmond added.

Monday’s rally followed protests over the weekend in Portland, Oregon, where postal workers voiced concerns about the future of the USPS under Trump’s leadership.

“People in rural areas wouldn’t be able to get their medications that they depend on, they might not get mail at all, if it’s privatized,” Jae Burlingame, a longtime mail carrier, told a local media outlet on Sunday.

According toThe Washington Post, Trump is weighing an executive order that would terminate every member of the Postal Service Board of Governors and absorb the USPS into the Commerce Department, which is led by Trump-appointed billionaire Howard Lutnick.

Trump said Friday that Lutnick was “going to look at” potential USPS changes and touted the billionaire’s “great business instinct.”

“Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones.”

The Postal Service is currently self-funded, relying on the sale of postal services and products such as stamps rather than tax revenue.

CNNnoted Friday that “other countries have privatized their postal services in the past. But a plan to privatize the 250-year old service that predates the formation of the United States could dramatically change the way Americans receive deliveries, and even who would be able to get service.”

“Current law requires the USPS to deliver to all addresses, even rural ones that are too costly for a private business to serve profitably,” the outlet added. “Even many online purchases handled by private companies such as United Parcel Service depend upon the Postal Service to handle the ‘last mile’ of delivery to homes.”

Christy Hoffman, president of the UNI Global Union, said last week that “we have seen the perils of privatizing postal services in Europe, which have led to reduced services, increased prices, job losses, and cut off rural communities where it is unprofitable to deliver mail.”

“Instead of privatizing USPS,” Hoffman added, “Trump should be supporting the Postal Service to seize opportunities in e-commerce, expand services, particularly to marginalized and remote communities, and safeguard a precious, public-owned, communication network that is ultimately irreplaceable.”

In a letter to the U.S. president over the weekend, a group of Democratic lawmakers led by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.)—who attended Monday’s rally—warned that the “unprecedented and reckless plan to dismantle the Postal Service as an independent agency would directly undermine the affordability and reliability of the U.S. postal system.”

“Congress prescribed a clear and critical mandate for the Postal Service: to deliver efficient, reliable, and universal service to all Americans,” the lawmakers wrote. “Your reported plans for the Postal Service would put at risk the timely, affordable delivery of life-saving medications, mail-in ballots, important financial documents, and letters from loved ones, especially in rural or less-profitable areas that the private sector refuses to service.”

“We urge you to immediately withdraw all plans to dismantle one of our nation’s most cherished public institutions and uphold the Postal Service’s independent status as required by law,” they added.