‘Don’t make us go postal’: Workers and residents rally in Idaho to defend USPS

BOISE, Idaho — People gathered at the Idaho Capitol on Sunday as part of nationwide protests against what organizers called efforts to dismantle the U.S. Postal Service, highlighting its critical role in rural communities and for vulnerable populations.

The rallies, organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), were held on March 23 in cities nationwide as part of the “Fight Like Hell” campaign.

“We’re here doing a rally for the Postal Service to put out awareness, to let everybody know that there’s the possibility, very early stages, of dismantling the post office, and letting people know that it’s not something that needs to happen,” said Robert Truschka, a postal carrier attending the Boise event.

Protesters voiced concerns about potential privatization or restructuring efforts they believe would threaten mail delivery in rural areas, increase shipping costs and jeopardize jobs.

“The Postal Service is older than our nation itself. It’s enshrined in the Constitution,” Truschka said. “The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, a key role in setting postal policies. It’s mandated by federal law. USPS has been an independent, self-sufficient agency for 55 years.”

Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly grants Congress the power “to establish Post Offices and post Roads.”

Truschka emphasized the importance of mail service to Idaho’s rural communities, noting that many depend on postal delivery for medications and essential services.

“We have a lot of people here in Idaho, and the only person that they see throughout the week is the letter carrier,” he said. Adding that privatization would likely increase costs and harm small businesses. 

“When they privatize things, I believe that most of the cost of postage and packages is going to go up and put a lot of these smaller businesses out of business,” Truschka said. “And that’s kind of what Idaho is about, is the local people.”

According to the NALC, the protests aim to protect the jobs of 640,000 USPS employees, including 73,000 veterans, and maintain universal service that delivers 376 million pieces of mail daily to nearly 169 million delivery points nationwide.

Lisa Bright, a disabled Boise resident who lost her vision eight years ago and relies on mail delivery for medications, also attended the rally.

“As a disabled voter and American, I get my medicine through the mail, like a lot of Americans do,” Bright said. “To have it be privatized or disbanded for money means that my costs are going to go up, and as a disabled American, I then no longer could afford my medications.”

Bright said there are international examples of postal privatization failures.

“Look at those countries that have tried, like England. Their rural people in their older communities, and people that don’t live in the cities, can’t get their mail. They can’t afford to send mail to relatives,” she said. 

The British form of nationwide postal service, The Royal Mail, used to be a public corporation but was privatized in three parts following the 2011 Postal Services Act. 

“Privatization is only going to make money for those who already have money. It’s not going to help us at the bottom, grassroots that really need that assistance,” Bright said

The NALC states the nationwide protests oppose efforts that would “reduce service to 51.5 million households and businesses in rural communities where private carriers don’t go” and potentially “jeopardize the jobs of the 7.9 million people employed by the $1.92 trillion mailing industry.”

“This isn’t just a union thing. It’s not a letter carrier thing. It’s not a rural carrier thing. It’s not a postmaster thing, and it’s not just a rural clerk thing. It’s a maintenance thing, it’s an everybody thing,” Truschka said.”Get out there and contact your congressman, contact your senators, let them know that the post office needs to stay.”