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The rallies come as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is accused of making changes that could slow the delivery of mail-in ballots for this year’s General Election.
DULUTH, Minn.- Various community groups gathered by two post offices in Duluth Friday, to picket in support of local postal workers as the future of the United States Post Office hangs in contention in Washington.
“I feel like the Post Office, the USPS is an essential Public Service,” said Jon Phipps, a recent UMD Grad from West Duluth.
Signs and chants of support lined St. Marie Street, greeting postal workers as they drove back in to the Mount Royal Station Post Office. Another group cheered on the white mail trucks outside the Post Office on West Michigan Street.
“All my kids are out of state so I mail a lot of PKGs and letters,” Kenwood resident Therese Presley said at the Mount Royal rally.
The picketing comes as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is accused of removing blue mailboxes and mail sorting machines from post offices across the country, as well as cutting funding and overtime pay — accusations he faced in his first Senate hearing on Friday.
“They are essential workers and they’ve been working through the pandemic and they work long hours and I also think they should get paid overtime when they work overtime,” said Presley.
The Post Office is even more essential, the picketers say, as November’s General Election nears, where mail-in voting is expected to play a crucial role.
DeJoy has said he will pause changes until after the election, but recent slowed mail and package deliveries have shaken confidence that ballots will be delivered on time.
This, as the Trump Administration has been attacking mail-in voting as fraudulent.
“I believe the onslaught of what’s happening to the Post Office right now is unacceptable and in the wake of this current pandemic that we are in, voting by mail is extremely essential to keep American people safe,” Phipps said, chanting along with the group at Mount Royal.
Those who couldn’t attend either rallies are encouraged by organizers to contact their local representatives and voice their support for the post office. Representatives can either be contacted directly or through websites like heroesdelivering.com and usmailnotforsale.org.
All in all, both groups say they wanted to send those postal workers some love.
“My dad actually works for the post office,” said Phipps. “When I saw the Facebook event I wasn’t sure how many people were going to get out but I am absolutely amazed and I’m glad that this many people came out to support this cause.”
