Viewpoint: Targeted Postal Workers Are a Bellwether for All U.S. Unions
Postal workers and supporters rallied in Detroit and around the country in a 2020 day of action, when the first Trump administration attacked the public postal service. A reelected and more aggressive Trump is threatening USPS once again. Photo: Jim West/jimwestphoto.com
The Trump administration has set its sights on the U.S. Postal Service and its 600,000 workers, 91 percent of whom are union members. The USPS is the nation’s largest unionized employer.
Postal workers like me are raising the alarm. If any agency should be immune to political meddling, it’s the USPS. The Postal Service’s role is outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The 1970 Postal Reform Act establishes postal workers’ right to collective bargaining and to filing with the NLRB. If the Trump administration thinks it can interfere in this unionized workplace, no worker is safe.
The Washington Post reported on February 21 that President Trump planned to move control of the USPS to the Commerce Department and fire the Postal Service’s Board of Governors.
President Trump confirmed that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was “going to look at” the USPS. The Board of Governors has sought legal representation to defend against this eventual attack.
Meanwhile, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy notified the Board of Governors that he intends to step down and that they would need to seek a replacement.
The two largest postal unions, the American Postal Workers Union and the National Association of Letter Carriers, are operating under expired collective bargaining agreements. The current agreements are extended by mutual agreement with the current USPS leadership.
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But the Trump administration might assert that a reformulated USPS allows it to void the existing contracts, cut wages, and fire employees.
FROZEN BOARD
The unions could normally seek redress for such overreach by turning to the National Labor Relations Board. But although workers can still file charges at the NLRB’s regional offices, cases that are appealed may get stuck in limbo—the board at the top of the agency no longer has a quorum, after President Trump fired NLRB chair Gwynne Wilcox, so it cannot currently issue decisions.
Workers’ other recourse would be in court. But even if the courts eventually rule in their favor, much damage will already have been done, and the precedent set.
The USPS is the most popular federal agency in the country. No other group of union workers has such broad support. A 2020 Pew survey found that 91 percent who responded had a favorable view of the agency. And it’s no wonder: People from all political parties rely on the USPS. Small businesses need it to survive. Veterans and many others rely on it to receive medication.
APWU and NALC are mobilizing their members and the public to stand up for the Postal Service and its union workers, including by calling their senators and congressmembers.
Eric Chornoby is an officer in the Michigan Postal Workers Union and a steward in APWU Local 480-481.
