NBC6’s Daniela Cado spoke to current and retired workers who rallied in Miramar.
Postal workers in Florida on Sunday joined hundreds of other United States Postal Service rallies across the country in response to President Donald Trump’s push to privatize the independent postal service.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy recently announced his plans to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the U.S. Postal Service budget, which has sparked some concerns.
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WATCH HEREIn Miramar, postal workers rallied alongside thousands of others across the nation with signs that gave a clear message to the public that "U.S. Mail is not for sale."
NBC6 spoke to several rallygoers.
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“I worked 35 years and eight months. The one thing that has been a staple and has been true to the American people is the mail going in their mailbox and it being unopened and untampered with,” Linda Hankerson said.
The independent agency has funded itself for nearly 60 years without taxpayer dollars but last month, President Trump proposed placing USPS under the control of the Department of Commerce, which would be the first step toward potentially privatizing the agency.
Former USPS employee Hankerson told NBC6 this is a threat to an essential public service.
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“That takes away their privacy and American people need to know that you don't want to get your mail from anybody,” she said.
In a letter to Congress last week, the Postmaster General laid out plans to cut 10,000 jobs and billions of dollars from the USPS budget.
Stephon Walker, president of the local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, warns this could lead to increased prices and reduced services.
“There’s a lot of employees that jobs will be impacted," Walker said. "It will affect the communities that we serve, especially the rural communities that will have a hard time getting mail on a daily basis. Right now, we deliver mail six, sometimes seven days a week and that’s to every home in the United States.”
For those who rallied on Sunday, their hope is that the message is heard loud and clear, otherwise their fight, is far from over.
“If we have to continue to do this, we will,” Walker said.
For now, uncertainty continues for the 250-year-old institution that since 1970, has operated as an independent agency of the federal government.
