Southern Colorado letter carriers rally against privatization of the United States Postal Service
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)—On Sunday, March 23, many people gathered in front of the United States Post Office in Colorado Springs to protest federal cuts.
The rally along East Pikes Peak Avenue was organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Protesters told KRDO13 they are against the privatization of the United States Postal Service.
The protest comes after Elon Musk, the de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said he wanted to privatize the postal service earlier this month.
"Privatizing the postal service will affect 640,000 active employees, including 200,000 city letter carriers represented by the NALC. And I mean the postal service is a universal service. It is not a business, and that's what sort of in the name United States Postal Service, and a lot of people forget that," said Richard Byrne, the President of the Colorado Association of Letter Carriers.
U.S. Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, signed an agreement to work with DOGE. He argues USPS's retirement assets and the workers’ compensation program have been “mismanaged" creating a financial hole that its leaders have struggled to dig out of.
He also called the Postal Regulatory Commission an unnecessary agency inflicting $50 billion in damage to the postal service with defective pricing models and bureaucracy.
Those against the cuts argue that the United States Postal Service is not federally funded and isn't supposed to make money. They also point out the detrimental effect they say it would have on rural communities which would have less access to mail services.
