Post office workers rally to 'save our service'

Henry Nuñez has served the United States twice — once as an Army medic and again as a postal worker for 19 years. But now, Nuñez is fearful he, and tens of thousands of veterans working for the Postal Service, could be laid off.

Nuñez was one of about 100 Postal Service workers and advocates who rallied outside the main post office on Broadway in Albuquerque on Thursday, holding signs that displayed chants like “S.O.S, Save Our Service” and “U.S. Mail not for sale.”

The “Hands off our public Postal Service” protests — organized by the American Postal Workers Union — occurred in 150 cities across the nation after the Trump administration threatened to sell the U.S. Postal Service to private corporations through the Department of Commerce.

“Well, we want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money, and we’re thinking about doing that, and it will be a form of a merger,” President Donald Trump said at the swearing in of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik, adding that he trusted Lutnik’s business instincts to reform the 250-year old institution. “It’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better than it has been over the years.”

The U.S. Postal Service last reported a profit in 2022, ending a 15-year streak in the red. In 2024, it lost $1.8 billion, compared to over $2.2 billion for the prior year — losses under management’s control. Net losses were closer to $9.5 billion and $6.5 billion for 2024 and 2023, respectively, when pension shortfalls and non-cash employee compensation are factored in. Many administrations, and many congresses, have sought to reform the money loser but have always run into opposition from rural states — the U.S. Postal Service guarantees delivery no matter where in America, often to great expense — and powerful lobbies like Amazon.

USPS workers at the Albuquerque protest shared concerns over the possible decision to privatize the institution, stating that if the change were to go into effect, thousands would be without mailing services and associated costs would skyrocket.

“We’re going to have veterans out on the street,” Nuñez said. “The veteran administration mails most of their medications, so I’m looking at the VA’s (Department of Veterans Affairs) chances of getting medications to the veterans that are in rural areas and how that’s going to affect them.”

As protesters marched through the streets, former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — who announced her bid for governor in February — made an appearance to show her support for the cause, clutching a picket sign in her palm as she chanted with demonstrators.

“Postal workers deserve to have confidence that their place of work will continue to move forward, and it’s just really a sad state of affairs,” Haaland said. “It makes me realize that this administration has no clue how rural Americans live.”

Even without the prospect of privatization, the Postal Service’s future in its current form is rocky. Louis DeJoy, head of the U.S. Postal Service, unveiled plans last week to reduce the department by 10,000 people in a letter to Congress. This is in response to the recently established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — headed by Elon Musk — and its campaign to slash government department’s budgets in the name of saving.

“The changes that came under Postmaster General DeJoy are misguided,” said Ken Fajardo, president of the Albuquerque USPS union. Fajardo has worked with the department for 40 years and has served as union president for nine years. “He was appointed by Trump during his first presidency, and he’s done everything in his power to put the Postal Service in a bad light.”

In December, DeJoy offered postal workers a voluntary plan to take early retirement. Fajardo said upward of 50 employees in Albuquerque have taken the buyout, and he does not believe those jobs will be replaced. Albuquerque post offices are already understaffed, he added, causing delays in distribution.

USPS is an independent government organization that was established before the United States was a country and is set to celebrate its 250th anniversary in July. But given its history of losses to the U.S. taxpayer, DOGE has put pressure on the department to start turning losses into profits.

Postal workers have an obligation to provide service to every household nationwide, according to the constitution, including rural communities that private businesses would not be able to profitably serve. But if the department were to become privatized, it would not be a federal requirement for mail to be delivered to all addresses, Fajardo said — a concern for both postal workers and supporters.

Artist Brandi Buckingham’s home in Albuquerque is one of 167 million addresses nationwide that use the USPS to deliver mail. Buckingham said she depends on mailing services to support her full-time job selling her work online, and the USPS is the most affordable of all the mail delivery services.

“It’s the only affordable thing for small businesses,” Buckingham said. “By trying to privatize the post office, all it’s really doing is making it harder for independent creators like myself. The post office is the only way I am able to do half my job. All this would do is damage people in the lower and middle class.”

Buckingham joined the protest Thursday to support postal workers. She said since Trump has taken office, her sales have gone down nearly 50%.

“I’ve worked very hard to get here, and I want to help protect other people the way they’re trying to protect me,” she said. “The post office is one of our fundamental rights in the United States, and they deserve our support, whether I’m in the union or not. They are here for everybody, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

"Hands off our public Postal Service" rally and march