U.S. Postal Service will be hosting rallies across the country

Ethan Schurman WDIO
March 17, 2025 - 6:45 PM

In his second term, once again the Trump administration has brought their attention to the United States Postal Service. Donald Trump has expressed a keen interest in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service in recent weeks. In response, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is holding rallies nationwide this upcoming Sunday, 23rd of March.

The rallies stand against in protest to any private situation or mandated reorganization of the postal service. They are asking people to let their congresspeople and senators know to not dismantle the postal system. A rally will be held at 1 p.m. in front of the federal building in downtown Duluth (515 W. First St., Duluth, MN 55802).

US Postal Service’s Status

USPS, or the United States Postal Service, is a government agency. They used to be in the Cabinet of the President of the United States, but the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 made it into the separate organization it is today. The USPS is funded through its own revenue and not taxpayer dollars. This came from a trend toward annual postal deficits, which began in the 1820s, and often exceeded an annual figure of $5 million later in the 19th century.

With the Postal Service only using its own funds and the occasional Government subside, the trend continued with deficits with each fiscal year. A financially self-sustaining agency in 1970 designed to “bind the nation together” through the mail, still faced financial challenges wrought by the rise of the internet. This brought those in support of privatizing the post office to want to change how it was operated.

Trump’s Remarks

President Trump spoke about wanting to rework the postal service during his first term and now is giving it a second try. Trump remarked on the swearing-in of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money,” Trump said. “We’re thinking about doing that. And it’ll be a form of a merger, but it’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better.”

Trump’s plans were not immediately clear, but he took a focus on rate-setting, personnel decisions, labor relations, and managing relationships with its largest clients — the treasury department. The Postal Service lost $9.5 billion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, stung by continued declines in mail volume and a slower-than-anticipated parcel shipping business, even as it made major new investments in modernized facilities and equipment. So, he called the move a way to stop losses at the $78 billion-a-year agency.

The history of the USPS

The Post Office was created during the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775, when Benjamin Franklin became the first postmaster general. In 1872, Congress named it an executive branch department. But that changed after an eight-day postal strike over wages and benefits in 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act, which made it an independent, self-financing agency called the U.S. Postal Service.

The Rallies to defend the U.S. Postal Service

NALC is holding urgent rallies to oppose the reported efforts to take away the independence of the U.S. Postal Service and degrade its universal delivery mandate, which would affect every local resident, business, organization, and neighborhood.

They reported that attempts to privatize will reduce services to 51.5 million households and businesses in rural communities, where private carriers do not deliver. This would also be raising shipping costs and driving inflation higher for businesses and consumers. The president of Branch 114 in Duluth, TJ Lydon, spoke about what this could look like for the Northland.

“In the Northland, we could be in a situation where instead of getting your packages of mail at your home, you may have to go to a location and pick them up yourselves, and that would obviously cost people a lot of time and money.”

The Letter Carriers deliver 376 million pieces of mail to nearly 169 million delivery points, supporting a $1.92 trillion mailing industry. USPS is known for ensuring the delivery of medications, ballots, and essential packages. NALC reported that any efforts to privatize or restructure USPS threaten 640,000 postal jobs, including more than 73,000 veterans.

Mail, Packages, and More Affected

TJ also spoke on how the effects on the postal service could domino effect the other package delivery businesses. Cuts to the Postal Service could upend the trillion-dollar e-commerce industry, hitting small businesses and rural consumers whose businesses and budgets make the agency the shipper of choice. Amazon, the Postal Service’s largest customer, for example, uses the agency for “last-mile” delivery between its hulking product fulfillment centers and consumers’ homes and businesses. The agency’s “universal service obligation” which requires it to deliver mail or parcels regardless of distance or profitability concerns means it is often the only carrier that will deliver to far-flung reaches of the country.

So, USPS is calling to all those they have delivered to join the rallies, call and email their local government, and stand with the letter carriers.

These rallies will be held across all 50 states and U.S. territories. Locations and times can be found on their website, NALC.org. For those in the Northland, the Branches and locations can be found below.

  • MINNESOTA
  • MN Branch 114 [515 W. First St. Duluth, MN 55802] at 1 PM
  • MN Branch 9 & Branch 28 [Minnesota Capitol South Steps, 75 Rev. Martin Luther King Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155] at 11 AM
  • WISCONSIN
  • WI Branch 2 [345 W. St. Paul Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53202] at12 PM
  • WI Branch 728 [225 E. Madison St. Eau Claire, WI 54703] at1 PM
  • WI Branch 507 [3902 Milwaukee St. Madison, WI 53704] at 1 PM
  • WI Branch 337 [1316 N 14th St. Superior, WI 54880] at 12 PM
  • WI Branches 619, 125, 173, 490, 700 & 822 [118 N. Monroe Ave. Green Bay, WI 54301] at 12 PM
  • WI Branch 574 [5602 Sheridan Rd. Kenosha, WI 53140] at 12 PM
  • WI Branch 102 [Erie Ave & N. 14th St. Sheboygan, WI 53081] at 12 PM
  • WI Branch 397 [300 E. Broadway Waukesha, WI 53186] at 11 AM
  • WI Branch 59 [210 7th Street La Crosse, WI 54601] at 12 PM
  • MICHIGAN
  • MI Branches 1, 4374, 3126, 122, 256, & 654 [1401 W Fort Street Detroit, MI 48233] at 1 PM
  • MI Branch 56 & Branch 601 [Calder Plaza/Park 320 Ottowa Ave NW Grand Rapids, MI 49503] at 11 AM
  • MI Branch 434 [200 E Liberty St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104] at 1 PM
  • MI Branch 232 [113 W. Michigan Ave.  Jackson, MI 49201] at 1 PM
  • MI Branch 246 [100-200 Blocks of E. Michigan Ave. Kalamoazoo, MI 49007] at 4 PM