NOT FOR SALE — Steubenville letter carrier Kevin Kruise and Sue Hershey rallied in support of the U.S. Postal Service at the Jefferson County Courthouse Sunday. -- Christopher Dacanay

STEUBENVILLE — Demonstrators at the Jefferson County Courthouse Sunday made it clear they strongly oppose dismantling the U.S. Postal Service.

The “Rally to Save the USPS” was hosted by the National Association of Letter Carriers Steubenville Branch 164 and Martins Ferry Branch 1061. The rally was held in conjunction with similar demonstrations by NALC branches nationwide, amid perceived threats to the USPS under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Postal workers, customers and other supporters at Sunday afternoon’s rally held signs, heard remarks from local labor leaders and marched around downtown Steubenville, passing the Third Street post office.

Rallies come as a response to Trump and his cabinet’s proposals to restructure and potentially privatize the USPS. The Washington Post reported Feb. 20 that the president planned to fire the postal service’s governing board and merge the service with the Department of Commerce through executive order.

Roger Kies, president of the NALC Martins Ferry branch, noted those reports during Sunday’s rally, adding that “the threats against our jobs, universal service and a self-sufficient, independent postal service … are real.”

CONCERNED CITIZEN — Steubenville resident and U.S. Postal Service customer John Quinn demonstrated in support of the agency and his local post office Sunday. -- Christopher Dacanay

“While the White House has yet to release an executive order regarding the postal service, the threats are looming,” said Kies, a 24-year letter carrier in Yorkville. “So, the 295,000 active and retired member carriers of the National Association of Letter Carriers have a message to deliver: Hands off the postal service.”

Kies said any effort to privatize or restructure the USPS — which delivers 376 million pieces of mail and packages to nearly 169 million delivery points nationwide — would be a direct threat to 640,000 postal employees. Of those employees, 773,000 are veterans, Kies said, adding that the USPS is the highest veteran hiring agency of any company or business in the country.

While postal service privatization backers argue it would boost competition and slash government spending, opponents raise concerns about delivery prices and reduced service for rural communities, which could be overlooked in a purely profit-driven industry.

Kies said privatization would affect 51.5 million rural households and businesses where private carriers do not deliver — in the absence of USPS letter carriers, who are required by law to deliver there six or seven days a week.

“A lot of these people depend on their checks, their medicine and any birthday cards, Christmas cards from their families and loved ones. So, if they would go through to privatized postal service, the consequences of that would be devastating.”

DEMONSTRATING — Individuals marched by the Steubenville post office during the “Rally to Save the USPS” in Steubenville Sunday. -- Christopher Dacanay

Changes would affect the 7.9 million private employees whose jobs in the $1.92 mailing industry depend on the postal service to deliver their products, Kies said. He added that privatization would raise shipping costs and drive inflation higher for businesses and consumers.

It would take an act of Congress to enact major changes to the USPS, which is enshrined in the Constitution, Kies said, making any moves by the president to do so “illegal and unconstitutional.” For 55 years, federal law has mandated that the USPS be an independent, self-sufficient agency funded by goods and services, not taxpayer funds.

“Taking an essential service and dismantling it or selling off profitable parts … and making it a for-profit business might be a good deal for a billionaire or two, but it would be a bad deal for the American public,” Kies said. “Any misguided ideas like privatization will not improve the postal services finances. Common sense solutions are what the postal service needs.”

Next to share remarks was Mark McVey, president of the Upper Ohio Valley Central Labour Council.

A former postal worker, McVey drew a connection between threats to the postal service and Republican presidents, namely Trump and President George W. Bush, who signed the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. That act required the USPS to prefund 75 years worth of benefits for employees post-retirement in 10 years, a move that McVey said was an attempt to bankrupt the service.

LETTER CARRIERS — Roger Kies, front, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Martins Ferry Branch 1061, and Ron Green, vice president of the NALC Steubenville Branch 164, shared remarks during the “Rally to Save the USPS” in Steubenville Sunday. -- Christopher Dacanay

Rallygoers also heard from Ron Green, vice president and former president of the NALC Steubenville branch and an Army veteran.

Green acknowledged other branch officers in attendance, as well as supporters in the crowd representing the United Mine Workers of America, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Service Employees International Union and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations.

“I’m a 25-year letter carrier right over there at the people’s postal service right around the building,” Green said. “That’s our post office. It’s not the billionaires’. It’s not Donald Trump’s. It’s not anybody’s but ours.”

Speaking about the PAEA, Green said prefunding employees makes sense, but the act’s measures meant prefunding employees who were “not even close to being born.”

Green called Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “another billionaire who knows nothing about the commerce department” and cast disapproval on Lutnick’s suggestion that the postal service could take over conducting the U.S. census, for a savings of $40 million.

“Well, what the hell are we going to get out of it?” Green asked of Lutnick’s idea, adding, “Hey, we’ll take the business, but … how about strengthening the postal service instead of continually trying to screw it up? — which is what we’ve witnessed for decades now.”

Green noted how fellow letter carriers are members of the community and give back through food and toy drives. He spoke on the resilience of postal employees who continued to work amid challenges caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 2001 anthrax attacks and COVID-19 pandemic.

“When anyone says (the postal service) should be run by a business — that’s not what it’s about,” Green said. “It’s a service, same as the military, the highway department. … It’s there to help the greater good of our country. It’s not there to make a profit…”

One of about 70 employees at the Steubenville post office, Green encouraged individuals to flood their legislators with calls, expressing their opposition to privatization measures. People can share information on Facebook from the NALC.

After remarks, rallygoers marched two laps around the courthouse block.

Among those marching was Kyle Stutzman, president of the Steubenville NALC branch, who said “we really love the support that everyone’s come out and given us today.”

Attending the rally was Kevin Kruise, who’s worked as a letter carrier in Steubenville for the past 13 years. Kruise said that the USPS and its preservation means “everything to me.”

“It’s my livelihood. It’s what I do. It’s how I support my family. My family comes first, and my job is very important. I want to be able to keep my job and have a retirement, have my pension, my healthcare…”

Steubenville resident and postal service customer John Quinn attended the rally and held a sign, urging individuals to “fight like hell” for the USPS. Quinn said keeping the USPS in operation is “just the right thing to do.”

“I don’t want to have to travel out of Steubenville to mail a letter or to do anything with the post office,” Quinn said. “I don’t want my local post office to be closed, for sure. Also, I don’t want the people to be out of work.”