Billings postal workers rally against Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting
By Lain Dorsey
Billings, MT – On June 19, more than a dozen United States Postal Service (USPS) workers and community members rallied outside the post office in downtown Billings to protest changes to mail-in voting.
The changes, coming from a Trump executive order entitled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” would force postal workers across the country to check that each mail-in ballot recipient is a U.S. citizen based on a list of citizens provided by the federal government.
Mindy Nielsen, a retired postal worker and member of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Local 132 organized Friday’s rally to raise awareness of this issue and encourage her fellow union members to fight back. Nielsen retired from her job at USPS in 2018 but has remained an active and vocal union member.
Regarding the executive order, Nielsen stated, “According to Trump, the right to vote is based on a list given by the Department of Homeland Security to the post office, to determine who gets a mail-in ballot. Elections are a state issue; it’s in the Constitution. I don’t think Trump has read the Constitution. He is wielding things to benefit his billionaire and trillionaire friends.”
USPS workers report facing retaliation for speaking out on these issues, up to and including firings. Because of these conditions, president of APWU Local 132, Chris Foos, stated, “Postal customers need to be more involved in what is happening with the postal service. Otherwise, mailing standards will continue to dwindle. Without public outcry, there is only so much the workers can do.”
In spite of intimidation, Nielsen said that she will continue to hold protests with APWU to fight back against Trump’s attacks on the U.S. Postal Service.