Kalamazoo, MI – Joining hundreds of protests across the country, 70 postal workers and union supporters gathered outside the Arcadia Creek United States Post Office in downtown Kalamazoo on August 25. They held signs reading “Save the Post Office” while hundreds of drivers passing by during rush hour honked their horns and shouted approval.

A giant postcard signed by many of those present was being mailed to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The postcard demands that the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate pass a new house bill providing $25 billion in emergency pandemic relief. It also calls for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and President Trump to reverse the delays in USPS service.

“Much of the financial crisis at the USPS Is due to the interference of big money politicians and President Trump’s appointment of Louis DeJoy as the Postmaster General. 91% of the public supports the USPS, but DeJoy is doing everything in his power to wreck the place and put it up for sale,” said Stan Sacha, union stagehand and officer of IATSE Local 26 in West Michigan.

Sacha continued, “Now it is more important than ever for unions to stand together and support each other. We cannot go back to the way things were.”

Jon Hoadley, a Democrat running to win Michigan’s 6th Congressional District, showed up to support the four postal workers’ unions and gain support.

As the November election nears, a movement demanding a working postal service, as well as public spending for jobs and unemployment extensions for millions hurt by the economic crisis, will grow.

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