Postal workers in Washington state and across the country are joining together for a day of action July 28 to protect the U.S. Postal Service from what organizers call the threat of privatization. 

Supporters are calling on Congress to remove financial burdens on the Postal Service, protect and expand vote-by-mail, and invest in the services that USPS offers. 

Belinda Trevino, steward of the American Postal Worker Union Local 333 in Spokane, said the current leadership of the Post Office is taking the agency apart. 

“We’ve slowed down the mail, and we’ve raised the prices so high people don’t come in as much as they used to. But we need to get them educated, telling them why this is happening and what we need to do in order to change all of this,” Trevino said. 

Organizers say former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy started the decline of the service through his 10-year Delivering for America plan. The plan aims to make the USPS financially self-sustaining in part by slowing delivery to reduce costs and raising prices. 

But Jonathan Smith, president of the American Postal Workers Union, counters that the USPS is a service, not a business, and was never designed to make money. 

“We are a not-for-profit service written into the law. It was designed to serve the American people at the same price. No matter where you live, you had a right to information,” Smith said. 

Dozens of rallies and other events in support of the Postal Service are planned for July 28. The Washington event will take place at the South Regal Post Office in Spokane. 

This story is republished from Public News Service, an independent, member-supported news organization and Certified B Corporation committed to increasing awareness of and engagement with critical public interest issues by reporting and delivering credible journalism and media packages through a network of independent state newswires.