Postal workers rally, raise concerns about privatizing mail
For almost 28 years, Kurt Eckrem has delivered what lots of people call snail mail.
In a time when even email sometimes isn’t answered fast enough, when efficiency means a text message, the U.S. Postal Service is being challenged.
Eckrem, a rural carrier with a route on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, didn’t deliver letters or packages Monday, the federal Columbus Day holiday. Instead, he rallied with other postal workers and supporters carrying “U.S. Mail Not For Sale” signs in downtown Everett.
Their informational picket, outside the Wall Street Building, was one of more than 100 around the country. Postal workers were protesting the White House’s Office of Management and Budget proposal to privatize the agency.
“If you know anything about the background of the post office, it is a public service. It was never designed to make a profit,” said Eckrem, 63, president of the Washington Rural Letter Carriers’ Association. The union is one of four representing postal workers.
“It’s a universal service. We deliver to every mailbox in the country,” Eckrem said. “None of the other companies do that.”
Bob James, who also rallied Monday, heads the National Association of Letter Carriers in Snohomish County.
“The USPS is in the Constitution,” James said. “What differentiates the Postal Service, it’s not so much looking at the profit as much as we are trying to do our best to serve the American public.”
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