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The Crisis of the Postal Service: What’s Behind It? What’s at Stake? What Can We Do?

In the last month, funding, staffing, and operating of the U.S. Postal Service has become a central political issue. Is President Trump seeking to undermine the U.S.P.S. to sabotage mail voting in the midst of the pandemic? Is his Postmaster General Louis DeJoy seeking to undercut the U.S.P.S. in order to benefit his own private corporation, XPO Logistics, which competes with the U.S.P.S.? Is all of this part of a longer term project to privatize the postal service?  Who can we trust for answers to these and related questions?

At the East Side Freedom Library we pay particular attention to “present tense knowledge,” knowledge which is based on direct experience. In a situation like this, we think it is important to hear from career postal workers who have intimate knowledge of how the postal service operates, what value it has to our households, communities, and nation, and what resources it needs to fulfill its role. We have assembled this panel:

Panel Members:

• Cathy Hanson, Editor “Northern Light,” APWU Minneapolis Area Local
• Editor of the local union’s monthly magazine since 2002, Cathy held various Clerk Craft positions including Contract Tech that involved the disposal of capital equipment. Cathy questionsPMG DeJoy’s decision to get rid of the DBCS (barcode sorting) machines – which can run up to $500,000. She says, “I was not allowed to scrap a piece of Capital Property until it was completely de-amortized.  Since I know the machines in Minneapolis were not fully amortized I wonder why that happened.”
• David Yao, Steward, Seattle, Washington, APWU Local
• Lead clerk at the Bitterlake Station in Seattle, David has served many years as a steward and legislative activist. He is one of the most respected and knowledgeable delegates at the APWU national conventions.
• Todd Elkerton, President, St. Paul APWU Area Local
• Todd began his career in 1993 as a mail processing clerk in the letter automation section and has served full-time as the local president for the past 10 years. He knows the work floor and has an exceptional grasp of postal operations, which have served him well at the bargaining table and with state and national congressional representatives.
• Richard Haefner, State President, Minnesota Postal Workers Union
• In 1993, Richard began his postal career in Rochester, MN and has worked as a general clerk and bulk mail backup. When he’s not pulling 12-hour shifts on the floor he troubleshoots problems for locals across the state and works closely with state and national congressional representatives.
• Donna Thompson, Clerk Craft Director, Minneapolis Area Local APWU
• Donna has years of experience and has served the Minneapolis Area Local in various positions.
• Samantha Hartwig, President, Minneapolis Branch 9, National Association of Letter Carriers
• Samantha started working for the USPS in 2003 as a city letter carrier in Minneapolis and became involved with the union soon after.  For the past two years she has been the full-time president for the Minneapolis local.
• Tony Winkles, Steward, Minneapolis NALC Branch 9, NALC
• Tony has worked as a letter carrier for the past 17 years and has been the steward at the University Station for several years.

East Side Freedom Library 

The East Side Freedom Library is a non-profit private library located on the east side of St. Paul that has a non-circulating research collections. It is associated with but not part of the St. Paul Library.  Its mission is to inspire solidarity, advocate for justice and work toward equity for all. It frequently hosts events, which are now offered online.