Workers rally amid White House push for postal changes
Postal workers and their supporters hold up signs at a rally in Chicago on Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, to protest a proposal announced in June by the White House's Office of Management and Budget to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks to postal workers and their supporters at a rally in Chicago on Monday, Oct. 8, 2018, during a protest against a proposal announced in June by the White House's Office of Management and Budget to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
CHICAGO – Postal workers and their supporters spent part of the Columbus Day holiday protesting what they see as a White House push to make the U.S. Postal Service private.
In Chicago, workers rallied Monday near a downtown post office, carrying signs reading "U.S. Mail, Not For Sale" and "We Belong To The People, Not Corporate America."
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump established a task force to study why the Postal Service is losing money. His executive order said it is on "an unsustainable financial path and must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout." But no final decisions have been made yet.
In Washington, American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein told a crowd that privatization will mean less service and higher costs to taxpayers.