WE DELIVER ALMOST ANYTHING: Support the US Postal Service- Not For Sale/Privatize, April 15 Events

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Sun Apr 14, 2019, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

"KEEP IT, IT'S YOURS!" US Postal Workers' Message to Public Denounces Trump Privatization Plan. "Don't sell this national treasure to private interests that will charge more for less service," union says before Tax Day events- APRIL 15, 2019. U.S. Postal Service workers will hold a day of action Monday to reject a Trump White House proposal to privatize the service. "Our message to the public is quite simple. 'The United States Postal Service—Keep it. It's yours!'" said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). >"Don't sell this national treasure to private interests that will charge more for less service."

>The workers' message, which they plan on delivering outside over 100 locations across the nation, is actually twofold. In addition to rejecting privatization—as well as a "franchising the mailbox" proposal floated by a White House task force, they want to dispel the myth that the USPS is funded through tax dollars. *It's a timely message given that Monday, April 15 is TAX DAY. Putting the postal service in private hands would be bad news for customers, who'd face service cutbacks and higher prices, the union says. To amplify its message, the union also just released a video entitled "We Deliver Almost Anything." "The post office will take almost anything but your tax dollars. But some in the government want to sell off the post office to private corporations. That'd be the end of delivering almost anything, anywhere at a cost you can afford," the narrator says. More, https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016230242

[Doodley]

1. Trump will be infuriated that postal workers defy him. Await a new insult-laden Trump battle!

[appalachiablue]

2. Another cause/crisis@! OMG. The USPS Rocks!

[handmade34]

3. privatization contributes to the dichotomization of a nation

petition:
https://usmailnotforsale.org/take-action/

https://usmailnotforsale.org/latest-news/

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/left-behind-how-privatization-disenfranchises-poor-and-endangers-democracies-42247?fbclid=IwAR1lkzpSvattZqoUhWAriDxexXBCW_APnn5NPNCDhXTwPkJcNRGa9AruEgA


Public services used to serve a double purpose. The first one was to deliver electricity, water, transport, postal services, etc. These services could in principle be offered by the private sector, but that option was rejected in favor of uniform quality of services nationwide. Public services aimed to establish that all citizens were equal, connoting that national solidarity overruled a business model. Keeping the nation together legitimized that citizens in big cities paid more than the cost price and by doing so subsidized the periphery. On average, they were richer than their fellow compatriots, so it amounted to progressive taxation.
During the 1980s the argument that private companies could offer services at a lower price gained traction. This could, however, only be achieved if the market and prices were segmented. Citizens would pay according to the cost of delivering services to where they lived. Such a business model was akin to favoring the big cities to the detriment of the periphery where lower population density and lack of infrastructure made same quality services more expensive. The priorities were reversed. A business model overruled national solidarity and regressive taxation took over.


Privatization also sapped the identity of the nation. The core symbol of being a citizen of a nation, and to feel proud of being so, is a passport. The nation-states’ authorities used to issue passports. In the past, citizens had to go to their country’s local police station to apply for one. This solemn procedure does not exist anymore. Nowadays the issuing of passports is a job that has been privatized to commercial companies. It may not sound like a big deal, but conceptually the signing away of this core function of national identity should not be underestimated....privatization contributes to the dichotomization of a nation.

The human factor and person-to-person communication is thrown away as nations quickly move toward a system of intransparency and obscurity. Citizens do not have the faintest clue about who makes decisions on important issues that may be vital for them.

[appalachiablue]

4. Lots of good info. & nice short film. Thanks for posting.

[yaesu]

5. I did witness USPS deliver live chickens once. nt

[appalachiablue]

6. No kidding, what was the occasion?

[yaesu]

7. I was mailing a package at the local post office & someone came in & picked them up in an box, crate

with holes. They were shipped from out of state, surprised the heck out of me, it was about 10 years ago.

[appalachiablue]

8. That's great, luv the US Post Office!