On March 24, rallies were held in every state across the country to save six-day mail delivery. In San Francisco, 400 letter carriers, postal workers and individuals from all over the Bay Area gathered at the post office at Stockton and Filbert streets and marched around Washington Square Park before settling in for a rally. On the march around the park, MUNI buses, double-decker hop-on-hop-off tourist buses, and cars honked to support the workers.
In between speakers, there were chants of “Six day ok, five day NO WAY.” A group of workers stayed on the sidewalk near the rally and held their signs up to the traffic passing by. A great deal of support was shown by passing motorists and pedestrians.
One woman held a handmade sign saying, “Veterans Want 6 Day Delivery,” and she spoke not only of the cuts to the Postal Service but of all the state workers across the country who will be forced to take furlough days and pay cuts. She said, “It seems interesting how there is always enough money for wars but not enough money to deliver the mail or fund public schools.”
The attacks on the U.S. Postal Service are nothing more than another way for the super-rich to squeeze every dime they can from services that working people need and to find any avenue to turn those public services into private profit-making machines. Only unity in struggle against those attacks can win gains for the working class. On March 24, the Postal Service in San Francisco and across the country took a step in that direction.
