USPS Advocates Deliver a Message

On the morning of July 24, mail workers and community members assembled outside a Wells Fargo branch near Times Square to protest the Trump administration's interest in privatizing the postal service. With their voices and signs raised in unified defiance, their message was clear: U.S. mail is not for sale.

Michelle Nadeau, the vice president of the Long Island Area Local American Postal Workers, said she was there to protest corporate involvement in a government agency. She joined in the chants and held a sign that said “The USPS belongs to the American people.”

“And to finish that sentence, not to the billionaires,” she said.

The demonstration was partially in response to a Wells Fargo memo that circulated in February detailing how the United States Postal Service’s mail and delivery services could be divided between the government and private entities. The memo evaluated the agency's assets, provided competitive analysis with rivals like FedEx, and assessed the likelihood of a workforce strike.

A spokesperson for Wells Fargo told The Midwest Newsroom that the report did not recommend a sale of the agency. However, the memo drew criticism from USPS employees and union representatives.

Protester Michael Caref works for the American Postal Workers Union. He called this an issue of Main Street versus Wall Street.

“Money is the bottom line,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The USPS has not been profitable since 2007 and reported a net loss of $9.5 billion last year. But this is not the first time postal reform has been discussed on the national stage. During President Trump’s first term in 2018, he created a task force to develop a path toward a sustainable business model, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury website.

Since President Trump’s re-election, rumours of potential reform returned and culminated in the Wells Fargo report. The report projected that in order to make a profit, USPS would need to increase shipping prices between 30% and 140% depending on the product.

Raymond Bell, the General President of the Boston Metro Postal Workers Union, traveled from Boston to join the protest. He said privatizing the USPS would mainly hurt customers in rural areas and could lead to longer delivery times and higher prices.

Bell wanted to warn the public about those risks. “This is a matter of public service,” he said. “That’s why we’re out here. It’s the people’s post office, not the employees’.”

The head of the USPS, David Steiner, has indicated he will preserve the agency's independence. But postal advocates remained skeptical, and said any steps to privatize the USPS will be returned to sender.

This story ran on the What’s What podcast from WFUV on July 24, 2025.