
As Postmaster General Louis DeJoy slows down mail delivery to help Donald Trump accomplish his goal of undermining mail-in voting and to continue the decades-long Republican war on the U.S. Postal Service, postal workers have sounded the alarm. âYou donât just go and tell management, âHey, I saw that. Thatâs not allowed,â â Scott Adams, an American Postal Workers Union local president in Maine told the Portland Press-Heraldâs Bill Nemitz. âAt some point you have to hold their feet to the fire and say, âIâm telling you, and I have been telling you, you follow the rules. And when you donât, weâre blowing it up.ââ
Itâs not just in Maine. Postal workers in other locations are pushing back against DeJoy and Trumpâs sabotage, as in the Milwaukee area where workers organized and refused to follow the new rules. With DeJoy having removed many sorting machines, though, itâll take more than workers doing their jobsâagainst the rulesâto fix things. As American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein told The American Prospect, âCan the union do something specifically about what machines they have or donât have in the post office? No. Can the union be part of a movement to share with the public whatâs really going on and be part of a movement for change? Weâve seen that in the last month.â
This blog originally appeared at Daily Kos on August 22, 2020. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author: Laura Clawson has been a Daily Kos contributing editor since December 2006. Full-time staff since 2011, currently assistant managing editor.