Members of the Little Rock branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers gathered at the Arkansas State Capitol Sunday to protest a proposal from the Trump administration to move the U.S. Postal Service under the Department of Commerce.
It was part of a national day of action organized by the American Postal Worker's Union. NALC Local Branch President Chad Dollar spoke at the rally.
"The United State Postal Service employs 640,000, with over 200,000 being letter carriers. The postal service is the largest company to hire veterans, with over 73,000 hired," said Dollar. "The service we provide is a universal service. That means no one pays more, no one pays less. We just provide the service to the American people. We deliver nearly 160 million deliveries each and every day.”
Dollar said recent proposals would reduce that daily number of deliveries to 51.5 million households and businesses.
On March 12, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signed an agreement for USPS to coordinate with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Speaking with Little Rock Public Radio, Dollar said that while he supports reasonable actions to increase efficiency, he has concerns about where recommendations from DOGE may lead.
"We're not opposed to someone looking at the financial side and cost savings, we're not opposed to that by no means. But we are opposed to what could come out of that," he said.
"There's obviously cuts to be made, but privatization is not it.”
DeJoy was appointed to his position during the first Trump administration. In February he indicated he would soon step down from that position, though no definitive timeline has been announced.
Sunday also marked the fourth anniversary of the USPS "Delivering for America" plan, which was announced in 2021 as a 10-year plan to ensure the postal service remained viable through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
In the last year, the agency reported a $9.5 billion net loss, compared to losses of $6.4 billion in 2023.
In its report, the agency pointed to the amortization of unfunded retiree pension liabilities and non-cash workers' compensation adjustments as major reasons for the losses, saying they were beyond management’s control.
Dollar said he believes the USPS is better off now than it was four years ago.
"I personally believe it has gotten better. I think some of the cuts that they have made have changed it, you know? And we are all for all that," he said. "We know that things are evolving and things are changing. The economy is moving in different directions and we have to follow that.”
Dollar said Arkansas, as a largely rural state, would suffer more loss of service than other states if the agency were to be privatized, adding the NACL's message to Congress is simple.
"The Arkansas letter carriers, along with the letter carriers across the nation, say 'no' to privatization. We say 'no' to dismantling. We believe we are made to deliver and have a service to our public as we have for so many years, and we want to keep that. And the American people say 'no.' They want to keep that.”
