Postal workers rally in Charlotte against attempted Trump takeover of mail service

Gathered outside of a post office on Park Road in south Charlotte, members of the American Postal Workers Union made it clear on Thursday they didn’t support President Donald Trump’s proposed plans to privatize the independent agency.

“We’re not a business, we’re a service,” said Miriam Bell, the president of the Charlotte branch of the workers union. “We don’t request the military to justify everything they do. We don’t request any of our other government services to operate as a business, but they ask us to be like a business.”

The protests came in reaction to the Trump administration’s desire to fold the 250-year-old agency into the U.S. Department of Commerce or privatize it.

“We want to have a post office that works well and doesn’t lose massive amounts of money,” Trump has said. “We’re thinking about doing that, and it’ll be a form of a merger, but it’ll remain the Postal Service, and I think it’ll operate a lot better than it has been over the years. It’s been just a tremendous loser for this country.”

Although it was initially made a department of the executive branch by Congress in 1872, President Richard Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act in 1970, making it an independent, self-funded agency.

Trump has been focused on making changes to the agency since his first term. He has pointed to agency’s financial struggles, including a $9.5 billion loss last year, as a reason for wanting to make changes.

But union President Mark Dimondstein said if the Trump administration were to succeed, it would mean higher prices and reduced services, particularly in rural areas.

“This is the people’s postal service, emphasis on ‘service,’” Dimondstein said in a news release. “It belongs to the people on Main Street, it shouldn’t be handed over to Wall Street.”

“The U.S. mail is not for sale.”

Similar protests were planned in other cities, including Atlanta, Orlando, and Nashville.

Tiffany Alexander, the vice president of the Charlotte branch of the workers union, said the plan to privatize the Postal Service is already in motion, pointing to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, appointed by Trump in 2020, inviting tech billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency to help the Postal Service cut workers.

The Postal Service is not meant to be run as a business and turn a profit for the U.S. government, said Rich Abramovitch, a sales and service associate with the USPS in the Charlotte area.

“We’re supposed to be a service for the American people to quickly and cost effectively find a way to communicate,” Abramovitch said.

Services such as P.O. boxes could be more difficult to find or afford because prices would likely go up, he said.

Union members in Charlotte chanted “the U.S. mail is not for sale” and carried signs. Some people drove by and honked in support — including a USPS mail truck. Some security guards stood nearby and watched the protesters.

Members of other unions, including Lori Tiberio, vice president of the Charlotte Musicians’ Association, joined Thursday’s protest.

Tiberio said she was not only worried about the privatization of the Postal Service and other agencies, such as education or social security, but that a dictatorship is currently forming in the country.

“Our Congress has no say so, and they’re afraid to speak up. Judges are being threatened,” Tiberio said. “This is fascism. It’s taking over this country.”

Sandi Ridout learned about the protest from the left-leaning group Indivisible Charlotte, which recently protested Musk and his DOGE outside of the Tesla dealership in Matthews.

Ridout, a native of Charlotte, said defending the Postal Service was important to her and her community, and that she felt compelled to stand up against privatization.

“They’re gonna come for everybody,” she said. “And if not me, then who’s gonna stand?”

Ridout said her 94-year-old mother was mad about Trump’s proposed takeover as well. She has medication delivered by mail, as do many of her friends. While her mother is still able to drive, many of her friends cannot, and depend on the post office to deliver lifesaving medication, Ridout said.

For Sam Todd, 80, another native Charlottean, joining Thursday’s protest was not just about supporting the Postal Service, but supporting unions in general.

“My family of textile workers were basically paid nothing and had no benefits and worked themselves to death,” Todd said. “We fought this battle through the 30s to get equity and get fair pay, fair working hours, safety ... now we’re heading the other way.”

This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 11:50 AM.