My husband has worked for USPS for 10 years, serving rural Missouri as a carrier, clerk, and manager. It's not a glamorous job – it's long hours, brutal weather, old trucks, and often thankless work. But like so many postal workers, he takes pride in serving his community, making sure businesses stay open, people receive their medications, and families in rural areas get their mail just as reliably as those in big cities.
Now President Trump is interested in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), threatening my family's livelihood and the rural communities who depend on the USPS.
Unlike Fedex and UPS, the Postal Service is required to serve all addresses – and it does so at an affordable cost. For example, UPS Ground charges $10-$15 for rural deliveries but USPS delivers Priority Mail for just $7.50, regardless of location. If USPS were privatized, prices would likely rise for families like mine.
My elderly mother still depends on her mail, both for essential medications and for running her small business. If shipping costs rise, so do her expenses. I work in a small legal firm, where we rely on the mail every day. If we had to pay more for postage, we'd have no choice but to charge our clients more – and I imagine the courts would have to do the same. That means higher legal costs, making access to justice even more out of reach for people who are already struggling.
That is why this petition is so important – to remind our lawmakers about the community they represent and how vital the Postal Service is to their constituents.
Everyday Americans depend on the USPS, and we need our leaders to stand up and protect it.
