Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Indivisible Mohawk Valley and SEIU-1199 will hold a peaceful rally to draw attention to Donald Trump mega-donor Louis DeJoy’s actions to slow down mail delivery, undermine confidence in the November election and harm postal union workers.
This rally will be one of many nationwide rallies calling for the removal of DeJoy as Postmaster General, for the restoration of the cuts already made to critical funding and infrastructure and for providing any needed overtime funds necessary to handle vote-by-mail ballots in the November election.
While DeJoy has said that he will not make further cuts to postal services, he has not agreed to undo the damage of recent cuts, which have slowed down mail and reduced the number of blue mail boxes. Postal workers are dedicated to delivering mail in a timely fashion but need the resources to do so, and citizens deserve a Postmaster General who works for them, not for Trump.
“We’re extremely concerned about the effect of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s downsizing of the U.S. Postal Service,” Deborah Wilson-Allam said. “The increasing threat of COVID-19 makes it even more critical that vulnerable Americans can receive their mail in a timely way. Americans need to be able to receive medications and exercise their right to vote by mailing in absentee ballots.”
“We cannot let the Post Office be privatized, politicized or slowed down,” said Jacquelynn Leisos of Utica. “This is a time of a pandemic. There are a lot of veterans and seniors who get their medications by mail.”
Participants are required to wear masks and to practice physical distancing whenever possible.
This event is sponsored by Indivisible Mohawk Valley and SEIU-1199.
Indivisible Mohawk Valley is a grassroots group of concerned citizens who embrace progressive values. For more information, visit indivisiblemv.org/.
For more information on SEIU-1199, a union of healthcare workers, visit facebook.com/1199UpstateNY/.