The United States Postal Service is a beloved American institution that helps bind the nation by delivering universal service at reasonable rates to nearly 160 million addresses, no matter how remote. Older than our nation itself, this public service continues to play a vital role in supporting public health and economic stability. And yet the Postal Service is also under threat and at risk of reduced services, job cuts, and privatization. Our research and writing explores what’s at stake in the Postal Service debate for workers, businesses, and communities across the country.
Policy Briefs
Op-Eds/Blogs
Policy Briefs
A People’s Postal Agenda
Lead Drafters: Sarah Anderson and Scott Klinger
Date published: March 2021
Description: White paper for discussion at the People’s Postal Summit March 16, 17, and 18, 2021, which was organized by A Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service. Covers financial services, renewable energy, care infrastructure, vote by mail, broadband access, good jobs, public health, food security, and other areas of potential growth.
Black Families Have a Major Stake in the Future of the Postal Service
Authors: Sarah Anderson
Date Published: February 2023 (updated)
Description: This report finds that postal workers have the highest wages among the 10 occupations with the largest shares of Black workers. It also provides data indicating that expanded postal financial services would help reduce the racial wealth divide, since Black families are more likely than white families to lack access to affordable financial services.
The Postal Service Crisis: An Update on Legislation and What’s at Stake
Author: Sarah Anderson
Date Published: August 25, 2020
Description: Co-published with the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, this paper explains the state of play on Capitol Hill and the high stakes in the postal debate in terms of essential services, democracy, and jobs and other economic benefits.
USPS Needs Financial Aid to Continue Providing Essential Services
Authors: Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger, and Brian Wakamo
Date Published: July 21, 2020
Description: Explains why, despite a boom in package deliveries, the Postal Service is still facing insolvency due to crisis-related drops in mail revenue and increased costs.
The USPS and Rural America
Authors: Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger, and Brian Wakamo
Date Published: April 24, 2020
Description: Analyzes what’s at stake for the 15 most rural U.S. states in terms of jobs, revenue, mail and package deliveries, and voting rights.
Who Would Pay the Biggest Price for Postal Privatization?
Authors: Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger, and Brian Wakamo
Date Published: December 2018
Description: This report find that UPS and FedEx charge retail customers additional fees for package delivery to the homes of 70 million Americans who live just outside major cities and in small towns and rural areas. These higher delivery rates are just a taste of what would come if the Trump administration succeeds in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service.
Op-Eds/Blogs
Why the Just-Passed Postal Service Reform Act is Such a Big Deal
Authors: Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger, and Brian Wakamo
Date Published: March 10, 2022
Description: Explains that the new bipartisan legislation will repeal the prefunding mandate that has threatened the ability of USPS to provide good jobs and universal service.
Are Postal Service Cuts Motivated by Voter Suppression or Privatization — or Both?
Authors: Sarah Anderson and Scott Klinger
Date Published: August 18, 2020
Description: Actions that have slowed the mail are advancing two of President Trump’s goals: undermining confidence in vote by mail and laying a foundation for postal privatization.
My great-grandfather faced danger as a mail carrier. He’d be shocked by Trump’s war on USPS.
Author: Sarah Anderson
Date Published: August 13, 2020
Description: This op-ed in USA Today explains how President Trump’s mail slowdown upends a centuries-old work ethic and undercuts essential postal services during a pandemic, just when we need them most.
More Republicans should support crisis aid for the Postal Service
Author: Sarah Anderson
Date Published: July 10, 2020
Description: This op-ed in The Hill urges Republicans in Congress to step up and support relief aid to ensure the survival of our public Postal Service during a time of crisis.
Georgia needs the Postal Service
Author: Brian Wakamo
Date Published: June 6, 2020
Description: This Augusta, GA op-ed explains the necessary value that the Postal Service provides to the state of Georgia and the kind of problems that would be caused to Georgia if it went under.
Georgians can’t let postal service fail
Author: Brian Wakamo
Date Published: May 19, 2020
Description: This Savannah, GA letter to the editor shows how vital the USPS is to Georgia, especially to its rural areas and the Veterans who receive the mail order prescriptions sent out from Georgia.
Maine can’t afford to have the Postal Service fail
Author: Scott Klinger
Date Published: May 2, 2020
Description: This Portland, ME Press-Herald newspaper op-ed explains how only USPS has the capacity to provide the affordable delivery needed by Maine, with its large share of senior and rural residents.
Trump: Postal Workers Don’t Deserve a Financial Lifeline
Author: Sarah Anderson
Date Published: April 8, 2020
Description: No one else can deliver essential goods to every home in America. But the president is dismissing dire warnings of an imminent USPS collapse, falsely claiming that postal financial woes are self-inflicted.
To Reduce Inequality in Elections, All States Should Allow Voting At Home
Authors: Sarah Anderson and Brian Wakamo
Date Published: February 27, 2020
Description: Letting people fill out ballots at their kitchen table and pop them in the mail reduces economic barriers to participation for low-income Americans.
In Blow to Privatizers, House Passes Postal Financial Relief
Authors: Sarah Anderson and Brian Wakamo
Date Published: February 5, 2020
Description: The bipartisan bill would ease the financial challenges that critics have used to justify calls for postal worker wage cuts and selling lucrative parts of the service to for-profit corporations.
Postal Pay Cuts Provoked a General Strike in Finland. US Postal Workers Deserve the Same Solidarity.
Author: Brian Wakamo
Date Published: December 13, 2019
Description: The prime minister resigned over the nationwide protests, catapulting a 34-year-old woman into Finland’s top job.
Scapegoating Unions for the Postal Service’s Phony Crisis
Author: Brian Wakamo
Date Published: April 4, 2019
Description: At a recent Senate hearing, some officials attempted to divert attention from the real cause of post office financial losses by blaming worker rights.
The Postal Worker’s Christmas
Author: Sarah Anderson
Date Published: Dec. 18, 2018
Description: This New York Times op-ed uses a holiday theme to convey the importance of supporting a vital public Postal Service.
The Post Office as an Alternative to Shady Private Banks
Author: Brian Wakamo
Date Published: May 17, 2018
Description: A Senate bill would fill a void in many rural and low-income communities by reintroducing low-cost lending at neighborhood post offices.