Portland postal workers rally for better pay and fair treatment

(FEBRUARY 27, 2025) Postal workers in Portland held a rally last Sunday to ask for better pay and working conditions. Postal workers are letter carriers; they pick up, sort, and deliver the mail. The workers were protesting changes to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) planned by President Donald Trump. Workers want fair wages and less overtime. 

Many workers say their jobs are too hard. The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) says mail is often late. Some post offices have closed. NLAC says that nearly half of new workers quit. “Mail carriers are overworked and underpaid. Turnover of new hires is close to 50%. Service is suffering,” the NALC says.  (Turnover means "the rate at which workers leave an organization and new workers join it," according to Cambridge Learners' Dictionary.)

President Trump says he wants to fire the Postal Service leaders. He wants to make the post office part of the Commerce Department. The USPS has been independent since 1970, and many people do not want this change. The president of the American Postal Workers Union called the plan “an outrageous, unlawful attack” on the Postal Service. (A union is a group of workers who do the same kind of job; they work together to determine salaries and working conditions.)