Thursday, June 21, 2012

Protesters to stage hunger strike to oppose postal closings and service cutbacks

Protesters will be in Washington, D.C. on Monday, June 25, to start a four-day hunger strike to bring attention to the U.S. Postal Service plan to reduce services and cut jobs, mostly in rural areas, reports Steve Hutkins of Save the Post Office. The protest will take place just days before the USPS implements changes that would end overnight delivery for about 20 percent of First Class mail.

Over 400 community groups, clergy, citizens and postal workers are endorsing the strike, and individuals can add their names to the list of endorsers. If any are from your community, that could be a local story.

Hutkins says the theme of the hunger strike is "that cuts to service will succeed only in driving business away from the Postal Service and sending it into a death spiral." Hutkins adds that alternatives to the current proposals exist to save the USPS, including repeal of the 2006 Congressional mandate that requires the USPS to pay $5.6 billion a year into its retiree health plan, which he says is the main cause of the agency's deficit (Read more)

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