By The Star Staff
The United States Postal Service is facing layoffs of some 10,000 employees as part of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) initiatives aimed at reducing the federal government workforce.
The effort will begin with voluntary early retirement options and is expected to have a significant impact on the most vulnerable sectors, according to postal employee Ramón Rosa.
The new guidelines have prompted various reactions. While they are projected to save around $3.5 billion in operating expenses, as noted by postal employee Christopher Cotto, they also pose a risk to rural routes. The concern arises from President Trump’s intention to privatize the postal service.
In response, Popular Democratic Party Sen. Ada Álvarez Conde has announced plans to issue a resolution to study the effects of the federal layoffs on the island.
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which covers clerks and workers inside sorting and distribution centers, led demonstrations last week, while other postal unions held protests on Sunday.
A statement by the USPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee concluded: “Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. The only way to save the post office -- and American democracy -- is through the mass mobilization of the working class. The working class is the most powerful force on earth. If only we know how to use that power we can defeat the attacks by Trump and his handful of oligarchs and right-wingers.”
“[I]n the face of the deepest attacks in the 250-year history of the post office, union officials in NALC [National Association of Letter Carriers], the NRLCA [National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association] and the APWU have not proposed, much less organized, a serious struggle against these attacks,” the statement said. “Instead, they are offering their collaboration, with NALC even proposing to help find ways to close the funding gap in workers’ pension plans by moving the fund into the (rapidly declining) stock market!”
The statement added that last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signed an agreement with Musk and the DOGE to help slash spending and dismantle or defy legal requirements on pension financing, service mandates and other measures.
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