About 150 people attended a rally Saturday at the Main Post Office in downtown Eugene. It was part of a nationwide event in response to recent comments by President Trump about mail-in voting and Postmaster General Louis Dejoy’s decision to remove mailboxes and sorting machines.
After backlash, DeJoy halted changes to post office operations before November’s election. Organizer Steve Dear explained this is not enough.
“It’s not merely enough to announce a suspension,” said Dear. “If DeJoy and Trump have already succeeded in compromising the US Postal Service. These changes must be reversed.”
USPS started having financial issues when, in 2006, Congress passed a mandate requiring the post office to prefund retirement benefits up to 75 years in the future.
The purpose of the event was to show support for the post office as an essential service and support free and fair elections.
Raging Grannies, Mariah and Joyce, said they came out to show support for a fundamental pillar of our democracy - unimpeded communication.
“The more we show up, the more these folks in power think, ‘Uh oh, we gotta do something,” said Joyce.
“And these folks are not in power, they just think they are,” said Mariah. “So we need to tell them it’s a democracy. They’re not in power. We are.”
Cody Rosenburg brought his eleven-year-old daughter.
“I’m just in shock that I’m at this point where I actually have to protest to save the post office,” said Rosenburg. “I mean, the kids have got to see that this is important. That this is what we do. When we see something wrong in the world, we do something.”
Organizers put this issue in context of everything else happening in our nation, from natural disasters to the struggle over structural racism and the vast impact of the pandemic.
