NEW HANOVER — Nationwide, workers from the American Postal Workers Union assembled Thursday to speak out against the Trump administration’s threat of breaking up or even shuttering the United States Postal Service.
In Wilmington, roughly 30 people stood in front of the downtown location with signs indicating “US Mail – Not For Sale” and “Hands off! Our postal service!” Rally-goers consisted of Local 145 American Postal Workers Union leaders, representatives and community allies.
They were concerned over the potential of USPS privatization and how it would affect job security, but also the effects on customers, deliveries and affordability.
“I’m worried, we carriers don’t have much control over what happens,” Crystal Dixon, a letter carrier for the neighborhoods in Myrtle Grove, said. “Am I going to be cut? We don’t know. Anything is possible at this point.”
With the goal of eliminating “waste” in the federal government, the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have entertained the idea of restructuring the USPS and moving it under the Department of Commerce. It’s also been floated to sell the USPS to a private company.
According to the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the USPS is an independent entity under the executive branch of the federal government. The president nominates members to its board of directors, but has no jurisdiction over USPS operations.
Any proposals to restructure the USPS would have to go through Congress. President Trump first attempted to restructure the USPS during his first term in 2018, but the measure did not pass the Senate.
The president has pointed to recent data showing the USPS has been losing billions of dollars annually. The USPS reported losses of $9.5 billion in 2024. It generates revenue from sales of products and operates self-sufficiently, with the goal to essentially break even. The USPS is not funded by taxpayer dollars.
As of 2024, the post office generated approximately $79 billion, with nearly half of the revenue attributed to shipping and packages.
National postal service leaders are currently working with state officials to find ways for the local USPS to earn additional revenue, like selling fishing licenses, currently sold by licensed sporting goods retailers.
The post office also offers services such as passports and I.D. registration. For Local 145 American Postal Worker President Daniel Matthews, the more services the USPS can provide outside of shipping, the more revenue.
According to a February report about privatizing the postal service, as conducted by analysts from Wells Fargo, the USPS would have to raise prices on shipping and postage between 30% to 140% to earn a reasonable return. Forever stamps currently cost about $0.79 per stamp, but citizens could pay anywhere from $0.94 to $1.75.
Matthews expressed concern with raising prices, citing the USPS’ Congressional requirement to keep it affordable for the everyday American.
“People need to stand up and say: ‘That’s my right’,’” Matthews said. “We the people have a right to the U.S. Postal Service.”
Should the current administration choose to break up the USPS, the Wells Fargo report suggests selling the postal service’s real estate to offset costs. The report found the USPS owns about 8,500 facilities and 20,000 acres of land worth approximately $85 billion.
“This is a historic building,” Matthews said, pointing to the historic downtown post office. “If they want to sell off our assets, where would they deliver the mail from?”
Another of Matthews’ main concerns is continuing to serve people who live in rural areas; they would likely see a lower standard of service and potentially increasing mail prices if the USPS were privatized. Private companies have less financial incentive to reach people in more remote areas.
Matthews said privatizing the postal service would have a far-reaching impact on millions of Americans. The USPS currently works with shipping companies — including FedEx and UPS — to deliver packages from distribution centers to customer’s doors, particularly in hard-to-reach areas.
“If you live out in the middle of nowhere, it’s not profitable for corporations to go out there,” Matthews said.
He referenced residents in Wallace, Tabor City, and Bolivia as the most likely to be negatively impacted by privatization.
“A lot of people in the cities wouldn’t see a major change, but it’s not just the cities — it’s middle America, it’s families,” Matthews added.
More than 630,000 people work for USPS. An early retirement incentive program has been offered to those eligible, with $15,000 to be paid in two installments in August. The goal is to reduce costs by slimming the workforce by 10,000; USPS reduced its workforce by 30,000 four years ago.
Port City Daily reached out to David Rouzer, North Carolina Congressman for District 7, for comment on the idea of restructuring the USPS, but did not hear back by press.
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