Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, March 23, over 300 people took it to the streets to demand an end to Trump and the billionaire class’s constant threats of dismantling the United States Postal Service (USPS). The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Pioneer Branch 2 hosted the rally with support from the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) Local 3 and the Wisconsin Rural Letter Carriers Association. The event was part of a larger national day of action which saw hundreds of other cities across the country participate.

The attack comes while the NALC and APWU are in contract negotiations with the USPS. For the first time since 1978, the membership of the NALC recently voted down a proposed contract, with 71% voting no.

The Postal Service continues to poorly manage the company and claim it is broke, yet it continues to spend record amounts on wages for abusive managers and in the installation of surveillance technology that further micromanages and represses its employees.

The Postal Reform Act of 2022 repealed the requirement to pre-fund retiree benefits and will go into effect this year, taking a $5.6 billion burden off the books.

At Milwaukee’s rally, Travis Albert, vice president of NALC Branch 2, said, “Hell no to the attacks on the Postal Service! Politicians are attempting to take away our right to paid grievance time. This would impact our only avenue for peaceful negotiations with management. You take that away and what will we be left with? And we here in Milwaukee we are building a mean, mean union!”

NALC Branch 2 Sergeant at Arms William Schroeder called employees to action, stating, “We need to take this energy back to the shop floor every single day – if all of us used this energy at union meetings, in the grievance procedure, and when management harasses us it would stop right now.”

The Postal Service is a trillion dollar company that provides an affordable service to every house in the country, and any attempt to dismantle or privatize it is an attack on all Americans. If there was no public Postal Service, the private sector would run rampant with high costs and less coverage to rural areas. Today however, the various Postal unions made it loud and clear that the U.S. mail is not for sale.

The turnover rate in the postal service is higher than ever before due to the poor working conditions and low wages, but that has not deterred postal workers from all over the country. Instead, these conditions have ignited a new wave of militant action against Postal Service management and anyone else who tries to dismantle the company.

A national reform movement is rapidly growing within the NALC as members across the country have become angry with working conditions and the incompetency of union national President Brian Renfroe. This has resulted in the rise of the Concerned Letter Carriers (CLC) and Build a Fighting NALC (BFN), which both demand an end to concessionary leadership. Thousands of members have participated in national organizing calls to replace the weak NALC leadership and in demanding a strong contract.

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Brian Renfroe, the national president, has come under fire in 2024, receiving formal charges of Abandoned Position and Dereliction/Neglect of Duty, Impaired Driving After Hours in a NALC Owned Vehicle, and Circulating False or Misleading Statements about a NALC officer during the start of negotiations. The executive council investigation recently acquitted him of the charges but revoked his driving privileges. Renfroe himself declared that the charges would not be a subject of the convention.

What's become clear to the membership is that this leadership is incapable of bargaining with the company and have failed the rank and file for the last 15 months. The carriers are rising up and are taking action by forming an opposition slate against national leadership, going by the name Concerned Letter Carriers (CLC).

Immediately after the presidential address, three members of the CLC went to each of the various stations on the convention floor with the intent to bring a motion to the floor that would force the president to read out the charges against him. After some discussion this vote was successful, with a margin of approximately 2100 to 1500.

Build a Fighting NALC (BFN), the new reform movement within the NALC which took shape in the late spring and early summer months, had their first in-person meeting where they had a panel of speakers discussing the need for change by making clear demands such as a $30 per hour starting wage, an end to Sorting and Delivery Centers, and the right to strike. BFN will be forming chapters in different cities in an effort to bring about more rank-and-file support.

On August 8, the delegate body heard the appeals of President Renfroe and agreed to uphold the decisions of the executive council.

There were a few contentious resolutions brought to the floor, with the largest being the case for open bargaining. The members of NALC want top to bottom transparency from national during contract negotiations so that members receive contract updates. The resolution called for public rallies in support of the bargaining efforts that would lead to real rank-and-file participation and bolster their positions at the table. While the strongest of such resolutions was unsuccessful, one of the other open bargaining resolutions was passed and national union will now be forced to hold rallies across the United States during contract negotiations. The resolution which would have forced transparency with rank-and-file members was shot down after national business agents stormed the mics to denounce the most popular solution brought to the convention.

The other big resolution was to demand an end to Sorting and Delivery Centers after Branch 3 in Buffalo was successful in its public campaign to stop the one being created in their district. However, business agents abused their power, coercing members from voting in favor and the resolution lost.

This is only the beginning of the reform movement within NALC. These demands are popular and felt amongst a wide base of the rank and file. Those at national, most clearly highlighted by President Renfroe, have forgotten what’s it’s like to be down on the shop floor fighting with the bosses. Build a Fighting NALC (BFN) and the opposition leadership slate of the Concerned Letter Carriers (CLC) represent a potential shift in direction for the membership and its leaders.

Fight Back! will carry updates as the election plays out and the reform movement develops.

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