Petition Delivered: Postal Workers and Customers Urge President Biden and Congress to Fill Four Vacancies on the USPS Board of Governors

On February 23, the APWU and allies who support a strong, public Postal Service presented a petition with over 400,000 signatures to the Biden Administration. The petition, reported on in the last issue of The American Postal Worker, called on the new Biden Administration and Senate leaders to “swiftly fill” the four vacant positions on the nine-member, USPS Board of Governors. 

“We need a strong board that reflects the will of the people,” said President Mark Dimondstein. “We need leaders who will support prompt, reliable and efficient service, and public servants who understand that this is the United States Postal ‘Service’ and not the United States Postal ‘Business.’”

All of the current board members are Trump appointees; all are men. Most have deep ties to Wall Street and corporate interests, and not one has had direct experience with the USPS prior to joining the board. 

“On behalf of our members, I thank the many allied organizations such as Progress America, Take on Wall Street, Alliance for Retired Americans, Daily Kos, People for the American Way, The 98%, and other organizations of A Grand Alliance to Save Our Postal Service that along with us, did a terrific job in collecting these signatures,” President Dimondstein said.  

In addition to the demand for Governors who will preserve and protect the People’s Post Office, the petition also urges President Biden to select candidates who “will support an agenda of expanding the role of the USPS in serving our communities.” One example of this is adding new products that can help the public and at the same time generate revenue, such as paycheck cashing, offering wire transfers and other financial services. 

“A Board of Governors unafraid of innovation can make these changes happen,” Dimondstein said. “Our union is united with the public in rejecting calls for shrinking our way to success by slowing mail, lowering standards of mail delivery, closing post offices and consolidating plants. We’ve been down that road before. It didn’t work.” 

In sharp contrast to President Trump, who called the USPS ‘a joke’ and whose administration proposed ending the universal service requirement and selling off the USPS, the Biden administration has expressed a commitment to a public Postal Service. Recently, the administration has called for replacing the aging fleet of postal delivery trucks with electric vehicles, which would save on fuel costs and provide greater capacity to carry packages.

“The USPS is a national treasure. The severe delays affecting the country’s critical postal services are unacceptable,” President Dimondstein said. “This must be fixed and we have a rare window of opportunity now to make the necessary changes.”