Surveys consistently show the United States Postal Service is viewed favorably by a vast majority of the American public. But postal workers say the Postal Service is under threat by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.
Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy sent a letter to members of Congress saying he would work with DOGE to cut 10,000 workers and billions of dollars from the Postal Service budget.
In response, unionized postal workers rallied across the country Thursday. Several of those rallies were in San Diego County, including one outside the Mira Mesa post office. Union members there said the Trump administration and its allies are attempting a hostile takeover of the Postal Service that threatens the jobs of more than 600,000 workers
They accused the administration of trying to privatize the Postal Service, and called on members of Congress to stand up and protect the agency.
The union members said if the administration's efforts are successful, it would lead to higher costs and diminished service, especially in rural areas.
President of the American Postal Workers Union, San Diego Local Bob Waterhouse said the service has faced attacks before, but nothing like this.
“Now we’re looking at an administration that does not care about rules, does not care about law, already put people in place in the courts and said that he’s above the law. So, he’s going to come in and do whatever it is he wants. We need the people to stop him from coming in here in the first place," he said.
Thursday featured a bit of an odd juxtaposition. At the same time the rallies were going on, the Postal Service was conducting a hiring event at the main post office in the Carmel Mountain area. A person running the event said the Postal Service was hiring for a variety of positions, including postal workers and mechanics.
In an email, a Postal Service media representative said, "We are hosting the hiring fair to assist applicants to apply for needed positions within the San Diego region. These include carriers and automotive technicians."
The representative did not answer KPBS' questions as to the seeming contradiction between the two events.
Waterhouse said at the rally that postal workers are planning another rally this Sunday at the Mira Mesa post office.
