"Save Our Post Office" Hunger Strike Launched

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Ten postal service workers launched a 4-day hunger strike Monday morning at the U.S. Capitol, where they called on Congress to “Stop Starving the Postal Service.” The hunger strike, organized by Communities and Postal Workers United, will hold twice-daily vigils – 8-9a and 5-6:30p – outside Congress as well as other actions publicizing the threats to the nation’s postal system and workers. Local retiree USPS Steve Bruns, who worked for 30 years at the USPS processing and distribution facility in Frederick, MD, told Union City that “The Postal Service is an American institution, established by Congress in 1776, that predates the Constitution and is part of our common heritage. I believe the American people are entitled to keep it.” Added  APWU Montgomery County Area Local President Nannette Corley, “I want the postal service to be available to the next generation. I saw how postal workers suffered and fought during the 1971 strike so that I could be here today. This is the least I can do to carry that battle forward.” The postal service “has a long-standing reputation of delivering for the American people,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who hosted a press conference at the hunger strike launch. “I stand here today in solidarity with postal workers across the country who are calling on Congress and the Postmaster General to protect the American postal service.”
- report/photos by Chris Garlock