November 26th, 2013
Dear ROPnetters,
Before everyone sits down around the table for Thanksgiving, we wanted to announce something we are grateful for: the United States Postal Service. The United States Postal Service is a vital lifeline for rural communities across the state, and it is being systematically dismantled for corporate profit. If this is news to you, take a moment and check out the Organizing to Save Rural Post Offices Toolkit that outlines what this struggle has looked like for the last two years. You’ll be glad you did!
But we aren’t just going to reflect silently on how much we appreciate our postal service — we are going to throw a big holiday party in Springfield at the Gateway mail processing plant that is slated for closure in February, and you’re invited!
On Monday, December 16th, the busiest day of the year for the United States Postal Service, human dignity group leaders, union supporters, and our allies will gather at the Gateway mail processing plant at 12 PM noon to carol, to deliver gifts of appreciation to postal workers, and to rally for BETTER postal service! Join us!
Cookies, Carols, and Caring – Save the Postal Service!
Monday, December 16th at 12 PM noon
Join us at the Post Office out front!
3418 Gateway St.
Springfield, OR
There are two separate pieces to the celebration that day:
First, folks will convene at the publicly accessible post office to serenade the lines of postal customers with carols about the Postal Service, organized labor, and maybe a carol or two shaming Congress… led by the Ragin’ Grannies of Corvallis and Eugene! We will deliver cookies, cards, and other gifts of appreciation to postal workers, and chat with folks in line!
After some good fun, we will get everyone rounded up for a rally, featuring speakers from rural communities, labor, politicians, and, most excitingly, newly elected national leadership from the American Postal Workers Union, the union that represents most of the folks inside of the Springfield plant. A whole new slate of national leadership were elected for the national APWU, most of which have participated in civil disobedience across the country, and we are eager to hear what they have to say! (Read on below for more information about direct action and civil disobedience being organized!)
Organized by human dignity groups, the American Postal Workers Union Eugene Local representing the workers inside the Gateway Plant, the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network, Community & Postal Workers United, and the Rural Organizing Project, this event will emphasize that we don’t just want to stop the cuts and closures — we want to see the USPS EXPAND to meet the needs of our changing communities and economy!
We want to see 7-day delivery, we want rural Post Offices to offer access to government services and broadband internet for the communities they serve, we want to see more postal workers with strong labor representation who earn a wage that can support a family, and we want the Postal Service to expand to include the other many services our communities need to thrive in the decades ahead!
After the rally, a contingent of folks will go ahead with their plan for civil disobedience — a strategy that has successfully shone a spotlight on the closure of mail processing plants across the country. For those of you who are eager to follow your conscience into direct action, contact the incredible Jamie Partridge, retired letter carrier and activist! You can reach him directly at jamiep7206@aol.com!
Discuss this action with your group and see if you can arrange a carpool! Be sure to don your best holiday sweaters!
If you can’t join us, stay tuned next week! ROP’s December Kitchen Table Activism (KTA) asks someone in your group to submit an Op-Ed or Letter to the Editor about the value and role of the United States Postal Service, just in time for the USPS’ busiest day of the year. Plan now who will submit the Op-Ed or letter on behalf of your group and look for next week’s KTA with more details!
What do you say? Will I see you there?
Warmly,
Jessica
* * * * * *