South Dakota postal workers oppose Trump’s idea to privatize USPS

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – This week, President-elect Donald Trump hinted at the idea of privatizing the United States Postal Service, an idea that has stirred up conversation for South Dakota postal workers.

The Postal Workers Union in South Dakota is firmly against the idea of privatization. Though it’s not official that it will happen, Trump has been critical of the Postal Service before, saying it’s unprofitable.

Postal workers are taking this very seriously.

The President-elect has tossed around the idea before. South Dakota’s American Postal Workers Union President Todd West believes this has been Trump’s plan since he appointed Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General in 2020.

“I don’t think it’d be good. It’s like it turns into a corporate greed-type thing where it’s all about making the money, not about service. It’s not going to be good for places like South Dakota,” West said.

The APWU believes privatizing the Postal Service could hurt rural communities in South Dakota because the cost to deliver in small towns will force changes due to the emphasis on turning a profit.

“They’re not going to want to run these little post offices in small towns, so what’s going to happen to them? Are people going to get service one or two days a week? I think the federal government would ultimately end up subsidizing these small towns, post offices and stuff for them to be able to have mail,” West said.

Sioux Falls local vice president Manny Lopez said in a statement to Dakota News Now:

West said Trump misunderstands what the Postal Service was created for. He said that it was never meant to turn a profit, but that it would be true to what’s in its name: A service to the American People.

“Postage is supposed to cover their costs basically. They’re not supposed to be making hundreds of thousands of dollars for board members, trustees, stockholders, where if it goes to privatized, that’s what they’re going to be looking at,” West said.

Trump said shipping is different today because of Amazon, UPS and FedEx, but postal workers want to keep the distinction of being a public good, not privatized like the examples Trump gave.

USPS decline to comment on this story.

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