Protesters rally at Waco, Texas post office against postal service privatization

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - The National Association of Letter Carriers organized a protest at a Waco, Texas post office against postal service privatization.

The protest was held at the post office located at 424 Clay Ave.

President Trump has floated the idea of moving the USPS under the oversight of the Department of Commerce.

“It’ll be a form of a merger,” Trump said. “But it’ll remain the Postal Service.”

NALC local branch president Jerrod Perry organized the Waco, Texas protest. He believes Trump’s comments are a precursor to privatizing the USPS.

“They can slow down how you get the mail,” Perry said. “They can slow down how you get your packages. It affects everything if you dismantle and privatize the post office.”

McLennan County Republican party chair Chris DeCluitt supports moving the USPS under the Department of Commerce’s oversight.

“Bringing it under Commerce and having more eyes on an inefficiency can help bring about a solution to lose less money,” DeCluitt said.

Perry said Trump’s potential solution would harm postal service consumers.

“Even if it is wasteful spending, privatizing doesn’t help that because now you increase prices and get rid of people,” Perry said. “It slows the service down. If you don’t have the people how can you get a service?”

Protesters want to see change in the midterm elections.

“The winds are shifting,” McLennan County Democratic party chair Mark Hayes said. “People have had enough of this.”