austerity plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile the quarterly meetings have previously included an hour of in-person and virtual public testimony, the USPS board has shifted to only taking comments once annually, a move that outraged critics of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy\u2014a GOP donor appointed under former President Donald Trump\u2014and his 10-year \u201cDelivering for America\u201d plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t be silenced!\u201d read signs held by protesters on Thursday that urged the board to allow public testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet us tell the truth about DeJoy\u2019s 10-year plan,\u201d the signs added, calling for an end to cuts, closures, and mail delays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThousands of postal jobs will be eliminated, and tens of thousands of employees will be faced with relocating to a new job, possibly a couple of hundred miles away, or ending their careers at the Postal Service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement about Thursday\u2019s protest, an American Postal Workers Union local and Communities and Postal Workers United noted that opponents of the plan have long argued it \u201cwill slash jobs and shrink processing centers and post offices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The groups pointed to recent remarks<\/a> from Steve Hutkins, a retired New York University English professor who runs the advocacy group and website Save the Post Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThousands of postal jobs will be eliminated, and tens of thousands of employees will be faced with relocating to a new job, possibly a couple of hundred miles away, or ending their careers at the Postal Service,\u201d he told The Guardian<\/em> in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cThe consolidations will also create excess space in processing facilities that will then be used to house a sorting and delivery center, which relocates letter carriers away from post offices,\u201d Hutkins explained. \u201cThe carriers will need to drive 10 or 20 miles to their routes, which will increase costs and pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd the excess space at the post office, where the carriers used to work, will lead to post office closures and relocations of retail services to smaller spaces,\u201d he warned. \u201cIn the meantime, postal rates go up, volume goes down, jobs are eliminated, service deteriorates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n