2 rallies planned against post office cuts
DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is scheduled to speak at rallies in Minneapolis and Duluth on Sunday to protest the U.S. Postal Service's move to limit Saturday mail delivery.
The Postal Service wants to stop Saturday delivery of letters beginning the week of Aug. 5. The postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, has said the move will save $2 billion annually.
But Congress this week passed a measure to require the Postal Service to continue Saturday service. President Barack Obama has yet to sign it into law.
Letter carrier Lisa O'Neill of Ham Lake, who works in Coon Rapids, said Saturday service should continue.
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"Having six-day delivery helps small businesses -- businesses that want to advertise and send their advertisements out on Saturday ... you take that away, and you're cutting service for a service organization," O'Neill said. "We need to grow the revenue, not cut the service."
The back-and-forth between legislators and the Postal Service has been exhausting for employees, O'Neill said.
"We very much want Congress to come up with a solution for this issue," she said. "We shouldn't have to go six months at a time wondering, you know, what's the next move. We want some stability."
Peter Nowacki, a USPS spokesman in Minnesota, said the Postal Service must adapt as the volume of mail sent through the system declines.
The Postal Service has addressed the primary concerns, Nowacki said, by agreeing to keep offices open on Saturday and maintaining Saturday package delivery.
O'Neill helped organize two demonstrations: A rally in Minneapolis is set to take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at First Street South between Second and Marquette avenues. In Duluth, a rally is planned at the corner of Lake Avenue and Superior Street from noon to 1 p.m. Sunday.
