News & information
NALC President Brian L. Renfroe released the following statement following Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s agreement with the General Service Administration (GSA) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE):
NALC is aware of the agreement between the Postal Service, GSA and DOGE to assist with “identifying and achieving certain efficiencies.” We remain in contact with the Postal Service regarding DOGE’s efforts at USPS and any potential impact on NALC members.
The safety of our members always comes first. That includes their information and data. Prior to DOGE’s engagement with the Postal Service, we prepared for potential legal action if DOGE was to gain access to our members’ information in USPS records in violation of any applicable laws and regulations. We also expressed our concern over the privacy of our members’ information to Postal Service leadership. Our understanding of the agreement between USPS and DOGE is that it does not grant such access. We commend the Postal Service leadership for protecting employee information. Still, we will continue closely monitoring the situation and will fight like hell against any attack on the rights and privacy of NALC members.
In a letter to Congressional leaders today, Postmaster General DeJoy laid out some of the “big problems” DOGE could assist with. Some of these are issues we have been actively engaged in and advocating for years. These include USPS’s misallocated pension liabilities, which have cost the agency tens of billions of dollars, and a new investment strategy for USPS’s three retirement funds, which are currently held in Treasury bonds, missing out on hundreds of millions in annual returns.
These policy changes are needed to improve the Postal Service’s financial viability, and we welcome anyone’s help who can influence Congress and the Administration to finally enact them.
As DOGE attempts to tackle these or any other issues at the Postal Service, it is important that they know what our members do and who they are. Letter carriers are lifelines to American communities who uphold our Constitutionally mandated service obligation by delivering to 169 million delivery points, including 51.5 million rural households and businesses, six and sometimes seven days a week.
Five years ago, during a global pandemic when most businesses shut down, letter carriers did not take one day off. We did not work from home. Instead, we delivered every single day, just as we have for 250 years.
If DOGE wants to improve the Postal Service’s finances, the above actions will do just that. Misguided ideas like privatization will not. Common sense solutions are what the Postal Service needs, not privatization efforts that will threaten 640,000 postal employees’ jobs, 7.9 million jobs tied to our work, and the universal service every American relies on daily.