Local Women Participate In ‘Day Of Action’ For Postal Service

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Three area women stationed themselves in front of the U.S. Post Office on DeMott Lane August 25 as part of a national effort to show support for the embattled Postal Service.

The “Save the Postal Service” day of action was expected to draw thousands of people throughout the country to show up at Post Offices and show their support.

The Postal Service has been the subject of much debate of late, stemming from accusations that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is slowing down mail delivery to sabotage mail-in balloting in the November elections.

It was that concern that led Somerset resident Carla Ulbrich to “host” a support protest at the DeMott Lane location.

Ulbrich was joined by fellow Somerset resident Mary Mcginley and Natalia Minkovsky from Kendall Park.

The Postal Service is “a vital service, as a lot of people know, that delivers peoples’ medication and checks,” Ulbrich said. “If we didn’t have the Post Office, we’d have to go to UPS and FedEx and pay four times as much for small packages and other letters. Something that costs $3 would cost $12. It would ruin a lot of small businesses.”

Ulbrich said the slowing of mail affects her directly because her insurance company requires that she buy medications by mail.

“Long delays are going to be a problem,” she said.

Mcginley said she was spurred to attend teh protest because she felt that DeJoy’s answers to questions during several Congressional hearings “were so unsatisfactory.”

“What he’s doing is taking the whole place apart,” she said. “Taking out the sorting machines and trashing them, how does that make things go faster? It’s just totally BS.”

A retired postal worker, Minkovsky said she attended the protest because she “believe(s) in the system.”

“it does work,” she said.

Minkovsky said she questions DeJoy’s timing in his streamlining efforts, which included removing blue mail boxes and high-speed mail sorting machines from processing centers.

“The new Postmaster General has picked a very suspicious time to try to streamline the Post Office and streamline management to make it more profitable and productive, but you do have to wonder why is he doing it right now,” she said.

Ulbrich said she was at an earlier protest, on August 22, at teh DeMott Lane location. She said many people stopped to talk to the protestors.

Ulbrich said she made an effort to not make the protest about politics.

“The post office shouldn’t be a political issue,” she said. “When someone started telling me they supported a certain candidate, I said well, I just support the post office.”

“Just stick to the issue of we need the post office,” she said. “No matter who you vote for, we need the post office.”

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