Postal worker speaks out – greater response needed to fight virus
Tyler – Minneapolis, MN
“My name is Tyler, I’m a member of Socialist Alternative in Minneapolis. I’m a letter carrier at the United States Postal Service, and I’m a member of NALC Branch 9. I just wanted to say a few things about my experience as a letter carrier during the coronavirus pandemic we’re going through.
The response from management has been very limited – basically, we’ve just been told “wash your hands, don’t touch your face.” But other than that we haven’t gotten very much information. I think the biggest things for me and a lot of other carriers, is that we should be guaranteed paid time off.
Right now they’re saying, “if you test positive, you can get paid time off, that won’t get taken out of your sick leave” – which I don’t think is enough, given that it’s now public information that it’s very hard to get tested. Basically, you have to have come straight from a cruise or Europe to even get tested!
So I think there needs to be a better response, and more information coming from management. But on top of that, I think it’s just crazy that the Trump administration are the ones that are in charge of trying to control the coronavirus outbreak in the United States – you know, this is Mike Pence in charge of this stuff! These are the people that gave tax breaks to billionaires, ultra-rich people, and are at the same time, right now, trying to pass cuts on food-assistance programs in the United States. These people are not going to be able to get past their corporate backers and pass a response for working people in this country.
On the other side of that, the Democratic establishment has Joe Biden – there’s a history there of trying to cut social security; he has a history of being pro-corporate and against the interests of working people. He even said in an interview that he would veto a Medicare-for-All bill if it came to him. That’s just unacceptable. Especially given the fact that a poll from NPR came back saying that 25% of workers who made less than $50,000 last year have either been laid off temporarily or had a reduction in hours. We absolutely need a better response – and I think unions and workers across the country have shown one way to respond to this.
United Auto Workers (UAW) workers actually staged wildcat strikes that forced management to shut down production temporarily, and bus drivers in Detroit staged a wildcat strike so that management actually listened to their demands about safety steps and other things.
But on top of that, it’s a rapidly developing situation, and I just want to encourage everyone to join me and other socialists this Sunday; we’re having a virtual town hall featuring Seattle city councilmember Kshama Sawant about the coronavirus outbreak and the socialist response, and why more labor action is needed in response to this. So join us this Sunday!”
