Open Letter
Open Letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator John Kennedy, Senator Bill Cassidy, and the Entire Louisiana Congressional Delegation: Stand with Your Constituents and Protect the Postal Service
We, the rural letter carriers of Louisiana, write to you not just as postal workers but as neighbors, caregivers, and witnesses to the everyday lives of the people you represent. Since February, we and our families have reached out to your offices, including in-person visits to Washington in March, urging you to publicly show your support. Today, we continue to call on Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator John Kennedy, Senator Bill Cassidy, and every member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation to stand with your constituents, your communities, and your Postal Service by cosponsoring House Resolution 70 and Senate Resolution 147, affirming that the United States Postal Service (USPS) must remain a public institution, free from privatization. We appreciate that Congressman Troy Carter has already signed on, and now we call on the rest of Louisiana’s delegation to do the same.
This is not a hypothetical crisis. It is at our doorstep.
In recent months, powerful financial interests and policymakers have made their intentions clear. A newly surfaced memo from Wells Fargo outlines a predatory plan: sell off the most profitable parts of the Postal Service, raise prices by as much as 140%, slash union jobs, and strip away the benefits and bargaining rights of the people who serve this nation every day. And under the current administration, which has already signaled a willingness to move the Postal Service under the Department of Commerce, privatization is no longer a distant threat—it’s a real and present danger.
If privatization happens, it won’t be the bankers or billionaires who suffer. It will be the elderly widow in Denham Springs who depends on her letter carrier to deliver life-saving medication to her doorstep. It will be the Army veteran in rural Louisiana, whose mail carrier knows to leave his mail under the cat’s food bowl because Parkinson’s disease has robbed him of mobility. It will be the families living miles from the nearest post office, the ones private companies won’t bother serving because they aren’t profitable enough.
We are the people who serve them—who know their names, who see when something is wrong, who step in when no one else will. We do more than deliver mail. We deliver connection, stability, and care that no private company driven by profit margins could ever replicate.
Rural America relies on the United States Postal Service. Over 70% of rural ZIP codes depend exclusively on the Postal Service for last-mile delivery. Nearly 1 in 4 prescriptions in the United States is delivered through the mail—a lifeline for seniors, veterans, and those living far from a pharmacy.
Privatization would unravel all of this. It would gut service to rural areas, raise costs for families who can least afford it, and replace stable union jobs with precarious, low-wage labor. And make no mistake—this is part of a broader agenda to dismantle the few remaining public institutions that serve everyday Americans.
But you, our elected leaders, can stop this. By cosponsoring H.Res. 70 and S.Res. 147, you affirm what the vast majority of your constituents already believe: that the Postal Service is not for sale. It is a public good, a bedrock of our democracy and our economy.
Louisiana is home to some of the most powerful voices in Washington. The people of this state—and the nation—are watching to see if you will stand with rural communities or allow Wall Street to dismantle the Postal Service for profit.
We invite you to stand with us—your rural carriers, your neighbors, your voters. Be the champions who protect the Postal Service, the workers who serve, and the communities who rely on it.
Our customers will remember who stood with them. And so will we.
In solidarity,
The Rural Letter Carriers of Louisiana
Louisiana Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (LARLCA)
National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA)
The NRLCA, established in 1903, represents 130,000 rural letter carriers who serve over 51 million residential mailboxes. Rural carriers serve as a “Post Office on Wheels”, providing critical mail services to communities across the U.S. and ensuring that even the most remote areas stay connected to the rest of the nation.
Made in Solidarity Tech