WASHINGTON, May 6, 2020 – Citing concerns about the financial insecurity facing the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 100 other civil rights groups called on Congress to support robust funding for the agency in the next coronavirus response package. The hundreds of thousands of people who make up the USPS are essential workers providing a critical public service to the nation amid a global pandemic, all while facing uncertainty about their own personal health and the fiscal health of the constitutionally-mandated agency.
“A vote against adequate, timely funding for the USPS is an anti-civil rights vote,” the groups wrote. “The USPS projects that it will lose $2 billion each month because of loss of revenue from an unprecedented drop in mail during the pandemic. Despite this financial hit, USPS carriers have been essential in our nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing to deliver essential mail and parcels, such as prescriptions, food, and household necessities. And their service during this pandemic has come at a cost and at great personal risk. We owe it to these brave essential workers to shore up the financial health of the Postal Service.”
In the letter, the groups note the enormous impact of the agency:
- The employees of the Postal Service are essential workers who are delivering masks and respirators to the front lines and moving test kits to labs.
- The USPS is one of the only federal agencies whose workforce reflects our nation’s demographics.
- The USPS is an important employer of people of color and has served as one of the linchpins of many communities.
- The USPS has been a career lifeline for many, and we should aim to preserve these opportunities for the individuals, families, and communities that rely on them to achieve economic security rather than throwing its more than 650,000 employees into the unemployment line.
- The Postal Service’s accessibility and affordability is important to rural communities, seniors, and people with disabilities, who might not otherwise be able to afford the cost of a private business to deliver essential medications and daily necessities.
- The USPS is essential to having a fair and accurate 2020 Census.
The letter is available here and is signed by the following organizations:
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Advancement Project
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
All On The Line
Alliance of Baptists
American Federation of Teachers
American Muslim Health Professionals
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Andrew Goodman Foundation
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
Asian Counseling and Referral Service
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO)
Association of People Supporting Employment First (APSE)
Augustus F. Hawkins Foundation
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Brennan Center for Justice
Center for Disability Rights
Center for Responsible Lending
Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues
Coalition of Labor Union Women
Coalition on Human Needs
Common Cause
Community Change Action
Congregation of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces
Democracy 21
Demos
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
Equal Rights Advocates
Equality North Carolina
Fair Count, Inc.
Faith in Action
Faith in Action Fund
Farmworker Association of Florida
Feminist Majority Foundation
Hispanic Federation
Human Rights Campaign
ICNA Council for Social Justice
Indivisible
International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW)
Justice in Aging
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement
Lake Research Partners
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
League of Conservation Voters
League of Women Voters of the United States
Let America Vote / End Citizens United Action Fund
Matthew Shepard Foundation
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Multicultural Efforts to end Sexual Assault (MESA)
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
NAACP
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF)
NALEO Educational Fund
National Action Network
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)
National Association of Human Rights Workers
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Law and Economic Justice
National Center for Lesbian Rights
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Coalition for Literacy
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
National Congress of American Indians
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
National Council of Churches
National Disability Rights Network
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Lawyers Guild
National Organization for Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
National Urban League
National Women’s Law Center
Native American Rights Fund
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates
Organizacion en California de Lideres Campesinaa, Inc.
People For the American Way
PFLAG National
Poligon Education Fund
Public Advocacy for Kids
Public Citizen
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
SPLC Action Fund
Stand Up America
State Voices
Texas Progressive Action Network
The Arc of the United States
The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
UnidosUS
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
United Steelworkers
Voto Latino
Workplace Fairness
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.