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.