WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: Pictured above, National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 President David Grosskopf, Jr. says every day Americans can do their part in helping save the United States Postal Service by “buying some stamps.”  Grosskopf tells Your On-Line Labor Newspaper that if one-half of the country’s adult population purchased a sheet of stamps, valued at $11 to $12, or a roll of stamps - as much as $1.5 billion in cash for the cash-strapped Federal service would immediately be generated.    (WNYLaborToday.com Photos)

(BUFFALO, NEW YORK) – Just as U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was announcing Monday (August 18th) afternoon that he was reversing course in regards to a number of controversial changes he was making to the United States Postal Service (USPS) prior to the November Election, National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 3 President David Grosskopf, Jr. was telling WNYLaborToday.com during a sit-down interview how every day Americans could do their part to Save the USPS: Buy some stamps.

Grosskopf - whose Branch 3 represents around 1,500 Letter Carriers across Western New York, tells Your On-Line Labor Newspaper that if one-half of the country’s adult population purchased a sheet of stamps, valued at $11 to $12, or a roll of stamps, valued at around $62, as much at $1.5 billion in cash for the cash-strapped service would immediately be generated.  

“That ‘wouldn’t break the bank’ (in terms of Americans making an investment in a much-needed service that is under attack by Republicans),” said Grosskopf, who added he is more than bowled over the feedback he’s getting from his Letter Carrier Members, who are being approached by Western New Yorkers on their daily routes.  “I’ve gotten a lot of calls about our customers who are coming out of their houses and talking to our Members, telling them they ‘don’t want to lose the service’ and they ‘are not (going to let Republicans get away with it) without a fight.’”

Grosskopf (pictured below) was preparing for a Friday (August 21st) news conference to be held in Buffalo with U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins - who will travel back to Washington, D.C. the next day for Saturday’s vote in the House on legislation to stop DeJoy’s actions and save the Post Office by providing $25 billion in assistance, when the announcement came that the Postmaster General was ceasing his plan to shorten retail hours at Post Offices, dismantle and cart away massive mail processing equipment, remove neighborhood blue collection boxes and the targeted closing of some mail processing facilities.

In addition, at least 20 Democratic Attorneys General across the country launched a multi-pronged legal effort to push back on the recent changes that disrupted mail delivery across the country and triggered accusations that Republican President Donald Trump and his appointees are trying to undermine mail-in voting, CNN also reported.

(WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: For more on DeJoy’s decision, Read the News Report Headlined: Postal Service Backs Down On Changes As At Least 20 States Sue Over Potential Mail Delays Ahead Of Election at https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/18/politics/post-office-dejoy/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0dRnPAxkulO6fvitaQ077p2fYkEtxArJkCimkQ38WIsbTEIBSfLUZzVM0)

“This ‘is a win,’” Grosskopf said.  “We ‘have to stop (DeJoy), but get the mail processing equipment (that has been dismantled) back in the plants and the operation of the Post Office back to where it was, including putting all those blue mail boxes back where they were.’”

Those individual mail processing machines “are ‘as big as a football field,’” the NALC Branch 3 President told WNYLaborToday.com.  “Just putting ‘one back (in place) will cost as much as ($15,000) to rewire the electrical.’”

There are four such machines that have dismantled at the Post Office’s Williams Street Facility in Buffalo alone, he said.

“We ‘need this network reassembled’ (before the November Election),” he said.

DeJoy buckled, Grosskopf believes, because of the great amount of public and political pressure that had been placed on the Postmaster General, who was believe to be carrying out Trump’s wishes.  In addition, DeJoy was a major political contributor to the Trump campaign.

“I’m ‘really not surprised’ (DeJoy caved),” Grosskopf told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper.  “We ‘pushed the needle in the right direction’ and ‘they bit off way more than they could chew.’  ‘It just goes to show you that you don’t f**k with the Post Office.’  ‘This just didn’t make any sense.’  (DeJoy) is a millionaire.  He’s ‘bought stock in Amazon’ (a Post Office delivery competitor).  ‘Why would he take a job that pays one a couple hundred thousand a year?’”