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MILWAUKEE -- Postal service workers rallied Thursday, April 12th in downtown Milwaukee -- protesting cuts that some say would dismantle the postal service and get rid of mail delivery on Saturdays.
Ending mail service on Saturdays is something Scott Van Derven and the rest of the postal workers rallying Thursday said will be detrimental for the country. "A lot of our folks really rely on that sixth day. They get their medications for instance through the mail, and they get a lot of their internet packages and stuff through the mail," Van Derven said.
Van Derven and others said their problems don't stem from people using the internet to mail things electronically. "You hear that the postal service is losing money. We are obligated to pay a $5.5 billion payment pre-funding employee retirement benefits into the future," Van Derven said.
Postal workers claim they're breaking even operationally, but the pre-funding benefits the post office is required to pay is leaving them on the verge of collapse. "It would be negligible. We'd be giving away the great business advantage that we have," Van Derven said.
That is why the postal workers gathered signatures to stop Congress from passing legislation that downsizes services.
The U.S. Senate is expected to discuss the bill next week in session.
Postal workers say there needs to be many reforms to services, but killing mail service on Saturdays and shutting down facilities is not one of them.