Privatizing postal service would kill black jobs

The Wire 985 - In recent weeks, the fate of the United States Postal Service (USPS), a revered and vital public institution, has been uncertain. Since the start of his second presidency, Donald Trump has launched major changes to the federal government... Now, Trump is turning his focus to the post office, an agency he has long been critical of and one that he may be privatizing.

In addition to delivering upwards of 343.5m pieces of mail and packages a day, the post office is responsible for administering official government forms such as passport applications, and providing banking services, such as money orders. As of 2025, it employs 640,000 people. Black people, in particular, make up 29% of its staff, while making up just 12% of the national workforce overall.

The Washington Post first reported that Trump is expected to take control of the USPS, likely signing an executive order in the coming weeks to place the independent agency under the Commerce department. With privatization, Trump would probably curtail postal services, said Arrion Brown, the national support services director for the American Postal Workers Union. “The privatization definitely would require less employees,” he said. “That would cut down on the number of postal jobs.”