ROANOKE, VA — A passionate crowd gathered along Williamson Road in Roanoke on Sunday afternoon to voice their opposition to any attempts to privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS). The demonstration, led by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), drew attention from motorists and passersby as dozens of postal workers and supporters lined the street with signs advocating for the protection of America’s mail service.
Video footage from the protest — which you can watch below — shows demonstrators waving banners and chanting in support of preserving USPS as a public institution. Their message was clear: privatization, they argue, would not only jeopardize the livelihoods of over 630,000 USPS employees but also disrupt critical mail services for millions of Americans.
Ross Murray, Executive Vice President of Branch 524 of the NALC, voiced strong concerns about the potential fallout if privatization moves forward.
“It could be catastrophic,” Murray said. “If you live in a rural area, you may not receive mail six days a week anymore. There’s a real risk of increased postage rates, reduced delivery services, and cuts in post office hours. Small businesses, especially, would be hit hard — they depend on reliable and affordable mail delivery.”
The USPS is a backbone of American logistics, serving more than 169 million delivery points across the country. Protesters fear that shifting the service to private hands could lead to profit-driven cutbacks that compromise accessibility and affordability — especially in less populated or underserved communities.
As the debate over the future of USPS continues at the national level, local postal workers in Roanoke are making sure their voices are heard loud and clear. Sunday’s demonstration is one of many being held nationwide as part of a broader campaign to keep the postal service in public hands.
Stay tuned to VintonVoice.com for updates on this developing story — and don’t miss the exclusive video clip from the Williamson Road protest on this page.