SPOKANE, Wash. – The American Postal Workers Union Inland Empire Area Local #338 (APWU) protested in Riverfront Park on Thursday.
APWU says that the Postal Board of Governors, which functions as a board of directors for the US Postal Service, has been unresponsive to employee concerns. An email sent to local news organizations articulated the exact changes which frustrate union workers.
“The allotted speaking time for any public comment has gone from 3 minutes last summer, to 1.5 mins in September of last year to a mere 30 seconds in January of this year, to the point where now NO PUBLIC COMMENT IS ALLOWED. They request that you mail your concerns in,” APWU wrote.
A post office advocacy website states that public comment at Postal Board meetings has been limited from taking place at every quarterly meeting to just one annually.
Several protesters could be seen holding signs saying “we won’t be silenced” as they protested the change in public comment rules.
