Dozens of Kansas mail carriers rally in Lenexa to garner support
Union leaders say they want public support as cuts and changes to operations are floated
LENEXA, Kan. (KCTV) - Dozens of mail carriers from Kansas lined up to rally in Lenexa Friday as discussions about privatizing the U.S. Postal Service continue and new legislation threatens to cut retirement for carriers.
It’s being proposed as a fix for funding issues, but carriers say this would cause you to pay more for letters and packages that arrive at your door, if they would at all.
The rally happened Friday morning along 87th Street in Lenexa, as almost 90 mail carriers from Kansas pulled support from passersby. They showed up with bull horns and matching t-shirts. The group was in town for a convention, many of them traveling from Lawrence, Topeka and western Kansas.
Former President of the Kansas Association of Letter Carriers Andy Tuttle helped lead the demonstration. He says privatizing the postal service or scaling back operations would threaten jobs, cause shipping prices to increase and even take away service for millions of Americans in rural areas.
“These weren’t the promises that were made to us when we began our careers in public service,” Tuttle said.
Tuttle says they’re against changes to the service despite concerns that the USPS loses billions of dollars a year. Leaders have been working to cut down on the loss of funds, but the union says privatization is not the way to do it.
These rallies have happened across the country as conversations continue about ways to improve the service. Although, Tuttle says the big takeaway from these rallies is public response as they get honks, cheers and thumbs up from passersby.
“It’s very gratifying and I think people do appreciate us and they do appreciate the work we do and we’ve had a few others of these around the country, we had one in Kansas City, Missouri in late March,” Tuttle said.
The 250-year-old service has been called ‘inefficient’ by national leaders. Kansas City congressional leaders have also worked to address issues with changes to the mail service in recent years.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.