National Association of Letter Carriers rally on South Side ahead of USPS contract negotiations

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The National Association of Letter Carriers held a day of action Sunday, rallying on the city's South Side.

Union leaders are calling for a fair contract as negotiations are expected to get underway with the United States Postal Service in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

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Letter carriers in Chicago joined letter carriers across the country for a National Day of Action.

"We overwhelming voted down our last contract," said Elise Foster, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers. "We said no, but the arbitrator ruled and said that we have to take it and it was handed to us. So it's just not right. So we don't want that happened in our last contact negotiations to happen again."

Sunday morning, letter carriers were joined by elected leaders at the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 11 in Bronzeville for a rally ahead of negotiations.

"This battles isn't about fairness and dignity alone. It is about fighting for working families," Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said. "You deliver people their social security checks, prescriptions to those who can't get to the pharmacy, ballots to the voters, letters to loved one. You keep our nation and people connected. We can't survive without you."

"COVID, we learned a lesson that there are a few people in tough, tough times that we can count on day in and day out and one of those persons is your letter carrier," Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said.

Union leaders say they are demanding higher pay and better working conditions. This also comes as the Trump administration has suggested privatizing USPS.

"With my 32 years in the Postal Service it has always been talks about it, but that's something we don't want," Foster said. "This is a service for the American people. It is in the Constitution, and we want to keep it that way."