LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A coalition of activists, led by MoveOn.org, have declared today a “day of action” aimed at saving the U.S. Postal system with nearly 700 rallies planned nationwide -- including Southern California.
A march and rally, sponsored by Northridge Indivisible, will get underway at 8 a.m. outside the CNN Building, 6430 Sunset Blvd. before participants march to the post office branch at 1425 N Cherokee Ave.
All of the other rallies are set for 11 a.m. local time outside various postal facilities.
“... we will show up at local post offices across the country for “Save the Post Office Saturday" to save the post office from (President Donald) Trump and declare that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy must resign,” said a statement on the MoveOn.org website.
DeJoy, who became Postmaster General on June 16, has been accused of tampering with the nation's postal service by banning overtime, removing mail sorting equipment and prohibiting extra trips by postal workers to collect mail and parcels that arrive later in the day to cut costs.
The U.S. Postal Service lost $8.8 billion in fiscal 2019, more than twice what it lost the previous year, and DeJoy has said the changes are necessary to save money.
Critics have said the changes have slowed mail delivery at a time when more people are relying on the service amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and to vote by mail ahead of the Nov. 3 General Election.
DeJoy defended his leadership during a hearing Friday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and said operational changes would be put on hold until after the election. He also vowed post offices will be able to handle mail-in ballots.
He is expected to testify Monday before the House Oversight Committee.
Here are some of the "Save the Post Office" rallies scheduled today in Los Angeles and Orange counties:
-- Long Beach - 5050 E. 2nd St.
-- Santa Monica - 1217 Wilshire Blvd.
-- North Hollywood - 11304 Chandler Blvd.
-- Laguna Beach - 350 Forest Ave.
-- San Clemente - 208 Avenida Vaquero
-- Newport Beach - 204 Main St.
-- Santa Ana - 2201 N. Grand Ave.
-- Garden Grove - 10441 Stanford Ave.
-- Irvine - UCI's University Center, 4255 Campus Drive, Suite A100