While facing decades-long political efforts to throttle and privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS), and while US Postmaster General David Steiner ominously warns that the USPS will “run out of money” within a year, postal workers continue to deliver the mail and serve communities across the country. But that job has gotten harder, more dangerous, and more complicated in recent years. From increases in targeted violence against letter carriers to the Trump administration’s attacks on mail-in voting, to ICE and Border Patrol agents invading communities on their mail routes, USPS workers are confronting many daily hazards on the job that the public doesn’t see. In this episode, we speak with Connor Mauche, a letter carrier in New York and a shop steward for Branch 3 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, about what it’s like to be a postal worker in America in 2026.
 
Additional links/info: 

• National Association of Letter Carriers - Branch 3 website
• Ann DeStefano Sutherland, The Revolt of the Good Guys (a documentary about the Great Postal Strike of 1970) 
• Derek Dolbeare, Labor Notes, “Dispatch: Letter carriers are gearing up for another contract fight”
• Sara Braun, The Guardian, “Nearly blind refugee abandoned by US border patrol found dead in Buffalo”
• Monique Morrissey, Economic Policy Institute, “Why is President Trump attacking the Postal Service?”
• Susan Haigh, AP, “US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says”

Featured Music: 

• Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits: 

• Audio Post-Production: Jules Taylor 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-real-news-podcast--2952221/support.

Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer.

Follow us on:
Bluesky: @therealnews.com
Facebook: The Real News Network
Twitter: @TheRealNews
YouTube: @therealnews
Instagram: @therealnewsnetwork

Become a member and join the Supporters Club for The Real News Podcast today!