APWU President Jonathan Smith Addresses Congressional Postal Service Caucus, Advocates for a Vibrant Public Postal Service

APWU President Jonathan Smith attended a Congressional Postal Service Caucus Roundtable discussion with postal union leaders on Thursday, March 5, at the U.S. Capitol. Postal labor leaders briefed members of Congress on the pressing issues they are facing and discussed ways to improve the Postal Service. The Congressional Postal Service Caucus is a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress who are committed to improving the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and supporting the over 600,000 USPS employees across the country. The Postal Service Caucus was formed in July of 2025.

Caucus co-chairs, which include Representatives Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Jack Bergman (MN-01), and Chris Pappas (NH-01), welcomed attendees and gave opening remarks, followed by the remarks of union leaders, including APWU President Jonathan Smith.

During his remarks, President Smith shared the APWU’s commitment to improving the Postal Service and praised postal workers for the valuable work we do to connect every American home, business, and civic institution across the country and beyond. He also stressed the serious challenges facing the Postal Service at this moment, including the threats of privatization. “Losing the public Postal Service wouldn’t just mean 600,000 postal workers losing their jobs,” said President Smith. “It would mean losing a bedrock of American life.”

Smith reiterated the promise our country made in the U.S. Constitution to move the mail, no matter who you are or where you live, to communicate, conduct business, and engage in civic matters. “So, the APWU rejects efforts to reshape the Postal Service into something other than what it was designed to be—a public, universal service available to all. A place where we see the best of government—a trusted face, a model employer, an anchor of community,” Smith exclaimed.

President Smith stated his appreciation to the members of Congress who are working to advance House Resolution 70 (H. Res. 70) – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the USPS remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization. “I’m heartened to see a majority of the House has signed onto this bipartisan resolution,” said Smith. “Let’s work together to get even more support for H. Res. 70.” To that end, President Smith highlighted common-sense solutions on the table to improve the financial stability of the Postal Service, including changing how the USPS invests in its retirement and health benefit funds and fixing the unfair, decades-old allocation of Civil Service liability. The Postal Service is currently limited to investing in low-yield treasuries for its retirement and health benefit funds and is unable to invest in stocks and bonds. President Smith stated that, “Together, these two fixes could save the USPS billions of dollars a year.”

Concluding his remarks, President Smith said, “I believe the American public doesn’t want just another package delivery company. I believe the American public values a trusted, secure, and familiar face at their door every day. I believe the American public wants an innovative and dynamic Postal Service that continues to evolve, as it always has, to the business, communications, and civic needs of the country. To build that, we will need more creative solutions and more serious investment. We will need the courage to make the case that our public services should be built to serve public needs, not just serve as a last resort. The APWU welcomes those hard conversations. We believe the public is with us. We believe the future of the public Postal Service is bright. And we believe that together, with leaders like you in Congress, and the representatives of postal employees here, we can forge that brighter future together.”