Occupy the Deadwood Post Office: 80 people rallied and 164 signed the petition at one of 23 Occupy Our Post Offices events on December 19. Deadwood has a population of less than 200.
Over the last few months, rural Oregon and ROP have been on the front lines responding to an assault on rural community infrastructure. In October, 41 rural Oregon communities were told their post offices would be closing as early as January 15 as a cost-saving measure for the Postal Service. In addition, four processing facilities are slated for closure. Communities across Oregon united to fight back through every avenue they could think of, from community meetings, letters to Congress, and petitions. On December 19, we turned up the heat when twenty-three Oregon communities simultaneously Occupied their Post Offices with holiday spirit to keep rural post offices open. This action was featured by savethepostoffice.com. Check it out!
Why this Activity? As a result of all of the hard work of rural communities across the country, we have won two incredible victories so far:the United States Postal Service has announced a 5-month moratorium on rural post office closures and 21 rural post offices in Eastern Oregon have been taken off of the closure list! With the entire state mobilizing from Scappoose to Roseburg to Deadwood (with a population of less than 200), our voices are being heard!
The key demand is that Congress fixes the 2006 law that requires the Postal Service to prefund retirement benefits for 75 years. Only now is there growing awareness about this law, but it is the reason that the Postal Service is running a deficit. Without intervention by Congress, there is a looming danger that the postal service will be increasingly privatized – something that rural communities and union postal workers cannot afford.
We have the attention of Congress and the Postal Service; now we must make sure they take action! Let’s keep rural Oregon on the frontlines of this fight!
What is the Activity? This month’s Kitchen Table Activism is a follow up from the December KTA that asked groups to plan local Occupy Our Post Offices actions. Communities across the state have been gathering signatures on a petition to our Senators and Representatives asking them to do two things:
- Fix the Postal Service’s manufactured financial crisis that was created by Congress in 2006.
- Do not sacrifice crucial community infrastructure under the guise of a “10-mile compromise” that closes any post office within ten miles of an operational post office.
We want to have 3,000 petition signatures to deliver to all of Oregon’s Congressional district offices in February by rural delegations!
STEPS TO COMPLETE THIS ACTIVITY:
1. Download the petition and signature sheet!
2. Circulate a link to our online petition via email, website, Facebook, and Twitter: http://www.change.org/
3. Download this informational flyer to educate your community.
- Contact ROP if you would like to order some color copies of this flyer (at a discounted printing cost).
4. Gather signatures outside of your Post Office! Keep in mind that most people frequent the post office after working hours!
5. Bring the petition to your HDG’s gatherings, to Occupy meetings, and everywhere else you go!
6. Ask local businesses to collect signatures at their check-out counters!
7. Send your completed to petition to ROP by January 27 at:
PO Box 1350
Scappoose, OR 97056