Hundreds of Oregonians Occupy Their Post Offices in Response to Threat of Rural Closures

“Deadwood wouldn’t exist in ten years without the post office” - Leslie Benscoter, retired schoolteacher and Occupy the Post Office organizer in Deadwood, Oregon

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(Scappoose, Ore.) - Hundreds of Oregonians Occupied 23 post offices across the state on Monday in response to the United States Postal Service’s threat to close 21 rural post offices. Occupiers carried Christmas cards, cookies and gifts of appreciation to their postal workers and collected over 1,000 petition signatures asking Congress to reform laws that have caused the unnecessary funding crisis within the Postal Service.

Deadwood had a team of draft horses dubbed the “Deadwood Pony Express” in the parking lot of their Post Office for their 80-person rally on Monday. With a population less than 200, Deadwood collected over 164 petition signatures from community members throughout the day, including a group of previous residents who drove out from Yachats just to support the event.

“The parking lot was full of folks chatting and meeting for the first time,” said Leslie Benscoter, retired schoolteacher and Occupy the Post Office organizer in Deadwood. “Despite our differences, every single member of the community came out to rally around the one thing that brings us together: our post office. I have lived in this community more than fifty years and I still managed to meet new people.”

The statewide day of action was initiated by the rural communities of Deadwood and Swisshome after the Postal Administration notified them in October 2011 that their post offices were scheduled for closure as a means of addressing their financial crisis. Residents submitted a petition to the Postmaster General with 350 signatures – out of a combined population of 500 – but still found their post office on the closure list. Out of options, Swisshome and Deadwood contacted the Rural Organizing Project and quickly joined with other groups concerned about the impacts of closures in their communities.

“Deadwood wouldn’t exist in ten years without the post office,” said Benscoter. “That’s why I am an Occupier. I Occupy 97430.”

Some small towns hosted events in solidarity with the day of action, even if their post office is not at risk of closure. “The Occupy movement means advocating for the 99%,” said Craig Frasier from Columbia County Citizens for Human Dignity in Scappoose. “Rural and small-town Oregonians who are economically vulnerable rely on the post office for basic needs like getting prescription medications. As a public service, the post office prioritizes getting the job done over turning a profit. We all must take an interest in protecting it.”

“The statewide day of action was an overwhelming success,” said Cara Shufelt, Director of the Rural Organizing Project. “Communities came together to reclaim their post offices as vital community spaces. Closing these post offices is completely unnecessary. We need legislation that keeps our post offices open and addresses the requirement to excessively prefund benefits.”

The Postal Service’s financial crisis stems from the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by Congress in 2006 that forces the USPS to prefund employee benefits at $5.5 billion annually.

"The funding woes at the Postal Service are largely due to a poisonous bill from Congress,” said Bart Bolger, a rural letter carrier in Philomath and organizer of Occupy the Post Office in Corvallis. “There is a simple way to fix this without cutting jobs and service to our customers: undo the requirement to prefund benefits for 75 years. This is what is crippling the Postal Service financially."

Communities participating in the day of action on Monday include Deadwood, Swisshome, Walton, Paulina, Post, Agness, Tiller, Eddyville, Cascadia, Juntura, Fort Klamath, Idanha, Drewsey, Powell Butte, Prineville, Oakland, Roseburg, Corvallis, Scappoose, Klamath Falls, Salem, Bend and Cottage Grove.

Source: Rural Organizing Project - Advancing Democracy in Rural Oregon
www.ROP.org