More than 100 workers with the National Association of Letter Carriers kicked off bargaining for their next contract Sunday with a rally, calling for fair wages and worker protections at the local branch’s Bronzeville headquarters. They were joined by Gov. JB Pritzker.It comes after a year of atta cks on federal workers' unions from the Trump administration, including the cancellation of several standing contracts.The group is pushing for higher pay, a higher annual uniform allowance and safety measures for postal workers in the field in this new round of bargaining, which is expected to begin Wednesday, according to Elise Foster, president of NALC Branch 11.Foster, a 30-year letter carrier from Pilsen, said postal workers often have to save up for years to get adequate uniforms to work outdoors through the city’s seasons. She said many union members are also concerned about safety after mail carrier Octavia Redmond was fatally shot two years ago.“These are some of the top key items even just to retain employees,” Foster said. “No one do what we do, the way we do it, that’s why first-class service deserves first-class pay. … We have to deliver ourselves back home to our families.” Gov. JB Pritzker raises his fist in solidarity next to Elise Foster, president of NALC Branch 11, at a rally kicking off bargaining for the National Association of Letter Carriers at the union’s Bronzeville headquarters. Violet Miller/Sun-Times An agreement reached in March 2023 is set to expire near the end of May. It brought a new overtime pay structure and protections, increased wages with retroactive pay, cost-of-living adjustments and other changes.But last year, then-Postmaster General Louis DeJoy agreed to work with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to make sweeping cuts to the postal service’s workforce and budget. DeJoy agreed to cut 10,000 letter carriers from the 640,000-person force and billions of dollars from the USPS budgetPresident Donald Trump has also repeatedly called for the privatization of USPS. Former FedEx board member and current Postmaster General David Steiner said he plans to stay on the same track as DeJoy after DeJoy stepped down in late March 2025.Trump has also waged a war on the unions representing federal workers, signing an executive order last March that said collective bargaining requirements no longer applied to many federal agencies, impacting nearly a million employees at the time, according to the American Federation of Government Employees’ national office. Trump said the cancellations were allowed because the agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, play a role in national security, a claim that labor groups are disputing in court.Trump then canceled contracts for three agencies’ unions, stripping union protections from EPA workers in August. Workers with the National Association of Letter Carriers rally ahead of bargaining for their next contract Sunday. Their current contract, signed in 2023, is set to expire in late May.Violet Miller/Sun-Times Days later, Pritzker signed a state law replacing any repealed federal occupational safety standard with a state standard and ensuring workers are paid the Illinois prevailing wage whenever it is higher than the federal rate when federal construction projects are administered by a state or local government.It was one of very few tools for state and local lawmakers looking to back unions against Trump’s gutting of their contracts.After being introduced by Mack Julion, the union’s national assistant secretary, as the “48th president of the United States” — drawing a laugh from Pritzker — the governor said the federal government needed to stop working against the union.Pritzker mentioned the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who died last week, saying that winning the contract would be the “best way to honor his memory.”“The postmaster general needs to do right by you and get you the contract you deserve,” Pritzker said before exiting to chants of "48." “And we’re gonna have to yell it. … Every worker in the United States needs a better wage, so your fight is for them too.” “The postmaster general needs to do right by you and get you the contract you deserve,” Gov. JB Pritzker tells postal workers at a labor rally Sunday at the union’s headquarters in Bronzeville.Violet Miller/Sun-Times ...read more read less