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One occupant of a car that stopped at the U.S. Postal Service mailbox in front of Irondequoit Town Hal, 1280 Titus Ave., Irondequoit,l late this afternoon was concerned the box was coming out.
After all, there were dozens of people carrying signs that said "Save America's Postal Service" standing alongside the box.
They actually are rallying to protest potential job and postal service cuts by the U.S. Congress.
Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle, R, Syracuse, whose sprawling district includes all or part of the Monroe County towns of Irondequoit, Penfield and Webster, has an office in the basement at Irondequoit Town Hall. She was not there this afternoon.
By about 4:30 p.m., more than two dozen postal workers and friends had gathered for the Irondequoit rally. Simultaneously, a rally was also planned outside Congresswoman Louise Slaughter's office in the federal building, 100 State St., in downtown Rochester. Both rallies were scheduled to run to 5:30 p.m.
"We're here to get (Congresswoman) Buerkle to support H.R. 1351 in Congress," said Monique Mate of Irondequoit, who is a letter carrier in Irondequoit.
The bill that is expected to be considered in Congress would "save" the U.S. Postal Service, rally organizers said, by changing accounting rules and allowing the postal service to pay its bills.
One of the roots of the postal service's troubles, said Diane Harmon of Greece, a member of the American Postal Workers Union, in Irondequoit this afternoon, is a federal bill that mandated, during the Bush administration, that the postal service pay $5 billion a year to pre-fund the postal service retirement system for 75 years.
"A chance to stop funding that would be the first step to making sure the postal service doesn't go under," Harmon said. "Our stand is that the postal service does more than deliver mail. We go house to house every day."
She understands the impact email and today's technologies are having on the postal service, Harmon said, "But when the telephone came out, they said the postal service was going to close, too."
The U.S. Congress, rally organizers say, will be making major decisions about the future of the postal service this fall.
Changes already in the works for the U.S. Postal Service include moving the western New York mail processing hub and 500 jobs from Buffalo to Rochester.
The U.S. Postal Service outlined a "survival plan" recently to slash billions of dollars from its bottom line. It calls for cutting thousands of jobs, consolidating hundreds of big mail facilities, and closing post offices.
Irondequoit's post office is not on the list to be closed, Mate said.
For more information on the effort represented by today's rallies, go to www.SaveAmericasPostalService.org.
One occupant of a car that stopped at the U.S. Postal Service mailbox in front of Irondequoit Town Hal, 1280 Titus Ave., Irondequoit,l late this afternoon was concerned the box was coming out.
After all, there were dozens of people carrying signs that said "Save America's Postal Service" standing alongside the box.
They actually are rallying to protest potential job and postal service cuts by the U.S. Congress.
Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle, R, Syracuse, whose sprawling district includes all or part of the Monroe County towns of Irondequoit, Penfield and Webster, has an office in the basement at Irondequoit Town Hall. She was not there this afternoon.
By about 4:30 p.m., more than two dozen postal workers and friends had gathered for the Irondequoit rally. Simultaneously, a rally was also planned outside Congresswoman Louise Slaughter's office in the federal building, 100 State St., in downtown Rochester. Both rallies were scheduled to run to 5:30 p.m.
"We're here to get (Congresswoman) Buerkle to support H.R. 1351 in Congress," said Monique Mate of Irondequoit, who is a letter carrier in Irondequoit.
The bill that is expected to be considered in Congress would "save" the U.S. Postal Service, rally organizers said, by changing accounting rules and allowing the postal service to pay its bills.
One of the roots of the postal service's troubles, said Diane Harmon of Greece, a member of the American Postal Workers Union, in Irondequoit this afternoon, is a federal bill that mandated, during the Bush administration, that the postal service pay $5 billion a year to pre-fund the postal service retirement system for 75 years.
"A chance to stop funding that would be the first step to making sure the postal service doesn't go under," Harmon said. "Our stand is that the postal service does more than deliver mail. We go house to house every day."
She understands the impact email and today's technologies are having on the postal service, Harmon said, "But when the telephone came out, they said the postal service was going to close, too."
The U.S. Congress, rally organizers say, will be making major decisions about the future of the postal service this fall.
Changes already in the works for the U.S. Postal Service include moving the western New York mail processing hub and 500 jobs from Buffalo to Rochester.
The U.S. Postal Service outlined a "survival plan" recently to slash billions of dollars from its bottom line. It calls for cutting thousands of jobs, consolidating hundreds of big mail facilities, and closing post offices.
Irondequoit's post office is not on the list to be closed, Mate said.
For more information on the effort represented by today's rallies, go to www.SaveAmericasPostalService.org.
