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There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality
This book brings to life the important but neglected story of African American postal workers and the critical role they played in the U.S. labor and black freedom movements. Historian Philip Rubio, a former postal worker, integrates civil rights, labor, and left movement histories that too often are written as if they happened separately. Centered on New York City and Washington, D.C., the book chronicles a struggle of national significance through its examination of the post office, a workplace with facilities and unions serving every city and town in the United States.
Black postal workers--often college-educated military veterans--fought their way into postal positions and unions and became a critical force for social change. They combined black labor protest and civic traditions to construct a civil rights unionism at the post office. They were a major factor in the 1970 nationwide postal wildcat strike, which resulted in full collective bargaining rights for the major postal unions under the newly established U.S. Postal Service in 1971. In making the fight for equality primary, African American postal workers were influential in shaping today's post office and postal unions.
Black postal workers--often college-educated military veterans--fought their way into postal positions and unions and became a critical force for social change. They combined black labor protest and civic traditions to construct a civil rights unionism at the post office. They were a major factor in the 1970 nationwide postal wildcat strike, which resulted in full collective bargaining rights for the major postal unions under the newly established U.S. Postal Service in 1971. In making the fight for equality primary, African American postal workers were influential in shaping today's post office and postal unions.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionLabor
472 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 2, 2026
It was full of important information, but it was very dry.
About ⅓ of the book is just the references, so it's incredibly factual.
I would only recommend this book to people who have a strong interest in history and/or the United States Postal Service.
I read the physical book, which was given to me by a friend.
About ⅓ of the book is just the references, so it's incredibly factual.
I would only recommend this book to people who have a strong interest in history and/or the United States Postal Service.
I read the physical book, which was given to me by a friend.
October 26, 2022
There's Always Work at the Post Office: African American Postal Workers and the Fight for Jobs, Justice, and Equality, Philip F. Rubio, 2010, 446 pages. Dewey 331.6396073, ISBN 9780807859865
The book is essentially a history 1913 through 1971. Includes a little on the 1966 Chicago backlog that delayed millions of mailpieces for 3 weeks, and was used as an excuse to set up a commission of corporate executives to "find" that the U.S. Post Office Department should be abolished and replaced with a corporate structure. Never mind that doing so did not address the causes of the backlog. Tells us that the Johnson and Nixon administrations had deliberately kept postal-worker pay below the inflation rate, in the years leading up to the 1970 wildcat strike and 1971 corporatization of the postal service.
We learn:
Negroes were 31% of Chicago postal workers in 1928. p. 37.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Buchanan v. Warley: ordinances prohibiting blacks from living in white neighborhoods, are unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. 1917. p. 41:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housi...
In 1919, the National Association of Letter Carriers integrated its locals. p. 41.
Many unimportant details.
The author writes as if the recent postal declines are inevitable and nobody's fault--completely missing the story of USPS's ongoing self-destruction, at the demand of business interests:
*Preventing the Post Office from offering electronic mailgrams--which could provide one-day delivery anywhere, avoid hauling paper across the country, be popular and profitable, the biggest boon to post since paper. Businesses from Western Union to FedEx have kept it from happening.
*Massive discounts for pre-sorted mail, far in excess of "costs avoided," in violation of federal law, but the big mailers put through a bogus definition of "costs avoided." In fact, costs are largely fixed, and already paid: the processing-and-distribution plants have been built; the mail-processing equipment has been bought; the full-time workforce has been hired. Hiring Pitney Bowes or United Mailing to presort part of it, saves few costs for USPS. The mail all has to be resorted anyway, into a single carrier-route sequence.
*Destroying postal infrastructure: closing and selling post offices, in violation of federal law. Closing processing-and-distribution plants. Destroying mail-processing equipment.
*Destroying delivery standards. Mail that recently would arrive at its destination in one day, now takes several days.
*Designing USPS to be "like a business:" by law, USPS top officials must be former corporate executives: they serve corporate interests. Postmaster DeJoy is a trucking-company owner. USPS has no stockholders, so it tries to serve "stakeholders," meaning the big mailers, big suppliers, and big competitors. The U.S. Post Office Department could have continued to exist after the wildcat strike of 1970. Paying postal employees a living wage did not necessitate changing a government service into a corporation.
*Prohibiting the Post Office from owning its own airplanes. Instead, USPS hires FedEx and UPS to fly the mail.
See Christopher Shaw's book, First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Corporate Threat, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
See Steve Hutkins' outstanding blog, https://www.savethepostoffice.com/ , for the latest of USPS management's efforts to destroy the postal service, so it can be completely privatized.
Rubio is an academic historian who was a postal worker from 1980 to 2000.
The book is essentially a history 1913 through 1971. Includes a little on the 1966 Chicago backlog that delayed millions of mailpieces for 3 weeks, and was used as an excuse to set up a commission of corporate executives to "find" that the U.S. Post Office Department should be abolished and replaced with a corporate structure. Never mind that doing so did not address the causes of the backlog. Tells us that the Johnson and Nixon administrations had deliberately kept postal-worker pay below the inflation rate, in the years leading up to the 1970 wildcat strike and 1971 corporatization of the postal service.
We learn:
Negroes were 31% of Chicago postal workers in 1928. p. 37.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Buchanan v. Warley: ordinances prohibiting blacks from living in white neighborhoods, are unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. 1917. p. 41:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housi...
In 1919, the National Association of Letter Carriers integrated its locals. p. 41.
Many unimportant details.
The author writes as if the recent postal declines are inevitable and nobody's fault--completely missing the story of USPS's ongoing self-destruction, at the demand of business interests:
*Preventing the Post Office from offering electronic mailgrams--which could provide one-day delivery anywhere, avoid hauling paper across the country, be popular and profitable, the biggest boon to post since paper. Businesses from Western Union to FedEx have kept it from happening.
*Massive discounts for pre-sorted mail, far in excess of "costs avoided," in violation of federal law, but the big mailers put through a bogus definition of "costs avoided." In fact, costs are largely fixed, and already paid: the processing-and-distribution plants have been built; the mail-processing equipment has been bought; the full-time workforce has been hired. Hiring Pitney Bowes or United Mailing to presort part of it, saves few costs for USPS. The mail all has to be resorted anyway, into a single carrier-route sequence.
*Destroying postal infrastructure: closing and selling post offices, in violation of federal law. Closing processing-and-distribution plants. Destroying mail-processing equipment.
*Destroying delivery standards. Mail that recently would arrive at its destination in one day, now takes several days.
*Designing USPS to be "like a business:" by law, USPS top officials must be former corporate executives: they serve corporate interests. Postmaster DeJoy is a trucking-company owner. USPS has no stockholders, so it tries to serve "stakeholders," meaning the big mailers, big suppliers, and big competitors. The U.S. Post Office Department could have continued to exist after the wildcat strike of 1970. Paying postal employees a living wage did not necessitate changing a government service into a corporation.
*Prohibiting the Post Office from owning its own airplanes. Instead, USPS hires FedEx and UPS to fly the mail.
See Christopher Shaw's book, First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Corporate Threat, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
See Steve Hutkins' outstanding blog, https://www.savethepostoffice.com/ , for the latest of USPS management's efforts to destroy the postal service, so it can be completely privatized.
Rubio is an academic historian who was a postal worker from 1980 to 2000.
April 29, 2021
This is a very well researched and written book that I truly enjoyed reading. We got to know where we come from so that we don't repeat the mistakes we've made on the course toward progress.
In 1961 President Kennedy said "Let the public service be a proud and lively career."
This book is a powerful historical must read for all African American postal workers. I highly recommend it for all postal leaders bargaining, and non-bargaining. Keep this reference in your professional development library! The author does a superb job presenting an important history lesson for all of us. Find out about the 9 postal unions; NALC, UFPC, NPMHU, NAPOGSME, NFPOMVED, NASDM, NPU, NA, NRLCA. You'll have to dive into this book to get the real lowdown.
Learn about the first known black female postal worker, first black female postmaster, auxiliaries and their role in the struggle and postal workers that are celebrities today.
This is where you can read and learn about Jim Crowism, McCarthyism (1950-1954), and segregation through unions, and separate water fountains in the swing rooms.
You won't believe that way back in the day speeches sympathetic to postal workers were made on the senate floor using vivid language to highlight the post office's "Oppressive and outdated management style. Wow! The more things change the more they remain the same in the 21st century.
You'll find an excellent collection of black and white photos
Recall the 1970 strike with the euphemism for the strike weapon being "imposition of economic sanctions. Learn about the wildcat powder keg, collective begging, and review the contributions of Moe Biller and still-onboard APWU Bill Burrus.
Unionism with congressional lobbying will always maintain the pressure on the issues that affect us. For all of us in unions we can't become complacent in defending all the struggles and negotiations that unions at the post office have won for all of us. The bottom line is if we don't fight for change it won't happen.
Thank you Mr. Rubio for your many years of postal service and this manuscript contribution. I would have loved to read about your experiences on the workroom floor from 1980-2000.
The struggle for jobs, justice and equality continues.
In 1961 President Kennedy said "Let the public service be a proud and lively career."
This book is a powerful historical must read for all African American postal workers. I highly recommend it for all postal leaders bargaining, and non-bargaining. Keep this reference in your professional development library! The author does a superb job presenting an important history lesson for all of us. Find out about the 9 postal unions; NALC, UFPC, NPMHU, NAPOGSME, NFPOMVED, NASDM, NPU, NA, NRLCA. You'll have to dive into this book to get the real lowdown.
Learn about the first known black female postal worker, first black female postmaster, auxiliaries and their role in the struggle and postal workers that are celebrities today.
This is where you can read and learn about Jim Crowism, McCarthyism (1950-1954), and segregation through unions, and separate water fountains in the swing rooms.
You won't believe that way back in the day speeches sympathetic to postal workers were made on the senate floor using vivid language to highlight the post office's "Oppressive and outdated management style. Wow! The more things change the more they remain the same in the 21st century.
You'll find an excellent collection of black and white photos
Recall the 1970 strike with the euphemism for the strike weapon being "imposition of economic sanctions. Learn about the wildcat powder keg, collective begging, and review the contributions of Moe Biller and still-onboard APWU Bill Burrus.
Unionism with congressional lobbying will always maintain the pressure on the issues that affect us. For all of us in unions we can't become complacent in defending all the struggles and negotiations that unions at the post office have won for all of us. The bottom line is if we don't fight for change it won't happen.
Thank you Mr. Rubio for your many years of postal service and this manuscript contribution. I would have loved to read about your experiences on the workroom floor from 1980-2000.
The struggle for jobs, justice and equality continues.
July 14, 2019
My god, was this the driest book I’ve ever read. I work for the post office and still dreaded picking up this book every day. More personal stories and specific points of view would have been helpful in understanding what I’m sure is, in reality, an interesting history.
April 16, 2022
Seemed like an interesting topic but the book was very dry. Mostly a lot of names, committee meeting details & dates.
I tried to push through but gave up around page 70. Felt like I was reading a high school history text book
I tried to push through but gave up around page 70. Felt like I was reading a high school history text book
July 29, 2021
so good perfect for my reseach very important to know as someone who uses the mail daily. however its very dense historical academic writing that requires caffeine
May 29, 2023
This contains a lot of great information, but I'm afraid the major points drown in heavily academic writing.
April 29, 2025
Very very dry and academic but well researched and a good jumping off point for further inquiry on my end!
Read
June 13, 2013Tell Mama I tried...
Got through the first three chapters, and the last two, before throwing in the towel. Undoubtedly a first-rate piece of research and journalism, but a hard slog if you're not intimately familiar with the minutiae of labor relations, conflicting unions, and day-to-day civil rights events. Also, not written for maximum narrative snap. Wouldn't necessarily be a problem on its own, but adding to it the three page glossy of organization/union acronyms and chronological choppiness, I had to put this down. Maybe I can get a bit more context after I've read Taylor Branch's civil rights trilogy.
Got through the first three chapters, and the last two, before throwing in the towel. Undoubtedly a first-rate piece of research and journalism, but a hard slog if you're not intimately familiar with the minutiae of labor relations, conflicting unions, and day-to-day civil rights events. Also, not written for maximum narrative snap. Wouldn't necessarily be a problem on its own, but adding to it the three page glossy of organization/union acronyms and chronological choppiness, I had to put this down. Maybe I can get a bit more context after I've read Taylor Branch's civil rights trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews