The U.S. Postal Service may be dead by June if Congress doesn’t act now.

Among workers, Black and Asian American workers will lose the most.

The bills passed by Congress to address the COVID-19 crisis have provided at least some assistance to everyone — except the workers of the U.S. Postal Service. The bills have aid for individuals; state, local, and tribal governments; small businesses and big businesses; nonprofits; and even gig-workers — but nothing for the U.S. Postal Service. Conservative members of Congress have been working to destroy the Postal Service for years. With the assistance of COVID-19, they may succeed in killing the Postal Service by June and adding nearly 700,000 Postal Service workers to the unemployment rolls.

Congress has imposed significant financial burdens on the operation of the Postal Service while requiring the Postal Service to be as profitable as other businesses without those Congressionally-imposed burdens. Now in the face of additional financial stress caused by the COVID-19 crisis, Congress and the White House have denied aid to the Postal Service although they have provided aid to everyone else. If the Postal Service dies, we should be clear that Congress, not COVID-19, killed it.

The death of the Postal Service would be a major crisis for the country on top of the COVID-19 crisis. The Postal Service is an important part of the country’s infrastructure. Many people rely on the Postal Service for the delivery of medical supplies, checks, and other important items like Census forms. Plans to move to voting by mail will have to be scrapped without the Postal Service. Rural communities will be especially hurt. It is not likely that conservatives in Congress and the White House have fully thought through the consequences of their death sentence for the Postal Service.

The U.S Postal Service provides good jobs to many, especially Black and Asian American workers

A majority of Postal Service workers are white, but workers of all races and ethnic backgrounds work in the Postal Service. The Postal Service is particularly important to black and Asian American workers because these groups are over-represented in these good jobs.

Figure A shows that while black people make up about 12 percent of all workers, they make up double that share in the Postal Service. The Postal Service is one of the few avenues black workers have to good jobs. The median annual wage for black workers overall is $30,000, but it is $50,000 in the Postal Service.

Asian American workers are also over-represented in the Postal Service. Figure B shows that while Asian Americans make up 6 percent of all workers, they make up nearly 8 percent of workers in the Postal Service. For Asian Americans the Postal Service is also a pathway to good jobs. The overall median annual wage for Asian American workers is $48,000, but it is $60,000 in the Postal Service.

If Congress and the White House do not act to save the Postal Service, they will be adding nearly 700,000 people to the unemployment numbers by the end of the summer. They will also hurt millions of individuals and businesses who depend on the mail for their daily needs. While workers of all races and ethnic backgrounds will be hurt, black and Asian American workers are especially reliant on the Postal Service for access to good jobs. Congress needs to reverse course, and save the Postal Service now.