🎧 Brattleboro letter carriers say public service is at the heart of their work

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, in partnership with Vermont Public. 

The future is uncertain for the United States Postal Service. It’s lost billions of dollars in recent years. And the Trump administration has suggested making major changes to the agency. 

But underneath all that uncertainty, postal workers in one Vermont town want to make sure all their neighbors — not just some — can get their mail.

🎧 This story was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We’ve also provided a transcript below.

Viv Woodland: I think a big part of this job is mental. Just keep going, just keep going. One house at a time.

Kate Wojeck: Viv Woodland is a letter carrier in Brattleboro. She’s been walking her route for a decade.

Viv Woodland: If I go on vacation, I hear about it. ‘Where were you?’ My customers rely on me, yeah.

Brattleboro resident: Hi Viv. Thank you.

Viv Woodland: You’re welcome.

Kate Wojeck: Woodland goes through a pair of shoes every 3-6 months. Currently, she’s wearing down a pair of leather Merrells.

One day she dreams of coaching little league on the weekends. But for now, she delivers mail most Saturdays.

She lives just a mile from her loop.

Viv Woodland: This is my neighborhood, you know? I live in West Brattleboro. But this is my neighborhood. These are my people.

Kate Wojeck: Woodland says the heart of the USPS is its work as a service. Its mission is to deliver mail to all addresses — regardless of location — at an affordable price.

Viv Woodland: As much as is practical, every citizen gets mail every day.

Kate Wojeck: But the USPS has been losing money for several years. And the Trump administration has floated privatization — turning the service over to for-profit companies — as a possible solution. 

That idea has some Vermont postal workers and residents worried, since it’s not profitable to deliver mail in rural areas. 

Right now, a lot is up in the air. 

Viv Woodland: A lot of customers are asking me that, ‘How are things at the post office? How are things at the post office?’ And I haven’t felt anything yet. But I’m still nervous.

Kate Wojeck: In March, people across the country rallied in support of keeping the USPS a public service.

About 200 people gathered in Brattleboro. 

Woodland is a leader in her branch of the letter carriers’ union, and she organized the event.  

Viv Woodland (on stage at the rally): We are rallying together now because these calls for privatization have reached our doorstep.

Kate Wojeck: Rally-goers I talked to, like Brattleboro resident Randy Kraus, said having a postal service that serves everyone is especially important in a rural place like Vermont. 

Randy Kraus: We believe in the Postal Service, and we believe it should remain in the public. I mean, the post office helps the rural people!

Kate Wojeck: Rich Griffin agrees. He’s another Brattleboro letter carrier.

Griffin’s been walking his 12-mile route for 19 years.

[Dog barks]

Rich Griffin: Hey buddy, hi!

Kate Wojeck: Griffin leaves treats for every dog on his route. He says he’s developed a special bond with his customers, too.

Rich Griffin: How you doing Veronica?

Brattleboro resident: Good! Best mailman around!

[Griffin laughs]

Rich Griffin: I’ve seen families grow up. You know, I’ve seen little babies… now they’re high schoolers. It’s amazing ’cause you see it every day, ’cause you’re there every day, at the same addresses every day.

Kate Wojeck: The Postal Service is responsible for the mail that keeps our communities running. Your newspaper, ballot and medications. Letters from the bank, the court, and your friends and family — Griffin and Woodland carry it all.

Viv Woodland: You know, like we talked about, how many different parts of our daily culture and life in the United States really rely on a postal service being there. Because it always has been.

Kate Wojeck:  A new postmaster general will lead the USPS starting in July. 

Woodland and Griffin hope the Postal Service can become financially stable, and better support its employees and its customers — without sacrificing its service mission.

For now, though, they’ll continue to walk house to house — connecting us.