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Tennessee postal workers protested and mobilized against the threat of postal privatization, which they said could lead to higher costs, reduced services, and job losses.

The motto of Thursday’s National Day of Action, “U.S. Mail is not for sale,” is a rebuke to Elon Musk’s suggestion that the U.S. Postal Service be sold off to private companies.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said if the agency is privatized, its basic mission would be compromised.

“The whole question of universal service, meaning that we go to every address—169 million addresses—six days a week, sometimes seven, no matter who we are and where we live,” Dimondstein said. “That’s all under threat when there’s serious talk about turning this over to private entities.”

Supporters worry post offices would be shuttered and employees laid off, causing delays in the delivery of medications for senior citizens. They also wonder if a private company can be trusted to handle millions of mail-in ballots.

President Donald Trump floated the idea of folding the Postal Service into the Commerce Department to save money, a move advocates said would be illegal because Congress created the Postal Service as an independent agency, separate from the executive branch. Dimondstein argued privatization would be disastrous for consumers and workers.

“Package rates would probably double for the people of the country,” Dimondstein said. “Services would go down, and postal workers and their families—but the country—would lose a base of good, living-wage union jobs.”

As of 2023, Tennessee has more than 12,000 postal workers, making an average of $60,000 a year.