The chant “Save Our Service, Save Our Jobs" echoed up and down Vassar Street in Reno on Friday, as local letter carriers marched for more than an hour to protest a postal service plan to out-source some delivery routes.

With new housing developments pop up across our region, the postal service must add hundreds of thousands of new addresses to their routes every year.

At the same time, the popularity of email and online billing has led to a drop in stamp sales.

As a result, the United States Postal Service faces an ever-increasing delivery area, and a continually-shrinking source of revenue.

Like many large corporations, the government agency has turned to outside help for a cost-effective solution. But letter carriers are concerned the decision could cost them their jobs…and the hit the streets in protest, claiming out-sourcing could create security risks.

The National Association of Letter Carriers is attempting to pass legislation to stop the use of outside contractors

But the process of using contracts, has already started. According to the president of the NALC Bill Young, two postal employees worked their last day of work on Friday, because of that switch.

Kendra Kostelecky, KOLO 8 News