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Issa’s ‘Postal Destruction’ Bill Passes House Subcommittee

Fri, 09/23/2011 - 12:51am

Bill Would Authorize Layoffs, Force Out Senior Employees First
 

 

Unions Keep Pressure On, Urge Members to Join Sept. 27 Rallies
(09/21/11) A bill that would destroy the Postal Service as we know it passed a House subcommittee on Sept. 21 by a vote of eight to five, along party lines. Republicans voted in favor of the bill; Democrats voted against it. The bill, H.R. 2309, was co-sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), chairman of the postal subcommittee. 

Executive Board Approves Dues Assessment Funds Will Support Aggressive Legislative, Media Effort

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 7:33pm

Vowing to continue to do “everything in our power to prevent the destruction of the Postal Service,” the APWU National Executive Board has approved a special dues assessment on Sept. 20 that will begin in Pay Period 21-2011 and continue through Pay Period 18-2012. Career APWU members will be assessed $1 per pay period; Postal Support Employees will be assessed 50 cents per pay period.

The purpose of the special assessment is to support the union’s ongoing legislative and media campaign to protect APWU-represented workers and defend postal service to the American people.

“These efforts are costly, but they are absolutely necessary,” APWU President Cliff Guffey said. “The debate in Washington over the solution to the USPS financial crisis will have a profound effect on our members. We must do everything we can to ensure that the Postal Service survives, along with our jobs. We cannot allow misguided legislators – or USPS management – to dismantle the Postal Service.”

Locals that wish to pay the assessment for their members must notify the APWU Secretary-Treasurer in writing no later than Friday, September 23. The assessment expires at the 2012 National Convention, which could vote to extend it. 

APWU Praises Obama Effort, But Long-Term Solution is Needed

Tue, 09/20/2011 - 7:14pm

President Obama submitted a deficit-reduction package to a special joint committee of Congress on Sept. 19, which includes several proposals intended to address the Postal Service’s financial crisis. 

Emergency Legislative Alert!

Mon, 09/19/2011 - 9:56pm

On Wednesday, Sept 21, the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will consider H.R. 2309, Rep. Issa’s bill that empowers a “solvency authority” to abrogate the collective bargaining agreement between USPS and the unions who represent postal workers.  Issa’s bill also requires the closure of thousands of post offices throughout the country – most in small towns and rural communities.

You Must Take Action Now!!

H.R. 2309 could cause the loss of over 120,000 jobs.
 

H.R. 1351 Receiving More and More Attention

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 1:26am

In the mid 1990’s the Library of Congress launched a website simply named “Thomas”. This site was aimed at making all federal legislative information as openly available as possible to the general public. Thomas is the key website used to look up bills, cosponsors of bills, resolutions, congressional records, information about committees, presidential nominations and treaties.

The Library of Congress through Thomas keeps track of what they label as a “Weekly Top Five List” of bills that are the most searched for in any given week. This past week Congressman Lynch’s H.R. 1351 was listed as the third most searched for bill in the last week.

The Thomas weekly top five is found on the right side of the page. To see where H.R. 1351 stands today on Thomas click here. 

Senator Carper of Delaware Looks to Debunk Postal Myths

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 1:24am

This week Senator Tom Carper of Delaware released on his Senate website a list of 8 Postal Service myths along with their corresponding facts. This was aimed at straightening out some information that is not true surrounding the Postal Service’s financial condition.

To see the list of Myths and Facts please click here. 

Congresswoman Fudge along with 55 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives Send Letter to Postmaster Potter

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 1:21am

This week Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-OH-11) authored a letter that was sent to Postmaster Patrick Donahoe. This letter was co-signed by 55 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The letter strongly opposed the Postal Service taking any action that would break current labor agreements allowing the Postal Service to terminate upwards of 220,000 postal employees. The letter cites the current unemployment rate and goes on to say now is not the time to add to the massive group of current unemployed workers by dismantling current labor agreements.
 

Save America's Postal Service

Sun, 09/18/2011 - 12:51am

 

Background: A congressional mandate is killing the U.S. Postal Service.

A 2006 postal reform law requires the USPS to pre-fund 75 years' worth of future retiree health benefits within just 10 years. At the behest of the Office of Personnel Management and the Government Accountability Office, and to make the law appear not to cost the government money (i.e., to be “revenue neutral”), Congress included in the law that destructive pre-funding mandate.

No other federal agency or private enterprise is forced to pre-fund similar benefits like this, especially on such an aggressive schedule.

This postal-only mandate costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year. It accounts for 100 percent of the Postal Service’s $20 billion in losses over the past four years.

It also accounts for 100 percent of the rise in the Postal Service’s debt in recent years.

Without the mandate, the USPS would have been profitable over the past four years, and rather than having to use up its $15 billion line of credit from the U.S. Treasury to cover the pre-funding obligation, the Postal Service would have had significant borrowing authority to ride out the bad economy it now faces.

The $47 billion the Postal Service has deposited so far into its retiree health fund over the past four years instead could have been spent on operating costs.

The Postal Service and its employees don’t want a taxpayer bailout. We have not received any taxpayer funds in nearly 30 years.

What we do want is the freedom to use our own surplus pension funds to pay down the pre-funding obligation.

But this can only happen if Congress changes the current law.

 

Congressmen Denounce USPS Bid to Break Contract

Mon, 09/12/2011 - 2:59pm

Two U.S. Representatives have denounced Postal Service legislative proposals to abrogate its collective bargaining agreements with postal unions.

In a sharply-worded letter [PDF] to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), condemned management’s proposals to dissolve “no lay-off” provisions in union contracts and to remove postal employees from federal retirement plans and the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). 

Ever Wonder Who Pays for the Wages & Benefits of Postal Employees?

Fri, 09/09/2011 - 4:52pm
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