Save America's Postal Service
Save America's Postal Service: On Tuesday September 27, members of the
Postal Service's four employee unions will join forces with members of our
communities to send a message to the nation and Congress through
informational rallies at the home office of each member of the House of
Representatives, to thank those members who have signed on as co-sponsors of
H.R. 1351 <http://nalc.org/depart/legpol/pdf/2011/hr1351_fact_sheet.pdf>
,
and to encourage those who have not signed on as co-sponsors to do so. Click
here to learn more. <http://nalc.org/news/latest/09082011-save_usps.html>
<http://www.saveamericaspostalservice.org>
Click here to visit the official
event website.
Event locations will be announced at
http://www.saveamericaspostalservice.org/map-list.html#Massachusetts
on September 16 and updated daily after that.
Sign a petition to Congress for H.R. 1351
<http://nalc.org/depart/legpol/pdf/2011/hr1351_fact_sheet.pdf>
at
http://www.change.org/petitions/dont-let-the-usps-be-destroyed.
Congress
created the USPS financial crisis. Congress (or the President) must fix
it.
Laying off 20 percent of the postal workforce? Closing 12 percent of the post
offices? Gutting postal workers' health and pension benefits? Eliminating
Saturday delivery?
The Postmaster General is floating these radical proposals because, on paper,
the USPS lost $20 billion in the last five years. But 100 percent of the loss
is due to an unnecessary 2006 Congressional mandate to pre-fund retiree health
benefits 75 years in advance within 10 years.
The financial "crisis" facing the U.S. Postal Service is just an
accounting problem. The USPS does not need a taxpayer bailout, just a
transfer of postal monies (derived from postage-the postal Service receives no
tax money) from the over funded pension and retiree health benefits accounts to
operating accounts. This can be done by Congress (H.R. 1351 <http://nalc.org/depart/legpol/pdf/2011/hr1351_fact_sheet.pdf>
) or an Executive Order of the President.
Don't believe the financial hype-it's a political problem. Moreover, it is a
blatant attempt to subvert and circumvent collective bargaining, as National
Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric V.
Rolando has explained.
<http://nalc.org/news/latest/08112011_stand-up_fvr.html>
The United States Postal Service is the second-largest civilian employer in the
United States. If Congress allows the USPS to break its contracts with the
postal unions and go to a 5-day-per-week delivery system, the end result will
be that the Post Office will be privatized, which will deprive many postal customers
of the postal connections they need and will have a devastating effect on the already
embattled U.S. economy.