“We now need Congress to tell Mnuchin, ‘There will be no incentive package that you want without the Post Office in it.'”
The president of the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union is calling on Congress to make emergency funding for the Postal Service a necessary condition in negotiations with the Trump White House over the next coronavirus stimulus package as the prized government insitution faces the possibility of imminent collapse.
Mark Dimondstein, who has served as president of the Postal Workers Union since 2013, told In These Times in an interview Thursday that “we had bipartisan support in the House and Senate” for direct USPS funding in the CARES Act, a multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package that President Donald Trump signed into law last month.
But as the Washington Post reported last weekend, Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin stepped in and threatened to tank the legislation if it included the $13 billion direct grant that congressional negotiatiors originally agreed to. A $10 billion loan for USPS was ultimately included in the final package, but the Treasury Department has yet to approve the funds.
“A Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Secretary of the Treasury said to both parties, ‘You will not have an incentive package that the Post Office is in.’ Even though they gave $500 billion to the private sector,” Dimondstein said. “So we have to flip it. We now need Congress to tell Mnuchin, ‘There will be no incentive package that you want without the Post Office in it.'”
The Postal Service—which runs on revenue from stamps and other products and hasn’t taken federal funding since the 1980s—has been hit hard by the steep decline in mail volume caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Postmaster General Megan Brennan told lawmakers earlier this month that USPS will “run out of cash” by the end of September without congressional action.
USPS also remains bound by a 2006 congressional mandate requiring it to prefund its retirees’ health benefits through 2056, a law analysts say is at the heart of the agency’s current financial turmoil.
“The Post Office is not taxpayer funded, so it normally runs on revenue from postage and services,” Dimondstein said. “And if 40 to 50% of that dries up in this pandemic—which is what looks like it’s happening, in a very quick and precipitous way—then that money has to be made up.”
“So the Postal Board of Governors is asking for $25 billion for relief, and another $25 billion for modernization, which gives them money to modernize the fleet,” said Dimondstein. “This is a relief for every single person in the country. It’s not a relief for a private entity.”
Dimondstein warned that Republicans and the Trump administration could be attempting to use the coronavirus crisis to advance the conservative movement’s longstanding goal of privatizing the Postal Service.
Asked about the Postal Service’s crisis in a press briefing earlier this month, Trump dismissed calls for USPS funding and said the agency should simply “raise prices.”
“I think it’s pretty straightforward,” Dimondstein said of Trump’s agenda. “In June of 2018, an Office of Management and Budget report—that’s the White House—openly called for an opportunity to sell off the Post Office to private corporations. Their agenda is to enrich a few of their private sector friends at the expense of the people of our country… The underlying thing is, they’re coming after a right of the people.”
One of the central components of the White House’s proposal, which it touted again in February as the Postal Service warned of looming financial disaster, was rolling back postal workers’ right to organize.
“The presidential task force that Mnuchin headed up actually called for anCommondreams end to our collective bargaining rights,” Dimonstein noted. “So that’s on their agenda too.”
Dimondstein vowed to “vigorously oppose” any effort by the Trump administration to gut workers’ wages or union rights as a condition for desperately needed coronavirus relief funds.
“You’ve got postal workers on the front lines, doing essential work,” said Dimondstein. “We’ve had over 30 postal workers die from the coronavirus. Thousands have been sick, thousands more have been quarantined. And they’re gonna talk about coming after our wages and benefits? No way.”
Trump is a dumb ass d-bag. The only thing he cares about more than money for him self and Jared “he takes no money because he does nothing” Kushner are the Big Macs that he ingests every day to feed his enormous waistline.
Thecpost officecshould deliver letter mail Mon-Fri..Parcels only Sat.-Sun..Getvrid of all the supervisors who only got the job because their cousin or brother was the plant manager..or what color or gender they are..they only got promoted because they couldn’t make it in the craft…charge for putting mail on Hold,Charge for COA’s in fact charge for anything that is free now..Charge Amazon the same rate as FedEx and UPS
Charge way more for third bundles and other”important mail” …Give incentive to employee to do a better job,get customer connect leads for example…Make rural carriers punch the clock…not pay them 8hrs for 4 hrs work…that would be a good start..😁😁😁😁
It’s over…put a fork in the Eagle for it’s done…the President didn’t entertain a single thought from a liberal Irish Catholic lesbian, and he damn sure won’t listen to some union hack… maybe Potter will give Maggie a cush job on the airport commission after she rides off into the sunset with her golden parachute.
Thank you for your extra efforts in this time of great concern. The
Truth is always something that remains. I hope that the rank and file
hold their ground. Unlike many, my stepfather a farmer showed me
that what you hold in your heart towards others is what matters. I
wish the truth was different, but the lack of leadership is damaging.
GOOD- let the postal service go under- for all the sorry ass mismanagement and continued abuse of the treasury to bail them out-handing out bonus(re-named=PERFORMANCE CHECKS) , i was there 40 years plus- wouldn’t ask me anything about how to improve conditions cause they knew I knew their agenda-get rid of the full time career employee and get casual workers for a fraction of the pay! Brilliant move and the unions go along in bed with them with their MOU’s to implement whatever to jusitfy the means necessary to have sustainablility! To bad, corrupt as hell in Washington with 43 vice presidents at $240k a year- piss on them- they are so arrogant and always said to the employee’s- YOU DON’T LIKE YOUR JOB QUIT! YES, I hope it does go down under and President Trump fires everyone of those lazy bastards that talked down to the berated employee’s like myself and hope that justice comes too them in more ways then one. They(Mismanagement) brought this on themselves-now let’s see the cards fall and I hope it’s all on their fat asses in MANAGEMENT- AND WASHINGTON.
Hope it does go under. PO leaders have ruined the service with their
toxic practices. Let it fail. Time to clean house. Let America find out
what it will be like without a PO. Things will change swiftly when
reality sets in.
So our “great ” leader wants the Postal service to go under. He has plenty of tax dollars for the air line industry, yesterday he promised $ 25 million. He has plenty for the farmers so he can secure their votes, His son -in- law Jarhead Kushner is paying Dupont $ 15.00 per Tyvek protective equipment suit that normally sells for $ 5.00. Tons of tax dollars for his precious wall while nothing for a Federal government agency. I hope that the Postal workers that voted for him enjoy the shiv they receive in their back. They can always become farmers and receive their farm price subsidizes.
I agree with you that there has not been a lot of thought in regards to
USPS. Universal service is a costly option requiring, aircraft, boats, trucks, cars, and mules along with many pieces of equipment. I
personally would not talk in a disrespectful manner about farmers. I
know many of them, and have great respect for them as they have
much in common with USPS. They have a very high amount equipment
with great cost, and other overhead, cutting in to their profits as well. I think it always interesting to hear beliefs that are different than the facts. I like to hear peoples thoughts on Rural Carriers, and how you
are always making out. Some days you do, and some days you don’t.
Very well stated! ANY Postal Worker who has, or who will vote for this sorry pos in the White House is just as retarded as he is!
Eight years of Obama did wonders for Postal Employees.