The four postal unions sent a joint letter [PDF] to members of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Jan. 27 expressing “strong opposition” to an amended version of Senate bill 1486, and urging senators to oppose the bill when it is considered by the committee on Jan. 29. The substitute bill was issued on Jan. 23 by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), the authors of the original bill.
The substitute bill retains many of the negative features of the original bill and adds new provisions “that are totally unfair and unnecessary,” the letter says. One of the new provisions requires the USPS to pre-fund $17 billion in future workers’ compensation expenses.
The letter was signed by APWU President Mark Dimondstein, National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando, National Postal Mail Handlers Union President John Hegarty, and National Rural Letter Carriers Association President Jeannette Dwyer.
“It is crucial that the postal unions stand together to defeat legislation like S. 1486, which would be so detrimental to postal workers and to the people of the country,” Dimondstein said. “The Postal Service belongs to the people, and postal unions must work together to keep it that way,” he said.
Although they noted that the Postal Service posted an operating profit of $623 million in 2013 and is projecting a $1.1 billion operating profit this year, the union presidents acknowledged that “the Postal Service needs serious reform.”
Reform is needed to deal with both negative and positive technological change, they said, and to overcome the crushing burden to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. The pre-funding mandate, which was imposed by the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, was directly responsible for more than 80 percent of deficits reported between 2007 and 2013, the letter notes.
Following the introduction of the original version of S. 1486, the letter points out, the postal unions “offered the Committee an alternative package of reforms that would strengthen the Postal Service without damaging and self-defeating service cuts, and without unfair measures directed at postal employees who sacrificed greatly to help the Postal Service survive the Great Recession (absorbing nearly 200,000 job cuts and painful pay and benefit concessions in the last round of collective bargaining).“
“We hoped that the newest version of S. 1486 would embrace these reforms, restoring the Postal Service to profitability and viability for years and years to come,” they wrote.
Although the substitute bill adopted many of the reforms the unions proposed, including changes to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan (FEHBP) to resolve the pre-funding mandate, “it retains the service cuts and employee hits contained in the original bill,” the union presidents said.
“The substitute merely delays the proposed service and job cuts, but does not eliminate them. Indeed, delaying service standard reductions two years will not prevent the damage they will do to the quality of our service, which will simply drive business away; and setting an arbitrary mail volume trigger of 140 billion pieces for the elimination of Saturday delivery will not make degrading our last mile delivery network a more sensible business strategy for this most important public service,” the letter says.
“At a time when the demand for date-specific marketing and for same-day and next-day delivery service is growing, and at a time when and we are introducing Sunday service, legislated service cuts that would eliminate Saturday delivery, slow delivery times and reduce the demand for mail make no sense,” the union presidents wrote.
The substitute bill also retains the unfair government-wide FECA reforms that do not belong in a postal bill, they noted.
“Finally, it adds new burdens such as the mandate to pre-fund future workers compensation benefits. No company or agency in America faces such an unreasonable burden. Even with the proposed $1 billion profit trigger for FECA pre-funding, the Postal Service will once again face a discriminatory funding burden, they wrote.
“In view of the foregoing, we urge you to vote against the substitute to S. 1486 as drafted at the mark-up on Wednesday,” they wrote. “We regret that a more-limited, less-damaging bill is not being considered. But we pledge to work with all of you for postal reform that will strengthen the national treasure that is the U.S. Postal Service.”
At the outset, Sen. McCain (R—AZ) offered an amendment that would permit the USPS to move to 5-day delivery immediately, which failed by voice vote. Sen. Paul (R-KY) offered an amendment to permit the USPS to declare bankruptcy, invalidate current labor contracts, and eliminate collective-bargaining; it failed on a 4-11 vote. And, Senator Tester (D-MT) offered an amendment to strike the workers’ compensation reform provisions in the bill; it failed on a 6-7 vote.
A.Bunker boy inc. and all you others…Have a nice day.
Pass the damn bill!
Cut the Saturday delivery- it’s a total waste of time and revenue.
DO NOT cave in to the postal employees unions!! Do what is right and make those hard, unpopular decisions that WE elected you to make. If your high on the recievers list from their PAC’s and your taking their side- it will be remembered…
Remember- you work for the citizens and NOT the unions or special interest groups.
As a Carrier Suckas, the routes have gotten so big that Monday is always overtime. I would luv Saturday’s off, but the volume on Mondays would be unbelievable. Here’s an idea, hire CCA’s for every Carrier who accepts VERA with incentive. Post office wins, Carriers win and some lucky upper management can claim it was his idea and get a promotion. We all win Suckas. Early Outs September 30, 2014.
This amended bill 1468 just got me hard !!!! 5 day delivery…… bOING!!
It’s not about how life is so bad, its about mail volume declined….You don’t offer less but when you are working 6 days and it could easily be put to 5 days, you do it….It saves money, you do it…My family owns a small businees here and why have 6 people work if you can do it with 5…Economic’s 101 people…All people will still get their packages and medicine…No paper mail…The reasons you people don’t want 5 day is the Overtime(which is hurting us), or you are a union lover and agree with anything they say…The union only cares about you money…They want the roles high so they get more, open your eyes…5 day here we come…
Processing plants run 24/7 365 days that’s three tours everyday lady’s.
Most don’t get one weekend day off. Try working tour one with week days off years on end.
Life could be worst.
5 DAY! YES WAY! NO SATURDAY!
Can you guys quit screwing around an lay me off already so I can get some severance pay an some off that unemployment green.
All hot air talk talk talk.
Hey, morons, why don’t we cut delivery to every other Monday?!? The elderly and our veterans can go a few extra days without their meds, right? It’s like if gas stations close two days a week or if automotive garages cut services like oil changes! Just because YOU don’t rely on the USPS so much doesn’t mean no one in America does! None of you could manage a lemonade stand! Business doesn’t grow by offering less!!!!
Rmember this bill is from a Republican and a Democratic…There is no mail to warrent 6 day delivery…You union lovers have to get your head out of the Union bosses ass and wake up…All they want is your money…They do nothing for the good worker..5 day here we come
Congress should be absolutely ashamed of themselves!
100% Support our congress’s bill.
Cut union members pay by 33%.
Problem solved.
Congress just has it in for the Service, and the last thing the USPS needs is a piece of shit like Donohoe cheering them on, advocating five day delivery and reducing standards. Common sense says when you make a product less accessible, customers will go to one that is more so. The prefunding requirement is still there in a slightly different version but still a free for all grab bag for Congress to steal from whenever they feel like it. People who are thinking only of five day delivery are selfish and short sighted, thinking only of Saturdays off to watch ball games or whatever. They won’t consider it’s their own throats they’re cutting because they refuse to look past their own noses.
Sure, who wouldn’t like Saturday off, but lots of people in lots of businesses work Saturdays. I’ve never worked anywhere in my life that wasn’t open on Saturday. Factories and professionals like doctors and lawyers get theirs, but where would we be if hospitals were only open during the week?
Coburn and Carper, as BIG D stated, are out to run the USPS into the ground. Increasing the prefunding to 17 billion dollars a year is suicide and those assholes know it. I’m glad Coburn is getting out. Too bad he can’t take Issa with him.
Once again the Unions are complaining about pre-funding of Employee benefits, am I the only one that sees a problem with this…….The self serving Unions will do anything to try and keep the USPS over staffed in order to maintain their DUES BASE, to the point of denying the funding of benefits…..Saturday delivery needs to go, trim the workforce make the Service more profitable and fund these future benefits so that the American Taxpayers won’t have to pickup the tab later…….
These two Congressman have something up their sleeve. Privatize.
As long as Coburn and Carper are leading this the same stupidity will continue. What we need is sweeping change in congress and as Americans use “logic” when voting these individuals into congress to represent your state. At least half should be sent packing if not more! These two have done nothing to unlock the shackles that the Bush administration strapped the Postal Service with, only complicating it more. These simple minded view points by these two bafoons needs to be struck down immediately. There has to be a concensus of alleviating the detriments that the Postal service faces such as the 5.5 billion a year to prefund future retiree health benefits and now an even more ludicrous bill that wants a 17 billion prefund of future workers compensation expenses. Where is the logical thinking in this? The Postal service was crippled by the 5.5 billion dollar mandate so it is alarming at best to think that these two would suggest an even more devastating mandate in lieu of working on removing the original mandate! What we need is a reform bill actually caring about not only the American people in all of this but postal workers all over this country. Nothing can be accomplished if you have leaders of postal reform with malicious intentions to only further the demise of America’s postal service obtaining the praise and approval of special interest groups. We need honesty, integrity, and bipartisanship for the betterment of this great service providing mail delivery to the American people and be financially strong for years to come. Postal employees have earned the right to have their pensions and wages protected through tremendous dedication and pride in their livlihoods. To have the notion that these accomplishments should be reduced through attacks monetarily means it is exactly what happens when decisions of this magnitude are in the hands of incompetent individuals.
Still un-happy huh?? 5 day delivery or bust !!! I need to get my tan on…. Weekends bay!!!
USPS to pre-fund $17 billion in future workers’ compensation expenses translates to:
Hey cash cow, give us some money or we won’t budge!
The PMG needs to be part of the presidential cabinet again.