The APWU has launched the next phase of its television ad campaign, with spots airing on NBC Nightly News, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.

“As the Postal Service’s manufactured financial crisis deepens, several dangerous bills have been introduced in Congress,” said President Cliff Guffey. Bills proposed by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) in the House and by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) in the Senate “fail to address the cause of the crisis,” he said. “Instead, they would punish workers, slash service, and lead to the demise of the USPS.”

In early July, the APWU aired an ad that helps dispel the myth that the USPS is supported by tax dollars.

At the end of the month, the union began airing a second commercial that explains — in just 30 seconds — the true cause of the Postal Service’s financial crisis. The spot quickly identified the problem — a 2006 law that imposes a $5 billion annual burden on the USPS that no other agency or company bears. The ad concludes with a simple message, “Congress created this problem and Congress can fix it.”

The ads have helped change the terms of the debate about the USPS financial crisis. “But we must continue to press our message with legislators, the media, and the American people,” Guffey said. “Our members must ask their senators and representatives to endorse the Postal Service Protection Act (H.R. 630/S. 316),” Guffey said, “which would help solve the USPS financial crisis without hurting workers or downgrading mail service. We also should seek support for the Protect Overnight Delivery Act (H.R. 2459), which would help safeguard mail processing centers.”