e-Team Report, March 15, 2013

Update on Postal Service Protection Act

The commonsense postal reform bills S.316 and H.R. 630, collectively known as the Postal Service Protection Act of 2013, continue to gather more cosponsors.  The House bill introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), H.R. 630, now has 49 other members signed on as cosponsors.  The Senate bill introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), S. 316, now has 11 cosponsoring senators. 

If passed into law, the legislation would fix the Postal Service’s financial crisis by ending the unsustainable mandate of pre-funding future retiree benefits, a burden no other government agency or private company bears.  Further, it would refund the agency’s overpayments to FERS and the CSRS; and re-establish delivery standards that help keep mail processing facilities open.

These bills embody the priorities that make for good postal reform, which is why APWU endorses their passage.  “This legislation would help solve the Postal Service’s financial crisis,” said APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid.  “Passing the PSPA would make many of the planned cutbacks in service unnecessary, give postal employees a greater sense of security, and give the American people a Postal Service they can count on for the future.”

To see if your representative is among the 49 cosponsors of H.R. 630, please click here

To see if your senators are cosponsors of S. 316, please click here.

Are your legislators cosponsors of the Postal Service Protection Act?  If not, has your representative heard from you about the Act?  Have your Senators? 

If not, please take a few minutes to join your union brothers and sisters in reaching out to our legislators and alert them of your position on this important legislation!  At the link below, you can send a brief message to your members of Congress and ask them to join us in supporting the Postal Service Protection Act.

To send a letter or email message to your legislators in support of S. 316 and H.R. 630, click here.

Postal Service Stabilization Act Gains Supporters

On March 5th, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) introduced the Postal Service Stabilization Act (H.R. 961), aimed at revising how the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) calculates USPS’s financial liability to the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS).  The bill would require the use of postal-specific data to calculate the agency’s FERS payments rather the use the current method which utilizes data based on all federal government employees.  Additionally, the bill would return to the Postal Service’s overpayments to FERS which would allow the agency to better meet its other financial obligations. 

APWU President Cliff Guffey and Legislative & Political Director Myke Reid, have expressed support for passage of H.R. 961 as the bill promotes the financial stability of the Postal Service without resorting to cuts to worker pay and benefits, or diminishing service to customers.  Since its introduction, H.R. 961 has gained 13 cosponsors.