e-Team Report, Nov. 23, 2011

Senator Sanders’s Bill Looks To Fix the USPS Financial Crisis

Senator Sanders’s bill would fix the current financial condition of the Postal Service by allowing the USPS to recover  billions of dollars in overpayments made into postal retirement accounts in both the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). This piece of legislation would also protect six day delivery and mail processing facilities.

To read the full story on the APWU’s website please click here.

To read more about this bill including the full text of this legislation click here.

ACI Survey Says Overwhelming Majority Of Consumers Oppose Closing Facilities

Recently, a survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute (ACI)  found that an overwhelming majority of consumers do not support the shuttering of thousands of post offices. Over 80% of those surveyed said that it would cause an inconvenience for their post office to close.

To read more about the survey please click here.

Postal Turkey Talk

Over this Thanksgiving weekend spent with both friends and family the issue of the Postal Service is bound to arise. Below are a few talking points to get you through the holiday season.

• Without the requirement to prefund future retiree healthcare benefits imposed on the Postal Service through the passing of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) the Service would actually have run a profit of $611 million over a four year period.

• TV Ad: “The U.S. Postal Service does not cost U.S. taxpayers a single cent.”

• TV Ad : “Congress created this problem and Congress can fix it. ”

• Two separate independent accounting firms, the PRC and the Postal Service Inspector General have all come to the same conclusion: since the 1970s, the Postal Service has overpaid billions of dollars into postal retirement accounts.

• TV Ad: Slashing post office jobs will take a toll on a significant number of veterans employed with the Postal Service.

• The dismantling of the postal service’s infrastructure and cutting days of delivery will do little to preserve the service standard needed by our economy, families and businesses. Congressman Issa’s (R-CA) H.R. 2309 would be the first step toward ending Saturday service, stopping door to door delivery as we know it today and shuttering billions worth of post offices within two years.

• What can you and your family do to help save the Postal Service?  Call your member of the House of Representatives today and tell them to vote no on H.R. 2309!  You can reach your member of Congress by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard today at (202) 224-3121.