e-Team Report, Sept. 20, 2013
Guffey Testifies at Senate Committee Hearing On Postal Reform, Senators Question Service Standards
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held the first of two hearings on postal reform on Sept. 19. The APWU strongly opposes the postal reform bill S. 1486 as written as it would maintain the requirement that the Postal Service pre-fund retiree health benefits; subject employee health benefits to interest arbitration; and slash compensation for injured workers. “The bill is fatally flawed,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey, during the hearing. “We vehemently oppose any change that would interfere with the right of postal employees and retirees to continue to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and federal retirement programs,” he said.
The bill also fails to ensure mail delivery times that Americans can rely on and would allow the Postal Service to continue the destruction of the postal network by permitting more facility closures.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) pressed Donahoe on the Postal Service’s claims that facility closures have not resulted in delays, especially in rural areas. Regarding service standards, Tester said, “The reality is it has changed.… If the goal is to maximize profits at the expense of rural America just tell me,” he said to Donahoe.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) mirrored Tester’s statements, saying that there is a clear difference between “what your studies [AMPs] show and the reality of what our constituents experience in dealing with the Post Office.”
To view the full video of the hearing, please click here.
For more on APWU President Cliff Guffey’s testimony, please click here.
Second Postal Hearing Scheduled
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a second postal hearing on Sept. 26. This second hearing on reforming the Postal Service will focus largely on the workforce, health plans, and retiree benefits.
Live video coverage will also be available. To visit the Committee’s page for the postal hearing, please click here.
Postal Service to Default on Pre-Funding Payment for 2013
Congress’ failure to relieve the USPS of the obligation to pre-fund future retiree health benefits continues to wreak havoc on postal finances. The annual $5.6 billion payments are crushing the agency.
At the Senate committee hearing on postal reform, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the Postal Service will default on the payment due Sept. 30. In his written statement to the Committee, Donahoe said that the Postal Service will have “a razor thin margin” by mid-October and “have a cash balance on hand of approximately five days of average daily expenses.” This will be the third consecutive year the Postal Service has defaulted on the payments mandated under the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA).
APWU has called for the repeal of the aggressive and financially unsustainable requirement to pre-fund 75 years of benefits future retirees within a 10 year period – a burden no other government or private entity is forced to bear.
For more on the Postal Service’s default on pre-funding payment, please click here.
Conservative Lawmakers Threaten Government Shutdown and Default on Nation’s Debt
Congressional Republicans threaten to force a government shutdown by refusing to fund the government after Sept. 30 unless their conservative agenda is passed. Federal unions have a simple message for these lawmakers: “Stop playing political games,” and “stop threatening to shut down the government if they don’t get their way.”
Looking beyond the immediate concern of whether the federal government will shut down in 11 days, Congress must next address the debt ceiling. If Congress does not raise the nation’s limit on borrowing by mid-October, the country will be unable to pay its bills and go into default, a move that would be disastrous for the U.S. economy.
To read more about a possible government shutdown, please click here.
To read more about the debt ceiling, please click here.