Get Ready – The Fight Goes On

Congress’ failure to enact postal reform in 2012 means the legislative fight to Save America’s Postal Service goes on, APWU President Cliff Guffey is telling union members.

Postal reform legislation that was introduced in the 112th Congress — but not signed into law — died on Jan. 3, when the members of the 113th Congress were sworn in.

“New legislation must be introduced this year to reform USPS finances and undo the mess Congress made when it passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) in 2006,” Guffey said. The, PAEA requires the USPS to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees 75 years into the future and has driven the Postal Service to the edge of insolvency.

“I will be calling on APWU members to join with their co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family members to demand that Congress preserve and protect the USPS and our nation’s commitment to universal service for the American people,” he said.

Bills that are similar to those that were submitted in the last session of Congress may be introduced this year, but there are likely to be some changes, said Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid. “We will continue to meet with members of Congress and their staffs and fight for the interests of postal employees as new bills are being drafted,” he said.

Through much of December there was talk of attaching postal legislation to bills to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” but hope for an agreement on postal issues evaporated in the acrimony over nation’s tax policy and the deficit. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) never even brought a postal bill to the House floor for a vote, Guffey noted.

“Many politicians were willing to allow taxes to go up for 98 percent of America’s citizens, in order to protect tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, Guffey said. “I hope union members will take note of who they were and punish them in 2014,” he added.