Senate Committee Begins – But Doesn’t Complete – Debate on Postal Bill

The Senate committee with oversight over the Postal Service spent nearly three hours on Jan. 29 debating amendments to a postal bill that all four postal unions oppose, but recessed before taking a final vote. There is no word on when — or if — the committee will reconvene to finish consideration of the legislation, S. 1486. Click here to watch the proceedings.

“The bill would be devastating for postal workers and the people of the country,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “And none of the amendments offered during the committee meeting would make it acceptable. The good news is that the postal unions are standing together to fight it.”

APWU Legislative & Political Director John Marcotte said, “This proposed bill has nothing to do with a vibrant Postal Service.” S. 1486 would:

• Threaten 100,000 full- and part-time postal jobs;
• Lead to pension cuts; 
• Drastically weaken our position for 2015 contract negotiations; 
• Require the USPS to pre-fund workers’ compensation by $17 billion – further strangling USPS finances; 
• Permit the USPS to close and consolidate mail processing facilities after two years;  
• Allow the Postal Service to reduce service and delivery standards;
• Eliminate Saturday delivery after two years and give the Postmaster General authority to eliminate additional days of delivery in the future;
• Eliminate door-to-door mail delivery for all new — and some existing — businesses and households, and
• Impose unfair and discriminatory changes to the FECA workers compensation program that would leave injured federal workers with the worst long-term injuries vulnerable to impoverishment when they reach their Social Security retirement ages.

Marcotte asked APWU members — especially those whose senators serve on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee — to contact their senators and urge them oppose the bill.