Senate Vote on Postal Bill Could Be Taken on Monday
March 23, 2012
An amended version of a controversial postal bill (S. 1789) is tentatively scheduled for a vote during the week of March 26, and could be brought to the Senate floor as early as Monday, APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid is reporting.
Details of the final bill are unknown, however. The bill’s sponsors have been meeting to discuss possible amendments, but have not released information about their discussions.
The APWU is asking union members to be vigilant and to check the APWU Web site frequently for updates. “The situation could change very rapidly, so it is important that union members remain alert,” Reid said. “We may need to respond to an announcement quickly.”
The APWU was sharply critical of the original bill, and supported amendments to set strict service standards; allow the USPS to recover overpayments the Postal Service made to its retiree pension funds; adequately address the requirement that forces the USPS to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, and establish new ways to generate revenue, among others. The issue of service standards is crucial, because the Postal Service is planning to degrade delivery standards in order to eliminate more than half of all mail processing facilities.