e-Team Report, Aug. 9, 2013

APWU, Postal Unions: Carper-Coburn Bill an Assault on Postal Employee Benefits

Last Friday, Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Tom Coburn (R-OK), leaders of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs introduced S. 1486, the Postal Reform Act of 2013 – and as currently written, the bill spells disaster for the Postal Service, postal workers and retirees, and the public that depends on timely and reliable postal services.

In a joint statement to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the presidents of the APWU, the National Association of Letter Carriers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association expressed “utter dismay” at the introduction of the bill, which would:

• Allow the USPS to slash postal workers’ pension and healthcare benefits by making many of these employee benefits subject to interest arbitration.
• Permit arbitrators to remove postal workers from the Federal Employees Health Benefits program and allow them to keep new employees out of the Federal Employees Retirement System;
• Result in the elimination of thousands of jobs, after a two-year delay, by allowing USPS to reduce service and delivery standards and close hundreds of mail processing facilities and thousands of post offices;
• Allow massive cuts in the service Americans rely on;
• Impose cruel and discriminatory reforms to the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) program that would leave injured postal workers with the worst long-term injuries vulnerable to impoverishment when they reach retirement age.

For more on the Carper-Coburn Postal Bill and reaction from postal unions, please click here.

Join APWU, Mail Handlers August Action for Postal Reform!

The APWU has called on local, state and retiree chapters to meet with lawmakers during Congress’ August recess to discuss postal reform. Together with members of the Mail Handlers Union, APWU members will ask legislators to oppose the Carper-Coburn bill as well as the House bill sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (H.R. 2748). Union members will ask members of Congress to support the Postal Service Protection Act (S. 316 in the Senate / H.R. 630 in the House).

Please join us in lobbying for postal reform during Congress’ August recess.  If you require any assistance, contact APWU Legislative Director Gary Kloepfer at 202-842-4211 or the Vice President’s office at 202-842-4250.

For more on the August Action and to view APWU legislative support documents, please click here. To view APWU’s next step in our TV ad campaign, please click here.

Sen. Bernie Sanders Says S. 1486 Backtracks on Postal Reform, “Makes no Sense” 

Following the release of S. 1486 by Senators Carper and Coburn, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) issued a statement criticizing the bill’s retreat on postal reform.  Last year, the Senate passed the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789) with a 62-37 vote, which was supported by 13 Republicans and provided more protections and support for the Postal Service and workers than this year’s S. 1486.  “It is hard for me to understand why the Senate should go backward and settle for a significantly weaker bill that, while not as strong as I would have liked, got an impressive 62 votes,” Sanders said. “That makes no sense.”

The APWU agrees!

To view Sen. Bernie Sander’s statement on the backtracking of postal legislation, please click here.

Postal Customers Get it - Why Can’t Some Members of Congress?

Postal customers concerned about the undoing of their postal service are speaking out.  In recent op-eds featured in local newspapers, customers point out that much of the financial “reasoning” surrounding the Postal Service doesn’t hold water.

Regarding a proposed post office closure, a Sun Valley, NV customer argues that the miniscule savings of $1,116 a year to USPS is not worth the inconvenience caused to the community.  “Shouldn’t the U.S. Postal Service be working to provide better customer service and attract more customers instead of disenfranchising the very people they need to save the postal service?” she asks.

The unreasonable burden placed on the USPS by the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), requiring pre-funding 75 years’ worth of retiree health benefits within a 10 year period, is the single greatest contributor to the agency’s current financial woes.  “If Congress decreed today that the USPS no longer had to set aside $5.5 billion a year, the USPS could be operating at a profit and definitely [have] enough money to pay retirement and health care costs 75 years into the future,” says one customer from Moses Lake, WA.  

Unfortunately, as long as Congress fails to repeal the absurd and unfair prefunding mandate of the PAEA, post offices and mail processing facility closures around the country will continue to hurt customers and workers.  

To view a Sun Valley, NV customer letter, please click here.

To view a Moses Lake, WA customer letter, please click here.

Senators Seek to Pass Law to Stop Congress from Passing Laws

Last week Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced the Enumerated Powers Act of 2013, which would create additional hurdles for members of Congress to pass laws.  Following the logic of the Senators, as explained in their joint press release, the legislation would add obstacles to the passage of laws related to areas not explicitly stated in the Constitution ranging from environmental and public safety laws to many of the labor laws in existence today like a national minimum wage and bans on child labor and workplace discrimination.  

For more on the possible consequences of the Enumerated Powers Act of 2013, please click here.