e-Team Report, Sept. 6, 2013

August Action Recap: Have You Reported Back?

Summer is drawing to a close and for many that means it is back-to-school season. For members of Congress, it means back-to-Washington season.  While lawmakers were home for the month of August, many APWU members and locals took the opportunity to meet with their U.S. senators and representatives and their staff to advocate for commonsense postal reform.  

APWU President Cliff Guffey and Legislative Director Gary Kloepfer extend their thanks to everyone who took part in the August Actions. If you haven’t already done so, please let us know how your meeting went.

To download a copy of the August Action report form, please click here.

APWU Files Charges With Postal Regulatory Commission over Facility Closures, Service Standards

The APWU filed a complaint with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on Sept. 5, charging that the USPS is failing to comply with its own service standards and is depriving individuals, small businesses and organizations of the service they are entitled to by law.

The Postal Service’s failure to comply with the law is the result of an arbitrary decision to accelerate mail processing facility closures that were scheduled to take effect in 2014. The closures have resulted in the “regular and systematic violation” of first-class mail service standards, the complaint says.

For more on APWU’s charges against the PRC, please click here.

Late Mail Spreads to Southeast Missouri

One such example of closures and consolidations resulting in decreased service for individuals and businesses can be found in Gideon, MI.  Network consolidation has resulted in delayed mail for area residents.  Greg Davidson, president of the Cape Girardeau Area Local, reported delayed mail has even included water-shut off notices delivered two days after a resident’s water was shut off.

Vicki Groves, a city clerk, confirmed that recently there has been a spike in water shut-offs and that people have contacted the city complaining their bills had arrived late.  “We’ve had a lot of problems with the mail,” said Groves. “I don’t know of anyone that’s very happy with them right now.”

Provisions that would fix the decline in service standards are notably absent from either the bill (S. 1486) proposed by Sen. Tom Carper and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) or the bill (H.R. 2748) introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) as they are currently written.

For more Southeast Missouri’s mail delays, please click here.

Postal Retirement Benefits Remain Under Intense Scrutiny

Last week the Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted a solicitation seeking proposals to compare the USPS retirement benefits program to retirement benefit programs offered by private-sector companies.  In the request, the OIG states the purpose of the solicitation is to find ways to reduce costs of its current retirement benefits program.

The request demonstrates the scrutiny of postal employees’ and retirees’ benefits that have intensified this year.  In February, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe proposed to move postal employees out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), a proposal APWU vehemently opposes.  In July, the House Committee approved Rep. Darrel Issa’s (R-CA) disastrous postal bill, H.R. 2748, which included provisions that would slash compensation for injured employees with dependents and force them into retirement.  In August, the Carper-Coburn bill (S. 1486) was introduced, which would allow postal employees’ benefits to be subject to interest arbitration, setting the path for moving workers out of FEHBP and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).  The bill also included cruel and discriminatory benefit cuts to the Federal Employees Compensation Act (FECA) that would punish postal workers with the worst long-term injuries. 

It’s clear a bull’s-eye has been placed on postal employees’ health and retirement benefits.  Postal employees and retirees must remain vigilant of these attacks by staying informed and contacting their members of Congress.

For more on the Postal Service OIG’s solicitation please click here.