e-Team Report, Aug. 23, 2013

August Action: As Recess Comes to a Close APWU Members Encouraged to Engage with their Representatives

Members of the APWU and the Mail Handlers Union are continuing to work together throughout the month of August, meeting with their Senators and Representatives and expressing our views on what common-sense postal reform legislation should include.  As the August recess draws to a close the APWU urges postal workers to meet with their members of Congress or staff to push for legislation that would repeal the 2006 PAEA mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits; stop cuts to service; end closures and consolidation of processing facilities and post offices; return CSRS and FERS over-payments, and preserve the collective bargaining process.    

The APWU supports the sensible reforms embodied in S.316/H.R. 630, H.R. 961 and H.R. 2459 that would ensure a robust Postal Service for workers and customers.  APWU strongly opposes H.R. 2748 and S. 1486 as these bills would further degrade service standards and harm postal employees.

For more on the August Action and to view legislative talking points, fact sheets and tips on meeting with your representatives, please click here.

To view a list of town hall meetings with your members of Congress that may be available in your area, please click here.

APWU Opposes Proposal to Remove Postal Workers from FEHBP

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed another cost-cutting measure that would be taken on the backs of workers.  The agency, along with support from some members of Congress, is pushing to have postal employees and retirees taken out of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and put in a USPS-run health insurance plan.

However the Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed in a recent report that the proposal would hurt postal workers as well as Medicare.  The plan would result in fewer benefits for postal employees and retirees while increasing their healthcare costs.  

The APWU vehemently opposes any plan that would remove postal workers from the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. It is a brazen attempt to shift healthcare costs onto postal workers and Medicare rather than address the real cause of USPS’s financial crisis – the pre-funding of employee retirement benefits for the next 75 years in a 10-year span, a burden no other government agency or private entity bears.

For more on the proposal to remove postal workers from FEHBP, please click here.

To view APWU’s statement on the proposal, please click here.

To view the GAO’s report on the proposal’s potential impact to postal workers and Medicare, please click here.

Williston ND Plagued by Delayed Mail and Long Lines

As the boomtown of Williston ND grows, local residents are upset that the service offered by USPS has not grown with demand.  Reflecting the sentiments of many communities nationwide, residents of Williston this week voiced their discontent over delayed mail and insufficient postal facilities in their community to Postmaster General Donahue.  

USPS Board of Governors Considers Rate Increase

The USPS Board of Governors is reportedly exploring the possibility of a postage rate increase above the rate of inflation.  As per the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, should the USPS Board of Governors seek such an increase, the Postal Regulatory Commission must grant approval before it can go into effect.  As it has in the past, the mailing industry is attempting to stop any such rate increase.

To read more about the move, please click here.

Assurance From the Postal Service Is Not Quite Enough!

In 2011 the Postal service announced plans to close over 3,600 post offices, mostly in rural areas.

On July 8, 2013, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the Securing Access to Rural Postal Services Act (H.R. 2615), along with Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-SC).  The bill caps rural post office closures at no more than 5 percent of total closures in any given year.  

The original plan was changed and the Postal Service instead decided to reduce retail window hours based on customer use. 

Despite assurances from the Postal Service that no legislation is needed to prevent the closings of rural post offices, Congressman Adrian Smith still believes it is. “Just because the Postal Service has set aside their proposal to close small post offices, does not mean they will not try to do so again in the future. As the House of Representatives works on postal reform legislation, Congressman Smith’s bill is a necessary safeguard to prevent rural post offices from being disproportionately targeted,” a spokesperson from Smith’s office told Nebraska Radio Network.

To read more about legislation regarding rural post offices, please click here.

50th Anniversary of the March on Washington to be Commemorated by Union Groups

Next week will mark the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Led by civil rights and labor activists, the March was a ground-breaking event in American history as more than 200,000 marchers called for an end to racial and economic inequality.

To commemorate the historic day, union members will join civil rights organizations and others to renew the call for voting rights, good jobs and decent wages. The ‘Realize the Dream March & Rally’ will take place Aug. 24 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC — where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.

To view more information on the commemoration of the March on Washington, please click here.