The USPS Fairness Act

For over a decade, the United States Postal Service has been plagued with the onerous burden of prefunding its retiree health care benefits as mandated by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) of 2006. The mandate requires the Postal Service to prefund its retiree health care benefits 75 years in advance, paying for retirement health care for individuals who haven’t been born yet, let alone enter the workforce.

The Problem

Since 2013, the prefunding mandate is responsible for most of the Postal Service’s net losses, and it has defaulted on its prefunding payments since 2012. No other federal agency or private sector business prefunds its retirement benefits. The uncertainty inherent in satisfying the PAEA prefunding mandate is creating real instability in the Postal Service’s operations. The postal employees we represent see the consequences of this instability in their work, their workplaces, and in the service they provide the public.

The Solution - The USPS Fairness Act

Recognizing the problem prefunding creates, the US House of Representatives passed the USPS Fairness Act last year with a sweeping bi-partisan vote of 309-106, but it stalled in the Senate. This year, it has been reintroduced as H.R. 695 in the House and S.145 in the Senate. With a new Senate majority, we are renewing our effort to remove this damaging burden on our Postal Service.

By repealing the prefunding mandate, the Postal Service would then be able to focus on investing and innovating new services in order to better meet its mission to service every American household and business.

Please contact your Senator and ask them to become a co-sponsor (or thank them if they have already signed on.) Call 844-402-1001 to be connected to your Senator’s office.

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