U.S. Postal Service Can Survive with Your Support!

By John Beaumont, State President,
National Association of Letter Carriers

“Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

This familiar creed has illustrated how our nation has trustworthily received its mail delivery service since 1775. Now what Mother Nature has been unable to hinder for over 200 years, some members of the United States Senate are trying their best to dismantle through deeply flawed legislation.

The bill they are pushing, led by Republican Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma, would dismantle the delivery network of your United States Postal Service as you have come to rely upon by eliminating six-day delivery for both mail and parcels, eliminate door-to-door delivery for every community in the country, close and/or consolidate thousands of Postal Offices, and lay off over 80,000 postal employees, 25 percent of which are United States Veterans.

While the Postal Service for the first time since the 2008 recession has started to turn a substantial profit, it is still being mandated to pre-fund retiree health benefit costs decades in advance. This mandate, which the Postal Service was not saddled with prior to 2006 and no other private or public company is required to pay, costs the Postal Service $5.8 billion annually. Without this requirement the USPS would be moving forward and actually be gaining strength through its increased parcel deliveries alone!

While Senator Coburn and Carper are still pushing this misguided legislation, 30 other Senators led by Senators Tom Udall, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senator Bernie Sanders are working to introduce SB 316. This legislation addresses the Postal Service’s financial condition and provides sensible postal reform that protects the interest of both the Postal Service and the community it has been established to serve. A companion bill in the House of Representatives, HR 630 is being supported and co-sponsored by Congresswoman Jackie Speier.

In an effort to increase community awareness and encourage support for this legislation, we, the postal letter carriers’ union, have been working with the San Mateo County CLC to request help from our own City Councils and the County Board of Supervisors to please take up this resolution in support of SB 316 for their communities.

To date in the Bay Area, our resolution has been passed by the Millbrae City Council, Daly City City Council, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Santa Clara City Council, and the Berkeley City Council. Several other City Councils are also considering adopting this resolution.

If your City Council and/or Board of Supervisors have not already brought this up please ask them to place this resolution on their next upcoming agenda. An example of the Resolution is below.

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Resolution in Support of SB 316

WHEREAS, The Postal Service Protection Act of 2013 would sustain the United States Postal Service and avert unnecessary closures that hurt communities; and

WHEREAS, The Postal Service Protection Act of 2013 would prohibit cuts to Saturday delivery, thus protecting rural communities, small businesses, and senior citizens, as well as reducing the need for customers to seek other delivery options; and

WHEREAS, The United States Postal Service’s financial issues are due to unnecessary requirements and regulations imposed on it. The Postal Service Protection Act of 2013 would remove burdensome regulations, so the United States Postal Service can manage its budget more effectively and be more competitive with other delivery service providers; and

WHEREAS, The Postal Service Protection Act of 2013 would give serious consideration to the employment status of the second largest civilian workforce in the country made up of over a half a million people living and working in all of our communities, with over 22% veterans, many with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, The Postal Service Protection Act of 2013 would reinstate overnight delivery standards to speed mail delivery and prevent shutdowns of mail sorting centers, and protect voting by mail throughout California which is now commonplace and will remain essential to our democracy; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the ________ City Council urges US Senator Barbara Boxer and US Senator Dianne Feinstein to pass the Postal Service Protection Act of 2013, Senate Bill 316, sponsored by Senator Bernard Sanders, that would ensure the modernization and preservation of the United States Postal Service; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the ________ City Council urges US Senator Barbara Boxer and US Senator Dianne Feinstein to oppose any postal reform legislation that does not end the mandate requiring the USPS to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, does not continue the mandate for 6-day delivery service, does not protect door to door delivery as it currently exists, and does not provide additional oversight and transparency to the United States Postal Service's plan to close, relocate, or sell 3,270 post offices; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the ________ City Council transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to both US Senator Barbara Boxer and US Senator Dianne Feinstein, and to the United States Postmaster General.

Jan 2014