The Postal Service plans to close a many as 3,600 retail facilities is based on questionable data, Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) recently concluded. In a Dec. 23 advisory opinion, the PRC challenged the methods with which the Postal Service developed its “Retail Access Optimization Initiative,” charging that the USPS lacked sufficient data for determining which closures would reduce costs the most and that it lacked sufficient data and analysis to make the best decisions. The government funding bill Congress approved over the weekend included a reprieve for the Postal Service: It delays until August the due date for the USPS to make a $5.5 billion payment to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees. “We are pleased by the postponement, but we recognize the urgency of passing legislation that will correct the underlying cause of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.
Senator Sanders’s Bill Looks to Fix the Postal Service’s Financial Crisis
Senator Sanders’s bill would fix the current financial condition of the Postal Service by allowing the USPS to recover billions of dollars in overpayments made into postal retirement accounts in both the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). This piece of legislation would also protect six day delivery and mail processing facilities.
The dismantling of the postal service’s infrastructure and cutting days of delivery will do little to preserve the service standard needed by our economy, families and businesses.
Congressman Issa’s (R-CA) H.R. 2309 would be the first step toward ending Saturday service, stopping door to door delivery as we know it today and shuttering billions worth of post offices within two years.
What can you and your family do to help save the Postal Service? Call your member of the House of Representatives today and tell them to vote no on H.R. 2309! You can reach your member of Congress by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard today at (202) 224-3121.
http://www.apwu.org/news/webart/2011/11-125-senatebill-111102-bill.pdf
(Senate Bill)
http://www.apwu.org/news/webart/2011/11-124-dutyassignments-schedluler-111101.htm
Union Offers Online Scheduling Tool APWU Web News
The agency has struggled with a massive annual payment to pre-fund retiree health benefits imposed by Congress in 2006.
"Too many people still rely on the Postal Service, for us to sit back and allow it to collapse," said Lieberman, whose committee oversees the Postal Service.
Collins applauded provisions to protect six-day mail delivery for at least two years and transition older workers from disability compensation to retirement.