APWU Web News Article 052-2013, April 26, 2013

The APWU is asking union members and supporters to sign an online petition urging the White House to Save the Postal Service and Save American Jobs by supporting the Postal Service Protection Act (H.R. 630 in the House / S. 316 in the Senate).

The We the People petition, which was posted by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), must garner 100,000 signers by May 24 to generate a response from the White House.

“So sign the petition!” said Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid. “Please post it on your Facebook page and share it on any social media you participate in,” he said.

The petition advocates re-establishing overnight delivery standards to ensure the timely delivery of mail and to prevent the closure of mail processing plants; opposes the move to five-day delivery, and proposes allowing the USPS to generate more revenue by ending a 2006 ban that prohibits the USPS from offering new products and services.

The petition points out that approximately 80 percent of USPS financial losses since 2007 are due to a congressional mandate to prefund 75 years of future retiree health benefits over 10 years. It notes that in 2012 USPS lost a record $15.9 billion, but $11.1 billion of that loss went to prefund healthcare. “This must change,” it says.

The Postal Service Protection Act would:

• Fix the Postal Service’s immediate financial crisis by ending the mandate that requires the USPS to pre-fund healthcare benefits for future retirees — a burden no other government agency or private company bears;



• Allow the Postal Service to recover overpayments the USPS made to federal pension plans;



• Re-establish overnight delivery standards for first-class mail, which would ensure the timely delivery of mail, help keep mail processing facilities open, and protect jobs;
• Protect six-day delivery;



• Allow the USPS to develop new products and services that would generate new sources of revenue, and



• Protect post offices by giving the Postal Regulatory Commission binding authority to prevent post offices from being closed based on the effect on the community and the effect on the employees.