NAPS Executive Vice President pens commentary on behalf of Federal-Postal Coalition

Are Federal and Postal Employees Taken For Granted?

We take so much for granted in America today. From clean water, to consistent electric power to a safe food supply; we go about our daily lives without a care about these everyday services. Sure, we are concerned about gun violence, problems in the Middle East, having enough money to retire or pay for our children’s education and a myriad of other global or personal concerns.

When the recent Boston Marathon was struck by terrorists, law enforcement, the medical community and just regular people all stepped up to help the victims. Swiftly and efficiently, members of federal, state and local law enforcement did their work to apprehend the perpetrators and they are still continuing their investigation. As we travel through life in America, whether it be in a car, a train or a plane, there is someone whose job it is to make sure you get their safely. When you sit at a restaurant, ride in an elevator or go to a dentist or a doctor, there is someone who is making sure that the food is safe, the elevator is inspected and that the doctor or dentist is qualified; that person is a government employee. Right now government employees are one of the most beleaguered groups in the country. As the effects of sequestration are being felt in more places around the country, federal employees are bearing the brunt of the inability of the U.S. Congress to resolve the federal budget problems. We saw the effect on air travel recently when flight delays and cancellation starting mounting. Because the Congress uses air travel to come and go from their frequent recesses, as well as caters to those who fly the skies frequently, that certainly got fixed quickly.

But, in other agencies, things won’t get fixed so fast. In the federal court system, up to 2,000 employees could be furloughed for 15 days as a result of sequestration. Support for vital resources for our young and elderly with Head-Start programs and Meals-on-Wheels are also impacted. I saw a news report of a man who gave up his daily delivery of a hot meal as he thought someone else might be more in need. Besides the effects of the sequestration, federal and postal employees have endured consecutive years of pay freezes, some for up to three years. While all this is happening, those of us who are federal and postal employees get up every day and go to do our jobs the only way we know how – with our best effort. We have seen the power of outreach to legislators by other organizations and groups recently. Members of Congress do react to the calls of their constituents when their voices are heard loudly and frequently. Federal and postal employees could be the 800 gorilla in the room if we set our minds to it.

The Federal-Postal Coalition, of which our organization is a proud member, consists of over 30 federal and postal unions and associations that represent 5 million active and retired federal employees. Just imagine the impact that these employees could have if they lobbied in their own behalf. There wouldn’t be enough paper in fax machines or enough staff to open emails if we could just get every employee to contact their Member of Congress. As you get in your car, or get on a train to go to work today, don’t think about how lucky you are that you may be safe right now from the effects of sequestration. Instead, think about your fellow federal employees who are on a furlough today, or the young child who can’t go to pre-school today, the cancer patient who won’t get treatment or the senior citizen who won’t hear the knock on their door for their only contact with a living person from the outside world who is delivering the only hot food they will have for the day. As federal and postal employees, we have to more than just give our best effort at work every day.

We also have to become citizen activists and communicate with our elected official to let them know we are tired of waiting for them to do their job and fix the budget. If you have now read up until this point, I’m almost done. The question is; after you finish reading this, what are you going to do? If you are just going to continue what you were doing, and get up tomorrow morning for the daily grind, then I have failed in my effort. Instead, you need to get on your computer or pick up your phone or maybe even write a letter to your Member of Congress and tell them that you want them to stop the sequestration and pass a budget now! Let them know that you aren’t happy and that you vote too!

James F. Killackey III
Executive Vice President
National Association of Postal Supervisors