WASHINGTON – NALC President Fredric V. Rolando issued the following statement today in response to proposed measures to solve the USPS’ budget deficit, including rate increases and cutting Saturday delivery:

“What is at stake here is finding a long-term, common sense solution to the financial problems plaguing the Postal Service. The answer does not reside with penny-wise, pound-foolish service cuts, as proposed by the USPS. Neither is it to be found by making false and misleading claims about postal labor costs to avoid a postage rate increase, as some mailers are now doing. Of the options under consideration to solve the Postal Service’s financial crisis, the smartest solution is to reform the congressional mandate to massively pre-fund future retiree health benefits.

“The Postal Service is mandated by law to meet an aggressive pre-funding payment schedule of future health benefits for retirees. No other American entity in the public or private sector is required to pre-fund retiree health benefits. The Postal Service has already set aside more than $35 billion, enough to cover retiree health benefits for 15-20 years.

“Additionally, the Postal Service has been overcharged by $50-$75 billion for benefits Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefits, according to the findings of both the USPS Office of the Inspector General and the Postal Regulatory Commission. Without these burdens, the Postal Service would have been profitable in three of the past four years. If these burdens were eliminated altogether, the Postal Service would be able to pay down its outstanding operational debt and focus on strengthening and adapting its business model.

“The Postal Service has reviewed its operations repeatedly over the past three years and has reacted quickly to the changing economic landscape. Jointly with the NALC, it has evaluated and adjusted letter carrier routes four times in the past 18 months. These hard-nosed reviews have saved the Postal Service over a billion dollars and have significantly reduced its workforce while it reached record levels of productivity. Indeed, the Postal Service now employs nearly 100,000 fewer career employees than it did before the recession began.

“To make this a labor issue ignores the larger financial issues at play. We are committed to making changes that are in the best interest of consumers. But to address the problem, we should not resort to knee-jerk reactions and criticisms. The long-term solution is to urge Congress to lift the inequitable pre-funding obligation and refunding CSRS over-payment burdening the Postal Service so it can operate profitably.”

 NALC.org

NALC: Stop USPS from Making ‘Big Mistake’

NALC is taking its campaign to preserve the long-term viability of the Postal Service to the streets this summer.

President Fred Rolando launched the “Save Saturday Delivery” campaign with a national mailing to branch leaders and state-level legislative activists. Included in the mailing is a comprehensive toolkit designed to help local leaders weigh in with Congress on the need to keep Saturday delivery and mobilize support for our position with the Postal Regulatory Commission.

“This fight cannot be won in Washington alone,” Rolando said. “We need every member to help us prevail – giving up Saturday delivery to competitors is the most short-sighted idea imaginable. We must stop the Postal Service from making such a big mistake.”

The “Save Saturday Delivery” toolkit contains fact sheets, talking points and instructions for activists.

NALC congressional district liaisons and state legislative chairs will organize in-district visits with House and Senate members and organize letter-writing campaigns aimed at key legislators.

Branch leaders will conduct community outreach to encourage opposition to the elimination of Saturday delivery, both in Congress and within the PRC, which is conducting a formal review of the USPS proposal for weekday-only collections and delivery. Its advisory opinion, which will be released by the end of the year, could be influential in Congress – the only body with the power to approve the USPS plan.

The NALC believes that eliminating Saturday delivery would do more harm than good – it will simply push more mailers out of the postal system by making it less valuable.

“Slower service and higher rates is not a business strategy,” Rolando said. “Congress must reform the retiree health pre-funding provisions of the law. And we must do our part to preserve the excellent level of service we provide, six days a week, and seek to add new services that will generate new revenue for the USPS.”

Through the “Save Saturday Delivery” campaign, NALC aims to educate members of Congress, as well as the general public, about what it’s really going to take to fix the Postal Service.

“The Postal Service is a vital national service and we have a responsibility to fight for its future,” Rolando said.

Source: NALC

In response to the financial crisis facing the Postal Service due to the severe national recession and the impact of electronic substitution, postal management has launched an internal study on the feasibility of eliminating Saturday delivery across the United States

NALC received a letter dated June 11 from the Postal Service requesting the union’s input on this study, with a request that such input be provided by June 19, 2009. In view of the profound impact such a change would have on the Postal Service and on letter carriers across the country, NALC rejected the timeline suggested by the USPS and requested a full briefing on the subject before responding to the June 11 letter. That briefing has not yet been provided, though we expect it to take place shortly.

“The NALC’s position on this issue should be crystal clear: We oppose the elimination of six-day delivery,” said NALC President Bill Young. “Downsizing the Postal Service to meet the needs of a severely depressed economy is short-sighted and self-defeating—it will cost us tens of thousands of jobs and open the way to competitors to provide service on the sixth day,” he added.

NALC is committed to working with Congress and the administration to find better ways to help the Postal Service remain viable. “Rather than contemplate a radical change like the elimination of Saturday delivery, we should pursue more sensible solutions,” said Executive Vice President Fred Rolando.

“First and foremost, Congress should re-examine all the retirement financing decisions made by the Bush administration that have so burdened the Postal Service in this time of economic crisis. Eliminating the FERS military benefit cost to postal ratepayers, granting the Postal Service eligibility for Medicare Part D subsidies, as intended by law, and fundamentally reforming the scheme for pre-funding retiree health benefits are essential first steps,” he added.

“Expanding services and making full use of the Postal Service’s invaluable last-mile network is the key to the future,” Rolando said.

Source: NALC

NALC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2009

WASHINGTON – The head of the National Association of Letter Carriers (AFL-CIO) said today that frequent postage rate increases like the one today that boosted a first-class stamp to 44 cents – while necessary for the U.S. Postal Service to function effectively this year – can and should be avoided in the future.

“Six-day, universal mail delivery in the United States remains the best postal bargain in the world,” said NALC President William H. Young. “Despite the economic climate, letter carriers and other postal employees are working hard to maintain top-rate service for all Americans while adjusting to the many technological changes in the communications field.”

But Young said the rate hike should not have been needed, at least not at this time.

“Future postage rate increases could be delayed or even avoided on a regular basis if Congress would act to rescind some of the onerous financial shackles imposed on the Postal Service by the previous administration,” Young said.

Young said Congress should pass and send to President Obama legislation (H.R. 22) to correct the payment schedule for pre-funding retiree health benefits of postal employees which currently costs USPS more than $5.5 billion a year. The legislation would save the Postal Service an average of $3.5 billion a year by adjusting the pre-funding schedule, and allow those funds to be used for day-to-day postal operations.

No other government agency or major corporation has such an onerous and unnecessary retiree health benefit funding obligation.

In addition, Young said Congress needs to rescind the requirement that the Postal Service – unlike any other government entity – pay retiree benefits for employees covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) for the years they served in the U.S. military. That change alone would save the Postal Service billions of dollars yearly.

CONTACT:
Drew Von Bergen
(202) 662-2489
vonbergen@nalc.org

NALC

NALC President William H. Young surprised many in attendance by announcing that he plans to retire soon – probably before the end of the year – at which time under the Constitution he will turn the reins of the union over to Executive Vice President Fred Rolando.

“I have served as a full-time officer for this union for half my life – 31 of my 62 years,” Young said. He said he has not yet set a definite date. “It is my privilege to be the president of the greatest union in America,” Young
added.

Later, Garden Grove, California Branch 1100 President Charlie Miller led a letter carriers’ cheer for Young.Young’s announcement came at the Sunday morning Rap Session, which followed a day of workshops led by national officers on the route adjustment process, city delivery and contract administration issues, community service and Postal Service finances – all affected by the economic crisis that has swept the nation and caused concern for both the Postal Service and the NALC.

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2009 Food Drive

NALC announced that the nation’s largest food drive to combat hunger will be conducted this year on Saturday, May 9. On that day, letter carriers will collect non-perishable donations from homes as they deliver mail along their postal routes.

The 17th annual NALC National Food Drive to “Stamp Out Hunger” is the largest one-day food drive in the nation. Carriers collected a record 73.1 million pounds of food in last year’s drive. The drive is held annually on the second Saturday in May in over 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Donations will be collected by more than 1,400 local branches of the 300,000-member postal union and delivered to food banks, pantries and shelters that serve the communities where they are collected. Assisting in the effort are rural letter carriers and other postal employees, as well as members of other unions and thousands of civic volunteers.

NALC President William H. Young emphasized that as successful as the food drive has been in the past, it simply must be even better this year.

“Millions and millions of families are suffering – struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table,” Young said. “More than ever food banks, pantries and shelters need our help this year. As families count on them for support, they’re counting on us and we must not back off on our commitment.”

Young also noted that donations are particularly critical at this time since most school lunch programs are suspended during the summer months and millions of children must find alternate sources of nutrition.

In New York City and Chicago, where transportation limitations preclude mailbox pickup, citizens are being asked to take donations to their local post offices between May 4 and 9.

Persons who have any questions about the drive at their location should ask their letter carrier or contact their local post office.

Over 125 million postcards, sponsored by the Campbell Soup Company and the U.S. Postal Service’s Priority Mail, will be mailed to postal customers to remind them of the drive.

Public Service Announcements featuring movie and television stars David Arquette and Courteney Cox, as well as the Harlem Globetrotters, are being made available throughout the country. Valpak Direct Marketing Systems is focusing 40 million of its envelopes on encouraging food donations and Valassis is having 85 million of its mail-delivered Red Plum wraps include promotions for the drive.

Other co-sponsors of the drive with the letter carriers’ union are Feeding America, formerly known as America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s food bank network; the United Way of America and its local United Ways; and the AFL-CIO.  Read More

NALC

The Postal Service has extended the deadline to elect the Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) option for eligible carriers until June 19, 2009.

Carriers who are 50 with at least 20 years of service, or any age with at least 25 years of service, may choose to take the option and may select one of three effective dates: May 31, June 30 or July 31. Read more