April 24, 2012 — The Senate voted Tuesday to begin the slow dismantling of the United States Postal Service and to attack injured postal workers by slashing their workers’ compensation benefits.
The NALC has argued for months that S. 1789 would fail to preserve the long-term viability of the Postal Service because it embraces the downsizing plans of Postmaster General Pat Donahoe. Today, by voting against an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) to preserve six-day delivery (by a vote of 56 to 43) and by voting to slash federal employee workers’ compensation benefits (by a vote of 53 to 46), the Senate has failed to improve a deeply flawed bill.
Senators ignored more than 25,000 phone calls from NALC members around the country Tuesday urging them to adopt these amendments. Now we have no choice now but to strongly oppose final passage of S. 1789, a vote on which is expected Wednesday in the Senate.
We cannot give up the fight for positive reform. So our first task must be to do everything we can defeat the 21st Century Postal Service Act when it comes up for a final vote tomorrow.
I urge you and every city letter carrier to call 1-888-863-6103 to be connected to your two senators’ offices. Tell your senators to vote “NO” on S. 1789. (If you have trouble getting through, call the Capitol Hill switchboard, 202-224-3121, and ask to be transferred to your senators.)
I know all of you share my deep disappointment with today’s action on the amendments. But we cannot let that disappointment diminish our energy or silence our voices. We must send a message to our representatives in the Senate that we cannot save the Postal Service by dismantling its greatest asset—the last-mile delivery network that our members make real every day. And no reform can justify the punitive workers’ compensation reforms shoe-horned into this bill.
We’ve been knocked down, but we have to get up right away and continue the fight.
Call 1-888-863-6103 and tell your senators to vote NO Wednesday on final passage of S. 1789.
Whatever happens tomorrow in the Senate, the fight to save America’s Postal service will go on. A bill doesn’t become law until both houses of Congress passes it and the president signs it.
We have a long battle ahead of us. If we stay together and mobilize all of our resources, we can prevail.
See below for how your senators voted.
On the Akaka amendment:
| Senator | State | Party | Yes | No |
| Mark Kirk | IL | R | Not Voting | |
| Mark Begich | AK | D | x | |
| Mark Pryor | AR | D | x | |
| Barbara Boxer | CA | D | x | |
| Dianne Feinstein | CA | D | x | |
| Richard Blumenthal | CT | D | x | |
| Christopher Coons | DE | D | x | |
| Bill Nelson | FL | D | x | |
| Daniel Akaka | HI | D | x | |
| Daniel Inouye | HI | D | x | |
| Tom Harkin | IA | D | x | |
| Richard Durbin | IL | D | x | |
| John Kerry | MA | D | x | |
| Benjamin “Ben” Cardin | MD | D | x | |
| Barbara Mikulski | MD | D | x | |
| Carl Levin | MI | D | x | |
| Debbie Stabenow | MI | D | x | |
| Al Franken | MN | D | x | |
| Amy Klobuchar | MN | D | x | |
| Max Baucus | MT | D | x | |
| Jon Tester | MT | D | x | |
| Kent Conrad | ND | D | x | |
| E.Benjamin Nelson | NE | D | x | |
| Jeanne Shaheen | NH | D | x | |
| Frank Lautenberg | NJ | D | x | |
| Robert Menendez | NJ | D | x | |
| Jeff Bingaman | NM | D | x | |
| Tom Udall | NM | D | x | |
| Dean Heller | NV | R | x | |
| Harry Reid | NV | D | x | |
| Kristen Gillibrand | NY | D | x | |
| Charles Schumer | NY | D | x | |
| Sherrod Brown | OH | D | x | |
| Jeff Merkley | OR | D | x | |
| Ron Wyden | OR | D | x | |
| Robert Casey | PA | D | x | |
| Jack Reed | RI | D | x | |
| Sheldon Whitehouse | RI | D | x | |
| Tim Johnson | SD | D | x | |
| Jim Webb | VA | D | x | |
| Patrick Leahy | VT | D | x | |
| Bernard Sanders | VT | (I) | x | |
| Maria Cantwell | WA | D | x | |
| Patty Murray | WA | D | x | |
| Herb Kohl | WI | D | x | |
| Joe Manchin | WV | D | x | |
| John Rockefeller | WV | D | x | |
| Lisa Murkowski | AK | R | x | |
| Jeff Sessions | AL | R | x | |
| Richard Shelby | AL | R | x | |
| John Boozman | AR | R | x | |
| Jon Kyl | AZ | R | x | |
| John McCain | AZ | R | x | |
| Michael Bennet | CO | D | x | |
| Mark Udall | CO | D | x | |
| Joseph Lieberman | CT | I | x | |
| Thomas Carper | DE | D | x | |
| Marco Rubio | FL | R | x | |
| Saxby Chambliss | GA | R | x | |
| Johnny Isakson | GA | R | x | |
| Charles “Chuck” Grassley | IA | R | x | |
| Mike Crapo | ID | R | x | |
| James Risch | ID | R | x | |
| Daniel Coats | IN | R | x | |
| Richard Lugar | IN | R | x | |
| Jerry Moran | KS | R | x | |
| Pat Roberts | KS | R | x | |
| Mitchell McConnell | KY | R | x | |
| Rand Paul | KY | R | x | |
| Mary Landrieu | LA | D | x | |
| David Vitter | LA | R | x | |
| Scott Brown | MA | R | x | |
| Susan Collins | ME | R | x | |
| Olympia Snowe | ME | R | x | |
| Roy Blunt | MO | R | x | |
| Claire McCaskill | MO | D | x | |
| Thad Cochran | MS | R | x | |
| Roger Wicker | MS | R | x | |
| Richard Burr | NC | R | x | |
| Kay Hagan | NC | D | x | |
| John Hoeven | ND | R | x | |
| Mike Johanns | NE | R | x | |
| Kelly Ayotte | NH | R | x | |
| Rob Portman | OH | R | x | |
| Tom Coburn | OK | R | x | |
| James Inhofe | OK | R | x | |
| Patrick Toomey | PA | R | x | |
| Jim DeMint | SC | R | x | |
| Lindsey Graham | SC | R | x | |
| John Thune | SD | R | x | |
| Lamar Alexander | TN | R | x | |
| Bob Corker | TN | R | x | |
| John Cornyn | TX | R | x | |
| Kay Bailey Hutchison | TX | R | x | |
| Orrin Hatch | UT | R | x | |
| Mike Lee | UT | R | x | |
| Mark Warner | VA | D | x | |
| Ronald Johnson | WI | R | x | |
| John Barrasso | WY | R | x | |
| Michael Enzi | WY | R | x |
On the Udall amendment:
| Senator | State | Party | Yes | No |
| Mark Kirk | IL | R | not voting | |
| Mark Begich | AK | D | x | |
| Barbara Boxer | CA | D | x | |
| Michael Bennet | CO | D | x | |
| Mark Udall | CO | D | x | |
| Richard Blumenthal | CT | D | x | |
| Christopher Coons | DE | D | x | |
| Bill Nelson | FL | D | x | |
| Daniel Inouye | HI | D | x | |
| Tom Harkin | IA | D | x | |
| Richard Durbin | IL | D | x | |
| John Kerry | MA | D | x | |
| Benjamin “Ben” Cardin | MD | D | x | |
| Barbara Mikulski | MD | D | x | |
| Olympia Snowe | ME | R | x | |
| Carl Levin | MI | D | x | |
| Debbie Stabenow | MI | D | x | |
| Al Franken | MN | D | x | |
| Amy Klobuchar | MN | D | x | |
| Claire McCaskill | MO | D | x | |
| Max Baucus | MT | D | x | |
| Jon Tester | MT | D | x | |
| E.Benjamin Nelson | NE | D | x | |
| Jeanne Shaheen | NH | D | x | |
| Frank Lautenberg | NJ | D | x | |
| Robert Menendez | NJ | D | x | |
| Tom Udall | NM | D | x | |
| Harry Reid | NV | D | x | |
| Kristen Gillibrand | NY | D | x | |
| Charles Schumer | NY | D | x | |
| Sherrod Brown | OH | D | x | |
| Jeff Merkley | OR | D | x | |
| Ron Wyden | OR | D | x | |
| Robert Casey | PA | D | x | |
| Jack Reed | RI | D | x | |
| Sheldon Whitehouse | RI | D | x | |
| Tim Johnson | SD | D | x | |
| Patrick Leahy | VT | D | x | |
| Bernard Sanders | VT | (I) | x | |
| Maria Cantwell | WA | D | x | |
| Patty Murray | WA | D | x | |
| Herb Kohl | WI | D | x | |
| Joe Manchin | WV | D | x | |
| John Rockefeller | WV | D | x | |
| Lisa Murkowski | AK | R | x | |
| Jeff Sessions | AL | R | x | |
| Richard Shelby | AL | R | x | |
| John Boozman | AR | R | x | |
| Mark Pryor | AR | D | x | |
| Jon Kyl | AZ | R | x | |
| John McCain | AZ | R | x | |
| Dianne Feinstein | CA | D | x | |
| Joseph Lieberman | CT | I | x | |
| Thomas Carper | DE | D | x | |
| Marco Rubio | FL | R | x | |
| Saxby Chambliss | GA | R | x | |
| Johnny Isakson | GA | R | x | |
| Daniel Akaka | HI | D | x | |
| Charles “Chuck” Grassley | IA | R | x | |
| Mike Crapo | ID | R | x | |
| James Risch | ID | R | x | |
| Daniel Coats | IN | R | x | |
| Richard Lugar | IN | R | x | |
| Jerry Moran | KS | R | x | |
| Pat Roberts | KS | R | x | |
| Mitchell McConnell | KY | R | x | |
| Rand Paul | KY | R | x | |
| Mary Landrieu | LA | D | x | |
| David Vitter | LA | R | x | |
| Scott Brown | MA | R | x | |
| Susan Collins | ME | R | x | |
| Roy Blunt | MO | R | x | |
| Thad Cochran | MS | R | x | |
| Roger Wicker | MS | R | x | |
| Richard Burr | NC | R | x | |
| Kay Hagan | NC | D | x | |
| Kent Conrad | ND | D | x | |
| John Hoeven | ND | R | x | |
| Mike Johanns | NE | R | x | |
| Kelly Ayotte | NH | R | x | |
| Jeff Bingaman | NM | D | x | |
| Dean Heller | NV | R | x | |
| Rob Portman | OH | R | x | |
| Tom Coburn | OK | R | x | |
| James Inhofe | OK | R | x | |
| Patrick Toomey | PA | R | x | |
| Jim DeMint | SC | R | x | |
| Lindsey Graham | SC | R | x | |
| John Thune | SD | R | x | |
| Lamar Alexander | TN | R | x | |
| Bob Corker | TN | R | x | |
| John Cornyn | TX | R | x | |
| Kay Bailey Hutchison | TX | R | x | |
| Orrin Hatch | UT | R | x | |
| Mike Lee | UT | R | x | |
| Mark Warner | VA | D | x | |
| Jim Webb | VA | D | x | |
| Ronald Johnson | WI | R | x | |
| John Barrasso | WY | R | x | |
| Michael Enzi | WY | R | x |