{"id":10810,"date":"2015-05-02T10:03:43","date_gmt":"2015-05-02T15:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=10810"},"modified":"2015-05-02T10:03:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-02T15:03:43","slug":"senate-opposes-usps-service-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2015\/05\/02\/senate-opposes-usps-service-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Opposes USPS Service Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senate Opposes USPS Service Cuts<\/h2>\n

APWU Calls Vote ‘Significant Development’<\/em><\/h3>\n

APWU News – 05\/01\/2015<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSen. Sanders addresses a rally against fast-tracking the TPP
\ntrade deal on April 20 in Washington DC.<\/h6>\n

The Senate approved a motion on S. Con. Res. 11 introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that instructs budget conferees to insist on a deficit-neutral fund to halt mail processing center closures, restore overnight mail delivery, and protect rural services. A deficit-neutral amendment may not increase the nation\u2019s deficit.<\/p>\n

The non-binding instructions were approved 85-11 in a resounding bipartisan vote on April 15.<\/p>\n

In January, the Postal Service cut service standards for the second time in less than three years, virtually eliminating overnight delivery of first-class mail nationwide and paving the way for the closure of as many as 82 mail processing plants this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a huge concern, particularly in rural America, about the closing down of the processing centers,\u201d said Budget Committee Chairman Michael B. Enzi (R-WY). \u201cIt takes at least an extra day to get the mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

APWU President Mark Dimondstein called the overwhelming bipartisan vote \u201ca significant development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forty-two Democrats, 41 Republicans and two Independents approved the measure. \u201cThis shows what a popular issue defending the people\u2019s post office is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must continue to reach out to members of Congress as we fight for positive postal reform legislation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

APWU Legislative and Political Director John Marcotte also praised the move. \u201cCongress has the ultimate authority over postal operations,\u201d he said. \u201cNow that the Postal Service has committed itself to a doomed plan to slow the mail, degrade service to the American people, and lower revenues, it is crucial for Congress to exercise this authority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe APWU is heartened by the support of lawmakers from both parties in these budget instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the House, 158 representatives are co-sponsors of H. Res. 54, which calls on the Postal Service to restore service standards that were in effect in July 2012. Last year, a majority of senators and 178 House members signed letters endorsing a moratorium on mail processing plant closures and opposing January\u2019s mail slowdown.<\/p>\n

To see how your senators voted, click\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senate Opposes USPS Service Cuts APWU Calls Vote ‘Significant Development’ APWU News – 05\/01\/2015 Sen. Sanders addresses a rally against fast-tracking the TPP trade deal on April 20 in Washington DC. The Senate approved a motion on S. Con. Res. 11 introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that instructs budget conferees to insist on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-apwu-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10812,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10810\/revisions\/10812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}