{"id":3079,"date":"2011-10-31T09:14:20","date_gmt":"2011-10-31T14:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=3079"},"modified":"2011-10-31T09:14:20","modified_gmt":"2011-10-31T14:14:20","slug":"battle-over-usps-future-enters-critical-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2011\/10\/31\/battle-over-usps-future-enters-critical-period\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle Over USPS Future Enters Critical Period"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Battle Over USPS Future Enters Critical Period
\n<\/strong>Union Launches Petition Drive to Protect Post Offices, Mail Processing Centers, Service Standards<\/em><\/p>\n

The battle over the future of the Postal Service \u2014 and our jobs \u2014 has reached a critical stage: Key senators are meeting behind closed doors in an effort to produce a compromise bill to address the USPS financial crisis. It is likely that any proposals they develop will be submitted to the congressional \u201csuper-committee\u201d to be incorporated into the committee\u2019s plan to reduce the nation\u2019s deficit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absolutely essential that we make our voices heard now \u2014 before any deal is cut that could adversely affect the future of the USPS and our members,\u201d said APWU President Cliff Guffey.<\/p>\n

The union has launched a petition<\/a> drive with an important message: Slashing the postal network and service to customers will hurt, not help, the USPS.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Postal Service is proposing drastic reductions in both. On July 28 the USPS announced plans to close 3,700 post offices \u2014 with thousands more closures expected in the next several years \u2014 and on Sept. 14 the agency announced plans to eliminate 252 of approximately 460 mail processing facilities.<\/p>\n

A week later, the USPS admitted something management has been denying for years: The proposed cutbacks in the postal network will lead to severe reductions in service to the American people. The Postal Service announced<\/a> [PDF] in the Federal Register on Sept. 21 plans to change service standards \u2014 to eliminate overnight service for first-class mail and periodicals and to change two-day mail delivery to three days.<\/p>\n

A Perfect Fit<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Postal Service\u2019s slash-and-burn strategy fits perfectly with the provisions of H.R. 2309, the Postal \u201cDestruction\u201d Bill<\/a>. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), would destroy the Postal Service as we know it.<\/p>\n

The Issa-Ross bill would require the USPS to make $3 billion worth of cuts in post offices and mail processing facilities within two years. In addition, it would prohibit postal unions and management from negotiating restrictions on layoffs, and would empower an appointed \u201csolvency authority\u201d to unilaterally cut wages and benefits.<\/p>\n

The bill was approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Oct. 13 \u2014 and could come up for a vote in the full House at any time.<\/p>\n

H.R. 1351, a bill postal unions enthusiastically support and which has more than 220 co-sponsors, hasn\u2019t even been considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must show Congress that the American people stand with us,\u201d said Executive Vice President Greg Bell. \u201cIf every APWU member can get 10 friends, neighbors or family members to sign a petition, we would have over 2 million signatures,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Petitions and flyers will be mailed to local and state presidents.<\/p>\n

Completed petitions should be returned by Nov. 14 to:<\/p>\n

Save America\u2019s Postal Service
\nAmerican Postal Workers Union
\n1300 L Street NW
\nWashington, DC 20005<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Battle Over USPS Future Enters Critical Period Union Launches Petition Drive to Protect Post Offices, Mail Processing Centers, Service Standards The battle over the future of the Postal Service \u2014 and our jobs \u2014 has reached a critical stage: Key senators are meeting behind closed doors in an effort to produce a compromise bill to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apwu-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3079","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=3079"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3083,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3079\/revisions\/3083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}