NATIONAL
Call Tuesday to support USPS Fairness Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, Feb. 25, postal workers and their supporters will be standing up (once again) for our public Postal Service. The AFL-CIO and the Washington State Labor Council are calling on all to participate and protect America’s most cherished institution.
TAKE A STAND! — The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the USPS Fairness Act. Now it’s time to get it through the U.S. Senate. Please click here to sign up to make a phone call to your Senator on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Or go ahead and call 1-833-924-0085 and tell your Senators to pass the Senate companion bill, S.2965.
In 2006, Congress saddled our public Postal Service with an unfair and unsustainable burden of pre-funding retiree health care benefits for the next 75 years! That means paying now for USPS workers who aren’t even born yet. It was a clear attempt to saddle the Postal Service with the appearance of debt to bolster efforts to privatize the USPS.
For example, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, the USPS posted a $748 million loss, the entirety of which stems from the unfair obligation to pre-fund future retiree health benefits. That mandate cost the Postal Service $1.2 billion in the first three months of the fiscal year. But news reports continue to report only on the loss, claiming the Postal Service is “beleaguered” and “losing billions.” The truth is: the USPS is operating at a profit if not for the ridiculous and unfair pre-funding mandate.
The USPS Fairness Act will start to put that right by removing the unfair burden. By repealing the pre-funding mandate, the Postal Service would then be able to focus on investing and innovating services in order to better meet its mission to service every American household and business.
Please join us in supporting America’s public Postal Service. Sign up to call your Senators to support S.2965 on Feb. 25, 2020.