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The North Carolina Letter Carrier|News

Fredric Rolando: Issa Misleads on Postal Service
By Fredric Rolando, President, National Association of Letter Carriers

The commentary piece on the U.S. Postal Service by Rep. Darrell Issa ["Post office should adapt, not get bailed out," ocregister.com, Dec. 20] blames management, workers and e-commerce for the financial crisis; warns of a taxpayer bailout; proposes degrading the agency and turning it over to federal bureaucrats to save it; and says the problem can be summed up by one word: procrastination.

It's as hard to follow his reasoning as it is to understand how his congressional postal "reform" bill would do anything other than destroy the Postal Service.

Let me provide some facts about a venerable agency rooted in the U.S. Constitution. First, let's dispose of the taxpayer myth. For 30 years the Postal Service has been funded by revenue earned selling stamps and services. It gets no tax money from folks in Orange County or anywhere else.

It provides America's residents and businesses with the industrial world's most affordable delivery service. Customer satisfaction and on-time delivery are at record highs, and for six consecutive years the public has named it the most-trusted federal agency.

Now to the financial crisis you hear so much about, and which some ideological foes of government and public service hope to exploit to deprive you of services you rely on.

Despite the worst recession in 80 years, the Postal Service has done well. In fiscal years 2007-10, it had a net operational profit delivering the mail of $611 million, with labor-management cooperation helping worker productivity double in recent years.

So why is there talk of red ink? Much of the blame goes to Congress. Since 2007, the Postal Service has paid $21 billion to satisfy a congressional mandate requiring that it – alone among all public agencies or private firms – prefund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years and do so within a decade. The mandate didn't correct a problem; the agency's future liabilities already were in good shape.

This has accounted for 84 percent of Postal Service losses. Issa's piece somehow neglected this manufactured crisis, probably a smart move because then the rest of his narrative – as well as his congressional actions – would fall apart.

Rather than address this onerous burden, Issa wants to degrade service to residents and businesses in Orange County and elsewhere, task bureaucrats in Washington with managing the Postal Service instead of the professionals, and abrogate contracts with the dedicated letter carriers who deliver in your communities.

To actually help, here's what should be done. First, Congress needs to fix the pre-funding fiasco it created. A bill to do so, H.R.1351, already has 227 co-sponsors – a bipartisan House majority – but Issa won't allow a vote. Again, from his perspective, it's probably a smart maneuver, since H.R.1351 has far more support than his measure.

With this financial drain alleviated, the postal community can focus on adapting to an evolving society, as it has for 200 years, whether to the telephone, telegraph or fax machine. That can be done through efficiencies and by growing the business. Indeed, delivering the increasing number of goods being ordered online already constitutes a profit-maker for the Postal Service. The best day to deliver packages: Saturday, when people are home.

By contrast, degrading services would drive customers away and reduce revenues. Destroying something to save it never has been good public policy.

It's ironic that Issa, who purports to support business, would raise costs to small businesses by ending Saturday delivery, compelling them to hire private carriers to send financial documents on weekends. Moreover, eviscerating the Postal Service would jeopardize the $1.3 trillion mailing industry, centered on the USPS and employing 7.5 million Americans in the private sector, including about one million Californians.

Perhaps Issa's problem is that this is a popular government entity that works. But when it comes to a national treasure first led by Benjamin Franklin, the congressman should follow the facts, not his ideology.




e-Activist|Call For a Large National Rally and March of Postal Workers and Their Allies
Call For a Large National Rally and March of Postal Workers and Their Allies

Whereas, the postal unions and the public Post Office remain under severe bipartisan attack by those who want to destroy and privatize the Postal Service, eliminate 6-day delivery, close 3,600 postal facilities, lay off hundreds of thousands, cut back our retirement and health benefits, gut our union contracts, and bust the postal unions. Only a strong movement from below can stop thee attacks; and

Whereas, the union-led rallies in so many of the 435 Congressional districts on September 27 were an excellent first step in our fight-back campaign. They gave a taste of the potential power the postal unions will have--when they unify, organize and fight...when they decide to mobilize their entire membership, and all community organizations, churches and unions.

Therefore, be it resolved, that Nathaniel Greene Branch 630 in Greensboro, NC call upon the NALC and all postal unions to mount a giant campaign this winter to defend our members and the Postal Service, committing national and local union resources--in particular to organize a large national rally and march of postal workers and our allies in Washington, DC or other location to be determined by the National President--to counter the lies of the Wall Street and corporate privatizers and demand:

  • No reduction in postal service--keep 6-day delivery!

  • No Post Office closings! Most shutdowns are in poor and rural communities, where service is needed most.

  • No layoffs! Save our jobs and services that the people need! Whole communities will suffer, when formerly well-paid unionized workers can no longer afford their mortgages.

  • Congress must pass HR 1351 to stop bleeding the Postal Service and let it function normally! No interference in our union contracts!


Branch 630 Resolution Demanding the Replacement of PMG Donahoe

Whereas, Postmaster General Donahoe is charging ahead with plans to end 6-day delivery, close 4,000 post offices (mostly in rural and low-income areas), eliminate 250 processing plants and 200,000 decent union jobs; and

Whereas, Donahoe is attempting to rip up "no layoff" contractual protections of our sister unions and attack our union at the very moment when our contract negotiations are occurring; and

Whereas, Ruth Goldway, chairwoman of the Postal Regulatory Commission has repeatedly warned, cutting services is no way for a service business to save itself; on the contrary, it is actually a form of institutional suicide; and

Whereas, Donahoe is leading the USPS to ruin in the face of a Congress and corporate-driven phony "crisis;"

Therefore, be it resolved, that Nathaniel Greene Branch 630 demands that the USPS Board of Governors replace Donahoe with a postmaster general who will defend the universal public postal service because he/she recognizes that the USPS is a national treasure.




  e-Activist
Emergency Phone Calls Needed to Save Postal Workers' Bargaining Rights

Tea Party politicians in Congress are mobilizing to kill collective bargaining rights for postal workers and end mail delivery to your door.

This is an extraordinary attack. Any day now this bill is headed for a vote, and that's why we need everyone to join in and make calls to their representatives.

Grab your phone NOW. It takes 60 seconds to make this urgent call.

Last month, anti-worker Republicans quietly pushed H.R. 2309 through Committee vote, mandating $3 billion in cuts to the U.S. Postal Service. The bill would close facilities, end door-to-door mailbox delivery service for 90 percent of American households and businesses, and lay off as many as 200,000 workers. Like the actions taken by extreme right-wing legislators in Wisconsin and Ohio, H.R. 2309 would also gut postal workers' collective bargaining rights.

The bill is headed for a vote in the full House of Representatives any day now, and that's why it's critical Congress hears from you TODAY.

The clock is ticking – please make your phone call now to stop H.R. 2309! We recognize that calls are not easy to make, but we consider this an emergency and need your voice to be heard. The stakes couldn't be higher. If enacted, H.R. 2309 would also:

• End Saturday mail delivery service, hurting small businesses, rural customers, the elderly, and those who rely on the mail for medicine delivery.

• Radically downsize the Postal Service, destroying 200,000 jobs and threatening the centerpiece of a $1.3 trillion mailing industry that employs 7.5 million private-sector workers.

• Force the closure of thousands of post offices, slowing mail service in many communities.

• Fail to address the true cause of the Postal Service's financial woes – the 2006 Congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree health benefits, a burden faced by no other government agency or firm.

No matter where you live, in the biggest city or the smallest town, the men and women of the U.S. Postal Service will deliver your mail six days a week. A Postal Service employee will come to your door whether you are young or old, rich or poor – whether your business is on Wall Street, Main Street, or in your garage.

Unfortunately, there are those in Washington who want to strip away our letter carriers' right to a voice at work – and their ability to serve us all.

Tell Congress not to destroy your mail delivery or collective bargaining rights. Contact your representative and ask him or her to vote against H.R. 2309.




 
NALC's Fred Rolando to Letter Carriers: It's Time to Take Our Message Back to the American People
By NALC President Fred Rolando

A majority of representatives in the House has co-sponsored H.R. 1351, thanks to (the hard work of letter carrier activists). Reaching this majority was a direct result of the lobby visits, rallies and media coverage you have generated since the legislation was introduced.

However, our fight is far from over, and we must keep up the momentum. It is time to take our message back to the American people and show Congress that the public stands with us on saving Saturday delivery.

Over the next several weeks, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the "super committee," will produce a plan to reduce the federal deficit. It may include a package of proposals to fix the financial difficulties facing the USPS. Among the proposals they will consider is President Obama's proposal to allow the USPS to reduce the number of delivery days from six to five.

At the National Rap Session in Las Vegas last weekend, I announced the next phase of the "Save America's Postal Service" campaign: a national petition drive urging Congress to preserve six-day delivery. Through this petition drive, we will build support among the American public and continue to let Congress know that six-day delivery is crucial to the future of the Postal Service.

The only way we will be successful is if every NALC member does his part or her part. Every NALC branch is charged with collecting 10 times its membership size in signatures. Your role as an NALC activist will be critical to achieving your branch's goal.

Completed petitions should be mailed to NALC's Department of Legislative and Political Affairs and arrive before Monday, November 14.

Click the links to download the petition and other relevant materials:

Petition.

Petition Guide.

Petition Do's and Don'ts.

Flier: Save Saturday Delivery.

We will send members of Congress the petitions from their districts. On the Save America's Postal Service website, we will list the total number of signatures gathered by each branch.

Please work with your branch president and organize at least one signature-gathering event each week between now and the November 14 deadline. Your participation is needed to mobilize NALC members, activists and community allies.

For more information, please click here to visit the "Save America's Postal Service" website.

Together we are stronger, and with your help, we can continue to deliver for America six days a week.




Majority in the House Has Co-sponsored H.R. 1351
Majority in the House Has Co-sponsored H.R. 1351
By NALC Legislation and Political Action

Friday, October 7, we reached a crucial milestone: 218 voting members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor H.R. 1351. (There are actually 225 co-sponsors on this legislation, but seven are non-voting members.)

Two hundred eighteen equals a majority in the House.

There have been few pieces of legislation during the 112th Congress that have garnered such bipartisan support. This could not have happened without the activism of NALC members.

We thank all NALC members who wrote letters and called members of Congress, wrote letters to the editor and rallied on Sept. 27 to Save America's Postal Service.

The work is not done and we must keep the pressure on the members of Congress who have not signed on to H.R. 1351.

To find out if you members of Congress is a co-sponsor, click here.

To find your member of Congress' contact information, click here.




  Help Preserve Six-Day Delivery: Sign the 'We the People' Petition

Help Preserve Six-Day Delivery: Sign the 'We the People' Petition

 

The Obama administration has devised a new way for people to make their voices heard.

Through the “We the People” petitions, the White House is asking citizens for their input on important policy decisions. The White House will respond to all petitions that receive 5,000 signatures or more in the 30 days after each petition is created.

Two weeks ago, President Obama submitted a proposal to Congress that would allow the Postal Service to reduce mail delivery to five days a week. Then, five days ago, a “We the People” petition was created that seeks the preservation of six-day mail delivery service, citing the vital role Saturday delivery plays in the economic future of the USPS.

The six-day delivery petition has more than 3,000 signatures on it, so far. With your help, we can send a message to the White House about how important Saturday mail delivery is to the American people, and we can put on the petition many more than the 3,300 signatures needed between now and October 29.

Please click this link, sign up, and sign your name on the petition to preserve Saturday delivery.

In Solidarity,
Fredric V. Rolando, President
National Association of Letter Carriers




"Save America's Postal Service" Rally A Successful Joint Effort

I am awash in happiness and gratitude. We have had a very successful rally supporting Representative McIntyre's co-sponsorship of HR 1351 in downtown Wilmington! It was tightly focused upon the issue, very informative to the public, very supportive of the Congressman on this issue, and we were successful in delivering hundreds of signatures to his office. We were further blessed with great weather, plenty of news coverage, and so many people willing to hold signs and collect signatures that we ran out of tee shirts! We even had the public offer to buy tees!  

I have to thank my union local president John Cowan for allowing me to take time during the last union meeting to drive home the importance of participation in this rally, as well as drumming up awareness within the carrier ranks through the past few days. Another big thank you goes to Richard Laverdure and to Bill Whalen of the APWU local. They were extremely generous in allowing me to use the APWU room a block away from the rally site as a staging area, as well as spending a ton of time and energy making copies, getting current info, and collecting signatures before and during the rally. Barbara Smith of the Rural Carriers union was available and helpful from a very long way away to get rural carriers represented at the rally -- thanks!  

My state level NALC president Eddie Davidson was an integral part of making this rally even happen, generously sending shirts, info sheets, signs, ever present encouragement, emails with current info and materials, and the constant effort to help in any way possible.  Last and NOT least, the super smart firebrand Jason Rosin, as President of the CLC, took time out of a very busy schedule to be available in every way to ensure the success of this rally by mailing nearly 200 letters in support of the rally to local union leaders, emailing many others, and offered time, material, advice, the IATSE 491 hall, and every little thing to see to it that fellow union brothers here in Southeastern NC were successful with informing the public about HR 1351 and the real deal with postal finances.  

I am selfishly happy that this rally easily met its goal of obtaining signatures from the public, delivering these petitions to the Congressman's office, and educating the public. I feel blessed and ever grateful to everyone who helped, very selflessly, from the smallest to the largest efforts.  

THANK YOU!  

In solidarity,  
Jamey Charlet
Congressional District Liason,
National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 464

(Photo: Jamey Charlet (l) and Branch President John Cowan)


 


 
Internet Site Spreading False Information About Postal Service

It has come to my attention that a very misleading petition is being circulated on the Internet by a man who calls himself a "Freedom Organizer" affiliated with TheTeaParty.net. The petition pushes for action of Rep. Darrell Issa's H.R. 2309, the so-called "Postal Reform Act," and it claims that this bill provides the only responsible means of protecting postal employees.

An e-mail, addressed "Dear Patriot," misleads the public by stating:

"In a last ditch attempt to deny us victory on the Postal Reform Act, the union hacks have offered a proposal that is unbelievably irresponsible. Their proposal would raid the pension accounts of USPS employees to subsidize the annual deficit. While the Tea Party is fighting to ensure that the hardworking men and women of the USPS and their families get the pension plans they agreed to, the corrupt union leaders and their lackeys in Congress seek to raid their retirement accounts to temporarily subsidize their unsustainable spending. The truth is that it is the Tea Party, not the union bosses, fighting to protect the working man."

Click here to read the text of the e-mail petition.

The fact of the matter is that H.R. 2309 would hardly protect postal employees; rather, it would dismantle the USPS by cutting services, allowing layoffs and interfering with our collective-bargaining agreements. As we already know, Rep. Stephen Lynch's bill, H.R. 1351, is the responsible approach to returning the USPS to firm financial footing.

I am asking you to click here and print this letter, sign it, and mail it to:

Todd Cefaratti
TheTeaParty.net
1717 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 1025
Washington, DC 20006

Together, we must continue to fight back against any misleading information that's being spread about the United States Postal Service and its employees. Thank you for your action on this matter.

In Solidarity,
Fredric V. Rolando, President
National Association of Letter Carriers

If you need to update your NALC e-Activist Network e-mail address, you need complete the sign-up process again to help us validate your membership information. Click here to go to the e-Activist Network sign-up page at nalc.org.




 
Tell Congress: Tax Wall Street to Heal Main Street
Jobs With Justice

Friday's dismal jobs report reminds us that we’re in a jobs emergency requiring bold federal action. Tell Congress: Tax Wall Street to heal Main Street, and put America back to work.

Our communities are devastated by foreclosures and unemployment. Corporate-funded politicians are gutting services and attacking worker rights, claiming our state and national governments are broke – while Wall Street and corporate CEOs are getting record bonuses and sitting on record cash reserves (and often paying little or nothing in taxes). Despite massive fraud and reckless greed that wrecked our economy, throwing millions of Americans out of work and out of their homes, not a single Wall Street "bankster" has gone to jail. The fight back is growing!

Yesterday, National Nurses United (NNU) led a National Day of Action in more than 60 cities, supported by Jobs with Justice coalitions and other allies, demanding a Financial Speculation Tax (FST) which could pay for millions of good jobs, making Wall Street speculators pay for some of the damage they caused and restraining some of the more dangerous speculative trading. One part of breaking the grip of Wall Street, an FST is supported by many organizations, including the AFL-CIO.

NNU actions urged members of Congress to support a robust FST that would generate at least $350 Billion per year. TAKE ACTION NOW!





 


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