The National Association of Letters Carriers plans scores of demonstrations across the country on Thursday, including four in Minnesota. The American Postal Workers Union and National Postal Mail Handlers Union plan to leaflet post offices on April 17, the deadline for filing federal income tax returns.
Members of all the unions, as well as supporters of the Postal Service, have been communicating with their representatives in Congress over the Easter recess. When lawmakers return to Washington, they are expected to consider Senate File 1789, which would hurt the Postal Service by:
• Putting an end to six-day mail delivery in two years.
• Phasing out door-to-door mail delivery.
• Failing to fully address the Postal Service’s pension pre-funding requirement, which has created an artificial fiscal crisis.
• Not addressing the overpayment into the Civil Service Retirement System.
“As it’s currently written, the bill will not prevent the Postal Service from degrading service standards or closing thousands of post offices and hundreds of mail processing centers around the country,” said American Postal Workers Union President Cliff Guffey.
National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando said the Postal Service legislation lacks any long-term vision and fails to provide for the creation of an effective business plan for a vital American institution.
“What the Postal Service needs most is a new business model,” Rolando said, “built from the bottom up, one that looks above the immediate financial and structural problems to find opportunities to meet the evolving needs of the American people in the 21st century.”
Other groups that have spoken out against S. 1789 include small-business owners who use the mail to advertise, veterans groups, local elected officials, labor union members, faith leaders and community organizations.
The Letter Carrier rallies in Minnesota on Thursday will be held in four locations:
• At 5 p.m. at the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building, 515 W 1st St., Duluth.
• At 5 p.m. at the offices of U.S. Senator Al Franken in St. Paul, 60 East Plato Blvd., and St. Peter, 208 S Minnesota Ave.
• At 6 p.m. at the Minneapolis office of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, 1200 Washington Ave. S.
A moratorium on post office closing and mail processing center consolidations is set to expire May 15, and postal officials have indicated that they intend to proceed with plans to dismantle the network unless Congress acts before then.
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The National Association of Letters Carriers plans scores of demonstrations across the country on Thursday, including four in Minnesota. The American Postal Workers Union and National Postal Mail Handlers Union plan to leaflet post offices on April 17, the deadline for filing federal income tax returns.
Members of all the unions, as well as supporters of the Postal Service, have been communicating with their representatives in Congress over the Easter recess. When lawmakers return to Washington, they are expected to consider Senate File 1789, which would hurt the Postal Service by:
• Putting an end to six-day mail delivery in two years.
• Phasing out door-to-door mail delivery.
• Failing to fully address the Postal Service’s pension pre-funding requirement, which has created an artificial fiscal crisis.
• Not addressing the overpayment into the Civil Service Retirement System.
“As it’s currently written, the bill will not prevent the Postal Service from degrading service standards or closing thousands of post offices and hundreds of mail processing centers around the country,” said American Postal Workers Union President Cliff Guffey.
National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric Rolando said the Postal Service legislation lacks any long-term vision and fails to provide for the creation of an effective business plan for a vital American institution.
“What the Postal Service needs most is a new business model,” Rolando said, “built from the bottom up, one that looks above the immediate financial and structural problems to find opportunities to meet the evolving needs of the American people in the 21st century.”
Other groups that have spoken out against S. 1789 include small-business owners who use the mail to advertise, veterans groups, local elected officials, labor union members, faith leaders and community organizations.
The Letter Carrier rallies in Minnesota on Thursday will be held in four locations:
• At 5 p.m. at the Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building, 515 W 1st St., Duluth.
• At 5 p.m. at the offices of U.S. Senator Al Franken in St. Paul, 60 East Plato Blvd., and St. Peter, 208 S Minnesota Ave.
• At 6 p.m. at the Minneapolis office of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, 1200 Washington Ave. S.
A moratorium on post office closing and mail processing center consolidations is set to expire May 15, and postal officials have indicated that they intend to proceed with plans to dismantle the network unless Congress acts before then.