Postal Workers Rally to Save Jobs

Postal workers and supporters rally outside Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) office in Suitland, MD, as part of a nationwide day of rallies to save postal service jobs.

Thousands of postal workers and their supporters held rallies in 492 locations to protect the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and support a plan to keep the USPS solvent without cutting 120,000 jobs, ending collective bargaining rights, closing post offices and reducing service.

The rallies targeted every Congressional district to urge support for H.R. 1351, a bill that would solve the USPS funding problems without drastic cuts. Media reports and USPS foes in Congress point to declining use of mail service as the reason for losses at the USPS. However, the USPS economic crisis is the result of a bill passed by Congress during the Bush Administration that requires the postal service to pre-fund 75 years of retiree health care benefits over a ten-year period — a burden no other government agency or private company bears.

The pre-funding requirement costs the USPS $5.5 billion per year and accounts for 100 percent of the USPS’ $20 billion in loses over the past four years. Without the requirement, the USPS would have shown a $611 million surplus. At the same time the USPS must prefund its healthcare plan, it is also paying into overfunded pension plans. H.R 1351 would help solve the funding problem without a taxpayer bailout by allowing the USPS to use some of the money going into its overfunded pension funds towards the health fund payments.

For more information to save Postal Service jobs, visit: http://www.saveamericaspostalservice.org

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