Rep. Issa’s Bill:
A Reckless Attack on Postal Services, Postal Employees

APWU News Bulletin 13-2011, June 24, 2011 | PDF

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the powerful chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has introduced a bill, H.R. 2309, that is “a reckless assault on postal workers and the Postal Service,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey.

“The bill would drastically reduce service to the American people by establishing a commission that would order $1 billion worth of post office closures in the first year and $1 billion worth of facility closures in the second year,” he said.

“Incredibly, it fails to address the main cause of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties — the unique mandate that requires the USPS to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees, at a cost of more than $5.5 billion per year,” Guffey said.

“It also completely ignores the fact that the USPS has massive surpluses in its pension accounts,” the union president noted. “The overpayments could and should be used to resolve the Postal Service’s cash crisis.”

Direct Attack on Workers

“The bill is a direct attack on the hard-working men and women who sort and distribute the nation’s mail,” Guffey said.

It would create a “solvency authority” with the power to unilaterally modify collective bargaining agreements any time the USPS defaults on “any obligation to the federal government for more than 30 days.”

“The solvency board would be empowered to cut wages, abolish benefits, and end our protection against layoffs,” he said.

In addition, at the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreements, the bill would increase employees’ costs for healthcare coverage and life insurance, and eliminate the right to bargain over these benefits. It also would allow the USPS to end Saturday delivery.

Propagating a Falsehood

“Rep. Issa insists that the legislation is designed to avoid a ‘bailout,’ but nothing could be further from the truth,” Guffey said.

“In fact, the federal government is holding billions of dollars of excess postal payments to FERS and CSRS.” (The USPS has a surplus of $6.9 billion in its Federal Employee Retirement System account, and, according to two independent actuarial studies, has overpaid the Civil Service Retirement System account by $50 billion to $75 billion.)

“The Postal Service does not rely on taxpayer funding,” he noted, “and doesn’t need a bailout.”

Act Now

House Resolution 2309

H.R. 2309, introduced by Rep. Darrell Issa (CA), the Republican chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and co-sponsored by Rep. Dennis Ross (FL), the Republican chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy, would:

• Do nothing to correct USPS overpayments to its pension accounts.
  
  
• Do nothing to correct the congressional mandate that requires the USPS to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees. (No other government agency or private company bears this burden, which costs the USPS $5 billion annually.)
  
  
• Force postal workers to make up the difference:
  Ensure that Postal wages   are “comparable” to the private   sector.
    (Rep. Ross claims postal employees   enjoy a “compensation premium” of   34%.)
  Empower a board to unilaterally cut   wages, abolish benefits, and end   protection against layoffs.
  
  
• Create a commission that would order:
  $1 billion worth of post office   closures in the first year, and
  $1 billion worth of facility closures   in the second year.
    Would that include your office or   your facility? Would that wipe out   your job?
  
  
• Increase employees’ costs for healthcare and life insurance, and eliminate the right to bargain over these crucial benefits.

Rep. Issa says his bill is designed to avoid a “bailout,” but the USPS doesn’t rely on taxpayer funding, and doesn’t need a bailout. As noted above, the federal government is holding billions of dollars in excess postal payments to FERS (Federal Employees Retirement System) and CSRS (Civil Service Retirement System).