The US Senate voted yesterday to approve the Postal Reform Act with the goal to “improve,sustain, and transform” the US Postal Service, passing 11 of the 30 amendments to the bill, but
USPS and US unions are objecting to the reforms.Passed by a vote of 62-37 with 60 votes required to get the reforms through, the amended billprovides a short-term financial relief for USPS by requiring a return of $11 billion inoverpayments to federal pension funds back to the US postal operator.
Another important amendment concerned switching from six-day to five-day delivery which wouldnot come into force for at least two years. Similarly, the Senate also approved a ban on theclosure of rural post offices for one year although a move for a two-year ban on all post officeclosures was defeated.
The legislation approved by the Senate has now been sent to the House of Representatives fordebate and approval.
Senator Tom Carper, co-author of the bill and chairman of the Senate subcommittee that overseesthe U.S. Postal Service, claimed the bill will ensure USPS receive the resources it needs tosurvive while addressing issues related to post office closures. “Our bill asks for sharedsacrifice from postal management, postal employees, postal customers and even members of Congress.Make no mistake: these sacrifices are necessary to ensure that the Postal Service can become andremain financially solvent.”
However, USPS did not welcome the Senate’s vote which is not in line with its business plan. “Unfortunately, action by the Senate falls far short of the Postal Service’s plan. We aredisappointed that the Senate’s bill would not enable the Postal Service to return to financialviability. A strong Postal Service is important to the health of the entire mailing industry andthe Postal Service’s ability to finance universal service for the American public,” theorganisation stated.
“Given volume losses we have experienced over the past five years along with expected futuretrends, it is totally inappropriate in these economic times to keep unneeded facilities open. Thereis simply not enough mail in our system today. It is also inappropriate to delay the implementationof 5-day delivery when the vast majority of the American people support this change. Failure to acton these changes will ensure that the Postal Service’s losses will continue to mount,” USPS added,reacting to the delays in post office closures and five-day delivery.
US Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe commented: “We appreciate the hard work of the Senatein addressing postal issues, and we believe that there are important and valuable provisionscontained in the legislation. We would have preferred the Senate allow the Postal Service to movefurther and faster in addressing its cost reduction goals.”
USPS highlighted its daily losses of $25 million, with a debt of more than $13 billion. “Basedon our initial analysis of the legislation passed today, losses would continue in both the shortand long term. If this bill were to become law, the Postal Service would be back before theCongress within a few years requesting additional legislative reform,” it declared.
The largest US postal union APWU (American Postal Workers Union) reacted more positively to thelatest bill approval but admitted some shortfalls. “Although the bill is flawed, the amendedversion is far better than the original,” APWU President Cliff Guffey said. “That is a result ofthe tremendous effort of APWU members, postal customers, and elected officials who appreciate theimportance of the Postal Service to American life. Thank you for your hard work.”
Guffey stressed, however, that the bill doesn’t provide sufficient relief for USPS to meet thechallenges of the future, despite the limited relief from the requirement to pre-fund healthcarebenefits for future retirees. “As a result, USPS will not have access to the capital it needs tomeet the challenges of the future.”
“We will now take our fight to the House of Representatives where we hope to improve the bill,”Guffey added.
The other major US union National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) showed itselfdisappointed about the “deeply flawed postal reform bill”. “The legislation embraces a downsizingstrategy and fails to fully lift the onerous burden to fund decades of future retiree healthbenefits decades in advance. If it were to become law, it would be almost impossible to saveSaturday mail delivery for the American people and their businesses.”
NALC lamented the bill gives the postmaster general the authority to propose a switch tofive-day delivery in two years – at a cost of 80,000 jobs, if he believes such a change isnecessary to preserve the “solvency” of USPS. “Although the bill reduced the level of requiredpre-funding, the cost of the mandate is still too heavy to allow USPS to regain a sound financialfooting. “
“We’re disappointed, but we are determined to fight on,” NALC President Fredric Rolando saidafter the vote. “It may take months to get a bill through the House of Representatives,” he said, “but we will not rest in this struggle to defend a strong and viable Postal Service.”
