by John Beaumont, California State Association of Letter Carriers
Contrary to what you may have heard, the US Postal Service isn’t broke — but thanks to an unfair mandate from Congress, it’s broken. And we need your help to fix it.
Here are the facts: A Congressional mandate requires the Post Office to pre-fund 75 years of future retiree health benefits over 10 years. About 90% of USPS financial losses since 2007 are due to this mandate, which cost the USPS $11.1 billion last year alone. All to pre-fund retiree health care for workers who may not even be born yet!
This is just wrong, and it must change. But we don’t need to cut services or get rid of Saturday delivery to save our Postal Service — all we need is to reform this flawed policy in order to get USPS back on track. That’s why Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) launched a “We the People” petition on the White House website in support of saving the USPS and the jobs of tens of thousands of letter carriers and postal workers.
The White House requires 100,000 signatures by May 23 before it will respond. Please click on the link below and follow the instructions to sign the petition, and encourage your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.
Here’s how:
2. On the “We the People” petition web page, click CREATE AN ACCOUNT (if you have not already) or SIGN IN. (If you have an account, sign in and skip to Step 6.)
3. Enter your e-mail address, name and ZIP code.
4. The website will then send you an e-mail message. Open it and click the link provided to activate your account.
5. Once your account is activated, click this link again to go to the petition page.
6. Click SIGN THIS PETITION.
Together, we can save our nation’s Postal Service. Thank you for your support and for helping us spread the word to others.
Learn more at DeliveringForAmerica.com.
