Postal employees rally to save postal operations
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Postal employees from around the nation were rallying at offices of U.S. Representatives Tuesday and a group representing Harrisburg and Eldorado postal employees and retirees were at U.S. Rep. John Shimkus' office at Harrisburg City Hall.
According to the group, the U.S. Postal Service is a solvent institution that is being crippled only due to recent legislation. If that legislation is changed, calls for post office closures and other painful cuts would not be necessary, according to the group.
Their goal was building support for House Resolution 1351 that abolishes a 2006 congressional mandate the U.S. Postal Service pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years within a single decade at a cost of $20 billion, according to an information sheet of the National Association of Letter Carriers and the American Postal Workers Union.
Shimkus was in Collinsville during the rally and his aide, Holly Healy, provided the newspaper and the group with a prepared statement.
"Our nation faces difficult decisions regarding our federal government's outstanding debt, annual deficits, and spending priorities. The Postal Service is no exception to those problems," Shimkus said in the statement.
"I fully understand the concerns raised by postal employees and customers - particular those in rural areas.
"Congress will be considering many proposals, and I will keep all views in mind as this process moves forward."
Those at the rally did not feel Shimkus' words were those of support.
Cindy Ashe said customers at the counter of Harrisburg Post Office are voicing concerns about possible loss of Saturday delivery as a cost savings.
"They don't want things to change. They are very supportive of us for the most part," Ashe said.
The mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits for 75 years within a 10-year span is the single most important issue facing the U.S. Postal Service, far more dire than loss of stamp money due to the Internet or other competition, the union members said.
According to the unions, the USPS made a net profit of more than $600 million sorting and delivering mail in the past four fiscal years, but the pre-funding of retiree benefits issue has resulted in $20 billion in losses from its operating budget.
Someone in the crowd compared the current USPS operation to starving the family so the 30-year mortgage may be paid in five years.
"We are the only outfit in the government that has to pre-fund retirement in such a short period of time," retired letter carrier Mike Stacey said.
The unions say the USPS doesn't have access to tens of billions of dollars of earned revenue that are sitting in surplus funds because Congress won't give the USPS access to them, according to the information sheet.
Ashe said the unions were opposed to the rules regarding pre-funding when they were enacted in 2006.
"This is something that should have been resolved years ago and shouldn't have been enacted in the first place," she said.
The group said if something is not done about the funding issues employees likely will see cuts and layoffs and the public can expect no Saturday delivery and two-day delivery instead of one day as it has been proposed consolidating the mail processing center at Carbondale into Evansville, Ind.
Another bill, House Resolution 2309, seeks to destroy collective bargaining, reduce benefits and reduce staff, those at the rally said.
"We feel, as employees, we care about our jobs and care about the sanctity of the mail," Ashe said.
"I feel we have a decent wage, decent benefits, a decent job and we do it well. I can't help think if they lay off people like us and have a different group of employees, what will be the quality of the employees you get?
"We preserve the sanctity of the mail."
Several citizens who stopped at the rally signed a petition in support of the postal workers.
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DeNeal receives e-mail at bdeneal@yourclearwave.com.</li>
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