Postal Unions Release New Television Ad Honoring Veterans and Calling for Public Opposition to Regressive Postal Legislation

Postal Unions Release New Television Ad Honoring Veterans and Calling for Public Opposition to Regressive Postal Legislation

(November 7, 2011) – “Our nation’s veterans are real-life heroes. But when they come home, they don’t want a parade, they want a job. The Postal Service employs more veterans than any other civilian employer, but Congress is debating a bill that would force the Postal Service to fire tens of thousands of vets, close post offices, shut mail processing plants, and disrupt mail delivery. Drastic cuts won’t fix the Postal Service and aren’t needed. Tell your representative to vote ‘no’ on House Resolution 2309. It’s time to deliver for our veterans – and America.”

This is the narration of a nationwide television advertisement, which began airing today on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. This 30-second spot, which will run through Veterans Day, was jointly produced and funded by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the American Postal Workers Union. It is designed, first, to pay homage to all those who have served in the military of our great country and, secondly, to raise awareness that Congress is currently considering legislation which would, among other onerous provisions, cause tens of thousand of American veterans to lose their jobs. At the end of the ad, we invite all concerned citizens to call Congress, and to tell their Representative to vote NO on H.R. 2309 -- a bill pending in the House of Representatives which would minimize and eventually privatize the US Postal Service, which would implement anti-worker, anti-labor provisions, and which would unfairly target the large number of veterans who transitioned from military service to a career in the Postal Service.

Written by Committee Chairman Darryl Issa (R-CA), and passed out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- in a display of partisan ideology over practical solutions -- H.R. 2309 contains provisions that would force senior employees to retire or be laid off using reduction in force rules, gut existing collective bargaining agreements and make future bargaining inconsequential, reduce delivery to five days, and eliminate both home delivery (replaced by cluster boxes) and Congressional or community input on closings of postal facilities. Rather than creating jobs, which the nation clearly needs, H.R. 2309 would put more than 100,000 postal workers out of a job, many of them our honored veterans.

The next step for H.R. 2309 is for the bill to go to the House Rules Committee, where it could receive the partisan rubber-stamp of approval, and then go to the House Floor for a final vote. Such action may take place before Thanksgiving.

Please call Congress today, and register your strong opposition to H.R. 2309.