As this bulletin is being printed, the full United States Senate is debating and voting on amendments to S. 1789, a bipartisan bill aimed at providing the Postal Service with the financial and statutory means to operating into the 21st century.
The bill was approved by a vote of 9-1 by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and received a supermajority vote of 74-22 to authorize the debate.
As with many pieces of complex legislation, the substance of S. 1789 includes both provisions that the NPMHU supports and provisions that the NPMHU must oppose. Even before the amendments are formally considered, the bill includes provisions that would return to the Postal Service more than $11 billion in prior surplus contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System; reduce the prefunding requirements that apply to the Retiree Health Benefit Fund; allow the Postal Service to downsize by offering to its employees voluntary early retirement incentives of cash or years of service; authorize negotiations over new health benefit programs and new methods of Medicare integration, but provide that those changes could be implemented only if all of the unions agree; maintain certain service standards for a period of at least three years; require at least two more years of study and approval prior to any reduction in mail delivery to five days; require certain procedural steps before the closing or consolidation of a mail processing facility; expand access to retail outlets and require adoption of retail service standards and maintenance of community post offices; and expand authority for the USPS to provide nonpostal products and services.
Unfortunately, the current bill also includes several negative provisions, including its refusal to provide more protection to overnight service standards and 6-day delivery requirements; its allowance of curbside or cluster box delivery methods; and, its harsh and unjustified changes in coverage for federal and postal employees who in the future may be injured and entitled to benefits under the Federal Employees Compensation Act.
The NPMHU’s National Office and its legislative representatives continue to work to improve the bill, and to protect it against harsher provisions that are being proposed as Senate amendments, or that may pass the House. All mail handlers should follow developments on the Legislative Action Center of the NPMHU website at www.npmhu.org.
