e-Team Report, Feb. 17, 2012

Payroll Tax Cut Extension and H.R. 7

The payroll tax cut extension bill passed both the House and the Senate. It is on the way to President Obama’s desk and is awaiting his signature.  Unlike previous versions, the legislation as passed would not require current postal workers to pay more into retirement. To read more about the payroll tax cut extension, please click here.

This week, Congressman Dennis Ross (R-FL) remarked on Fox News that he thinks federal workers are on a retirement “bonanza plan.” Congressman Ross advocated for both federal and postal workers to immediately increase their current contributions into retirement.

To watch a video of Congressman Issa (R-CA) talking about federal employees and their “overly generous retirement program,” click here. Note: Issa speaks at the 30 minute and 40 second mark in the video.

To read the latest on the APWU’s website, please click here.

Click here to take action and send a quick message to your representative. Tell them to vote no on H.R. 7! After you send a message to your representative, make sure you also take a minute to call their office and tell them to vote no on H.R. 7! You can reach your member of Congress by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Take Action to Amend S. 1789

Click here to send a quick message telling both of your senators that the postal reform bill, S. 1789, is not acceptable in its current form. Several crucial amendments need to be made to S. 1789. With the future viability of the Post Office on the line, the stakes for postal workers have never been higher.

This week, a group of twenty-seven senators came together to sign a letter to S. 1789 sponsors, Senators Carper, Collins, Lieberman and Brown. The letter asked the sponsors of S. 1789 to approve amendments to the bill. 

To read the letter along with more about the effort to amend S. 1789, please click here. To read more about this legislation, including the full text of the bill, click here.

After you send a message to your representative, make sure you also take a minute to call their office and tell them to amend S. 1789. You can reach both of your senators by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121.To find your senators, please click here.

Over 100 House Members Seek to Extend Moratorium on Closures

This week over 100 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter sent to Postmaster Donahoe. The letter asked him to extend the moratorium on plans to consolidate post offices until problems identified by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) with the Retail Access Optimization Initiative (RAOI) are resolved. 

To read the full text of the letter from the members of the House and more details from the APWU, please click here.