e-Team Report, Oct. 11, 2013

John Marcotte Elected Legislative & Political Director 

In the hotly-contested election of national union officers that ended Oct. 7, John Marcotte was elected Legislative & Political Director.  He takes office Nov. 12. Congratulations! 

For more on the APWU National election results, please click here. To read President- Elect Dimondstein’s message to members, please click here.

Representatives Co-Sponsor Resolution Supporting Federal Workers

Federal workers maintain and secure the food we eat and the places we work; they tend to the parks our families enjoy; protect our nation’s borders; ensure that our national defense systems are ready, and administer the programs millions of Americans depend on, such as Social Security and Medicare.  Yet these public servants have seen their work days and compensation reduced and endured a three-year pay freeze.  Now, 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed.  

The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) and the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) are encouraging House members to co-sponsor a Sense of the House Resolution supporting federal employees.  Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) sponsored the resolution.  Current co-sponsors are Reps. Danny Davis, John Conyers, Elijah Cummings, Stephen Lynch, Mark Pocan, Jerrold Nadler, Sam Farr, Marcy Kaptur, Matthew Cartwright, Marc Veasey, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Alcee Hastings, Louise Slaughter, Rush Holt, Corrine Brown, Barbara Lee, Chellie Pingree, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Sheila Jackson Lee, Joyce Beatty, Raul Grijalva, Melvin L. Watt, Donald Payne Jr., Jim McGovern, Jan Schakowsky, Hakeem Jeffries, Bobby Rush, Paul Tonko, Hank Johnson and Yvette Clarke.

What do the Government Shutdown and Privatizing the Postal Service Have in Common? 

An article in the New York Times exposes how a coalition of conservative activists made plans months ago to exploit the federal budget impasse and government shutdown to fight for the repeal of Obamacare. It seems the shutdown has a lot in common with the manufactured postal crisis. (Think Postal Accountability Enhancement Act of 2006!) Some right-wing extremists would rather end government services than accept the Affordable Care Act, a law that was approved by both chambers of Congress, signed by the president, and upheld by the Supreme Court.Many of those same groups would like to force the Postal Service to fail, paving the way for privatization.

The Heritage Foundation has been heavily involved in efforts to destroy both Obamacare and the Postal Service. This foundation, a recipient of funds from the Koch brothers, has a long history of promoting privatization of the Postal Service. As far back as 1986, the foundation published a paper advocating privatization of many federal services.  In 2011 the group published an article recommending “deep cuts to the postal workforce, closing post offices and other facilities, and ending Saturday delivery.”  The article was posted on the website of Darrell Issa’s Committee on Oversight & Government Reform. It appears to be the playbook Rep. Issa (R-CA) used when he wrote the Postal Reform Act of 2013 (H.R.2748), a devastating bill that would privatize major portions of USPS operations. The bill was approved by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on July 24. 

To read more about these coordinated assaults threatening federal workers and the future of the Postal Service, click here.

Minnesotans Experience Mail Delays 

Residents of Albert Lea MN have experienced delays in mail service because parcels and flats now must be transported further away for processing.  Local Postmaster John Novotny said the turnaround time for standard parcels increased by as much as an extra three to four days.  “Novotny said for at least 20 years, all letters, flats and parcels dropped off in Albert Lea have been taken to a plant in Mankato for processing, but presently mail also goes through the Twin Cities because the Mankato postal plant has limited sortation,” the Albert Lea Tribune reported.  That’s about a 200-mile round trip!   

The closures and consolidations of post offices and mail processing facilities will continue to degrade service standards and hurt customers.  With the holiday season approaching, such delays will not be well received by USPS customers! 

For more on delayed mail in Albert Lea, MN, please click here.