Postal Workers and Allies Flood Congress with Calls for “Postal Service Fairness”

Thousands of APWU members joined our nationwide phone action on Tuesday, July 23 to tell Congress to fix a bad law that has put our public Postal Service in jeopardy.

More than 5,000 postal workers, allies, and community supporters called their Representative in Washington, DC and asked them to cosponsor the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) – following a call to action from APWU President Mark Dimondstein and Legislative & Political Director Judy Beard.

The legislation would repeal the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act’s (PAEA) burdensome pre-funding mandate for retiree health care. That burdensome mandate is pulling billions of dollars out of the Postal Service, which has caused job and service cuts across the USPS.

The USPS Fairness Act would do a lot to put the US Postal Service back on the road to sustainability.

Calls Made All Over the Country

In one day, APWU members contacted all 435 House Representatives.  “When we speak up together, there is power in our collective voice,” said APWU Legislative and Political Director Judy Beard.  “A special shout to the Central region for making the most calls!”

As the day drew to a close, seven new members of the House of Representatives had signed on as cosponsors of the USPS Fairness Act, and five more became cosponsors on Wednesday, July 24. More are saying they will add their names.

“The fact is that, in 2006, Congress damaged our public Postal Service. We are working hard to pressure them to undo that damage,” said President Dimondstein. “Too often, big moneyed interests and corporate lobbyists roam the halls of Congress wielding undue influence over the people we elect to represent us. That’s why it’s so important that they hear from working people. If we don’t speak up, then the privatizers who want to sell off our public Postal Service will go unanswered.”

As of July 26, 207 Representatives have signed on to support the bill.