Washington, DC (Sept. 19, 2011) -- Three postal unions are launching a new television ad campaign targeting unfair financial burdens imposed on the U.S. Postal Service by Congress.

The new spot exposes the real reason the USPS is facing a crisis that is jeopardizing the nation’s mail system.

“The postal service is recording financial losses,” the ad states, “but not for reasons you might think.”

The USPS carries an extraordinary financial burden that no other government agency or company bears, the ad notes. A 2006 law, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, requires the Postal Service to pre-fund the healthcare benefits of future retirees. It forces the agency to pre-fund a 75-year liability in just 10 years, and costs the USPS more than $5.5 billion annually. This mandate is the reason the Postal Service is threatening to close thousands of post offices, eliminate hundreds of mail processing facilities, end Saturday mail delivery, and lay off 120,000 workers. In addition, the Postal Service is required to overpay billions more into federal accounts.

“Congress created this problem, and Congress can fix it,” the ad concludes. 

The ad will run until the end of November on CNN, MSNBC and FOX News.

From medical prescriptions, to important financial documents, packages, catalogues and newspapers, the U.S. Postal Service is a critical part of our economy and an integral part of daily life across America. It is the center of a $1.2 trillion industry that employs 8 million people, including printers, mailers, publishers and other businesses that depend on the Postal Service.

The ad is sponsored by the American Postal Workers Union, the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union.  Together, the three unions represent approximately 400,000 postal employees.