June 18, 2010 :NWLP
6/15/10
10:10 AM
Page 4
Cut to five-day postal delivery not a done deal
Postal unions will
rally July 1 to save
six-day delivery
September 25 is set to be the last Sat-
urday with regular mail pickup and de-
livery — or so the U.S. Postmaster
General is proposing. Postal Service
unions, allied with business customers
like Netflix and eBay, are asking Con-
gress to say “no” to the move to five-
day-a-week mail service, and instead
take other measures to repair U.S.
Postal Service (USPS) finances.
USPS says ending regular mail serv-
ice on Saturday would save $3 billion a
year, mostly by eliminating an esti-
mated 40,158 positions, including
36,400 letter carrier jobs. Five-day serv-
ice is USPS’ proposed answer to four
years of net losses. Saturday is the low-
est volume mail day, and it’s a day
when over a third of U.S. businesses are
closed.
USPS is a government enterprise,
but it’s required to be self-supporting,
and has received no taxpayer support
since 1982. It’s massively efficient, han-
dling 40 percent of the world’s mail vol-
ume, delivering to 150 million ad-
dresses, and tracking address changes
in a nation where 14 percent of the pop-
ulation moves every year.
But three developments have under-
mined its bottom line. Businesses are
cutting bulk mail in the recession. First
Class mail is losing out to the Internet as
a way to get and pay bills. And private
sector companies are competing with
USPS in the market for package deliv-
ery and express mail. USPS mail vol-
ume peaked in 2006 with 213 billion
pieces of mail delivered. Since then,
volume has fallen every year — last
year to 177 billion.
And yet, union leaders say, none of
that explains the current balance sheet
crisis. Management has kept expenses
in line with revenue by aggressively
cutting hours and eliminating positions:
USPS’ workforce has shrunk over
120,000 since 2008, and today stands at
594,000.
“The Postal Service doesn’t have a
budget problem,” says Kevin Card, sec-
retary-treasurer of National Association
of Letter Carriers Branch 82. “It’s got
an accounting problem. And Congress
is our accountant.”
In 2006, Congress passed a law re-
quiring USPS to “pre-fund” future re-
tiree health care benefits, on a short
time-table. No USPS competitor nor
any other government agency faces
such a requirement. Those charges, to
build up a fund that pays for retiree
health care, total over $5 billion a year.
Seniors be alert for Medicare rebate scam
Attorney General John Kroger
warns Oregon seniors and other
Medicare recipients not to provide per-
sonal information to anyone calling
about the Medicare $250 rebate check.
The Affordable Care Act passed by
Congress and signed by President
Obama earlier this year contains some
important benefits for Medicare recipi-
ents. Beginning June 10, many
Medicare recipients will receive a one-
time, tax-free $250 rebate check. Those
who qualify for the tax-free $250 re-
bate will automatically receive their
check. No additional information or ac-
tions are required to receive the rebate.
Most Medicare drug plans have a
coverage gap. Medicare recipients on
expensive or numerous drugs can find
themselves paying the full cost of their
prescription out-of-pocket while in the
PAGE 4
coverage gap. The term “donut hole”
refers to the coverage gap under Plan
D, where Medicare stops paying phar-
maceutical coverage at $2,830 before it
starts paying again at $4,550. The one-
time $250 tax-free rebate check for
folks that enter the “donut hole” is the
federal government’s first step toward
closing the Medicare prescription drug
coverage gap.
Scam artists are already trying profit
by spreading misinformation about the
$250 rebate checks. To avoid falling for
the scam, Kroger offers the following
advice:
• Do not give out personal informa-
tion to anyone calling about the $250
rebate check.
• Unless a Medicare beneficiary is
already receiving Medicare Extra Help,
anybody with Medicare prescription
drug coverage is automatically eligible
for the one-time $250 rebate check.
• The check will automatically be
sent to qualifying recipients.
• Recipients do not need to provide
any personal information like their
Medicare, Social Security, or bank ac-
count number to receive the rebate.
• There are no additional forms to
fill out.
• The rebate is tax-free.
Medicare recipients can make sure
the government has their correct home
address by calling Social Security at 1-
800-772-1213.
For more information, or to report a
scam artist, call 1-800-MEDICARE.
Additionally, the Attorney General’s
Consumer Hotline can help people
with rebate check questions at 1-877-
877-9392.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
That would more than account for the
$3.7 billion net loss USPS reported for
2009. Meanwhile, the retirement fund
that pays pension benefits is over-
funded, by $75 billion.
USPS has publicized opinion polls
in which majorities say they’d rather
have Saturday delivery cut than see
stamps go up in price or have the gov-
ernment subsidize the postal system.
But Card says that’s a false choice: With
Congress’ approval, USPS could trans-
fer resources from the overfunded pen-
sion to the underfunded retiree health
fund, and return to solvency. Or it could
be given more time to fill the retiree
health fund.
Card thinks the whole proposal to go
to Saturday may be about bargaining,
with the union, and with Congress.
USPS will bargain new contracts
with its unions in the next year.
“It’s a classic bargaining technique,”
Card said. “You pull your pockets out
and you say, ‘Not only do I not have any
money, but I’m going to be the red
down the road.’”
Card says Postal Service manage-
ment wants to roll back wages and ben-
efits and get a much more “flexible”
workforce, by the use of more lower
wage temporary part-time workers.
As for Congress, Card thinks the
threat may be what it takes to get relief
from the retiree health pre-funding re-
quirement.
“Congress never responds to
smoke,” Card said. “They only respond
to fire. It’s going to take the concept of
getting rid of Saturday delivery and
closing down post offices for Congress
to act.”
But NALC is taking the threat seri-
ously, Card said, and trying to win pub-
lic support with a nationwide campaign.
“The biggest hurdle we have right
now is to let the public know that it’s not
a done deal,” Card said. “Most people
think [eliminating] Saturday delivery is
a done deal. Our argument is, ‘It’s not a
done deal, it’s a bad deal.’”
To broadcast its appeal to “Save Sat-
urday delivery,” NALC members will
join postal workers from the American
Postal Workers Union, the Mailhan-
dlers Union, and the National Associa-
tion of Rural Letter Carriers for an in-
formational picket Thursday, July 1,
from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Portland
Main Post Office at 715 NW Hoyt St.
And on July 8 at 7 p.m., Congress-
man Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) will
hold a postal forum for postal employ-
ees and customers at St. Charles Bor-
romeo Catholic Parish, 5310 NE 42nd
Ave.
JUNE 18, 2010