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Page 4
August 24, 2011
Letter Carriers Fight for Justice and Survival
continued
from front
Since 2006, he said, no new letter carriers in
the m etro area have been hired full-tim e.
Instead, he said, the Postal Service has
been hiring "tem porary transitional em p lo y
ees,” with few benefits com pared to career
em ployees.
A ccording to Jam ie Partridge o f northeast
Portland, w ho has been a mail carrier for 27
years w ithin the city, the postal service has
decreased the w orkforce by 20 percent in the
past four years in part to pay an unrealistic
and problem atic 75 years w orth o f future
retirem ent benefits.
“T he m ain reason the Postal Service is
bleeding m oney and losing $8 billion a year
for the last five years has been because o f a
law passed in 2006,” said Partridge.
C ook agrees.
He said the m onetary issues are traced
back to five years ago, when C ongress passed
legislation w hich included a requirem ent to
pay 75 years w orth o f future retiree health
benefits in a 10 y ear period.
“T his equates to approxim ately $5.5 bil
lion per year out o f the Postal S erv ice’s
operational b u dget,” he said.
The requirem ent began at the sam e tim e as
the w orst econom ic recession since the G reat
D epression hit the country.
T he econom y inevitably affected mail
volum e, w hich creates revenue, but C ook
explained even then, the Postal S erv ice’s
finances w ould be doing fine if w a sn ’t for the
large sum s o f m oney required to pay to tw o
separate retirem ent funds.
“ It’s not logical. N o oth er business, p u b
lic or private, has this requirem ent to pay 75-
years o f future retiree health benefits,” he
said. "W ithout the ‘burdensom e req u ire
m e n ts’ the Postal Service w ould not be in the
financial crisis.”
Partridge says the result is that the Postal
Service is putting one tenth o f its budget,
about $6 billion a year aside for people w ho
not only “d o n ’t w ork for the Postal Service
yet, but they a re n ’t even bom yet.”
“T he financial crisis facing the U SPS is an
accounting problem ,” he said.
In an effort to fix the perceived financial
crisis. Post M aster G eneral Jack Potter in
M arch 2010, announced a 10-year-plan aim ed
to elim inate Saturday delivery and close thou-
s a n d s o f p o s t o f f ic e s w ith p o s s ib le
privatization.
photo by M indy
C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Jamie Partridge, a member o f the local letter carrier's union and an employee o f
the U. S. Postal Service for 2 7 years, picks up the slack from a postal service
hiring freeze by working on Saturday, his normal day off.
C om e Sept. 30 the postal service has to
m ake an o th er $5.5 billion paym ent, said P ar
tridge.
“T he Post M aster says we are up against
the dead lim it, and w e d o n ’t have the m oney
to m ake the paym ent, so the Postal Service
w ill go in so lv en t,” he said. “T hat is not quite
the sam e as bankrupt, but pretty clo se.”
Both C ook and P artridge say the m anda
tory paym ents have not only been m iscalcu
lated, but are also unjust.
A lthough he w a sn ’t scheduled to w ork
African American Literature courses
at Portland Community College
In an effort to increase diversity, PCC is offering African Ameri
can Literature ( Eng. 256 &. 258) courses at both the Sylvania and
Cascade campuses this fall. English256 will be offered at Sylvania
Monday and Wednesday from 1-2:50 p.m.
The course will be taught from an African American perspective.
It covers the African American experience, as well as the interna
tional influence of Pan African writers. The course is unique
amongst other classes covering U.S. history and will explore little
known historical events; discover books that were purposely taken
out of print; and books that have been lost for years or never
written in English. Students also will explore topics based on their
historical or literary interests.
This is an excellent course for students who plan to work in
multicultural environments or plan to become teachers. It also
meets the Oregon Transfer and Arts & Letters requirements.
last Saturday, P artridge could be seen m ak
ing the rounds and delivering m ail on his
route in northeast Portland. “T his is m y sixth
day w orking 10 hour days this w eek,” he
said.
O n Saturday, he said, people get their
pharm aceuticals, new spapers, and for people
w ho w ork during the w eek, this is the only
tim e they interact w ith their m ail carriers.
“I w ork M onday through F rid ay ,” said
G riseld a G onzalec, a resident o f northeast
P ortland w ho has know n Partridge for at
least a couple o f years. She said she likes
having her m ail delivered on Saturday, and
w as surprised to hear the delivery day is in
jeo p ard y .
“ Six day service is unique to the Postal
S ervice,” said C ook. "T his plan w ould e lim i
nate approxim ately 80,000 jo b s and disrupt
the flow o f com m unity and com m unication
o v er the w eek en d s.”
M any people rely on the m ail com ing on
Saturday, he said. “ You w ould also get a
bottleneck o f m ail follow ing a long w eekend,
and reducing the delivery to five days a w eek
saves only a sm all percentage o f the o p era
tional bud g et.”
“T here is an $80 billion surplus in the
retirem ent fund, and about $40 billion in the
health benefit retirem ent fund,” said P ar
tridge. “ So the Postal Service has a lot o f
m oney in reserve, but it c a n ’t use it for
operating expenses because o f this c o n g res
sional m andate from 2006.”
A ccording to Partridge, the R epublican
ch air o f the H ouse G overnm ent O versight
C o m m ittee is opposing the letter carriers,
calling their plan a tax p ay er bailout, and tea
party R epublicans are organizing to oppose
them.
“ I t’s a big lie,” he said.
A ccording to C ook, the US postal service
and letter carriers union h a sn ’t used any
taxpayer m oney for operations since 1982,
yet p eople, including som e new m em bers o f
congress, still think the Post O ffice operates
on governm ent subsidies.
“ W e are not saying to take taxpayer d o l
lars,” he said. “W e are sim ply asking for an
accounting transfer to take the surplus funds
from the retirem ent system s.”
P artridge also blasts a proposal by the
Post M aster G eneral to unilaterally change
union contracts to reduce future health b en
efits and pensions.
T he local letter c arrie r’s union has been
w orking to inform the public w hy elim inating
one day o f delivery per w eek is detrim ental to
both the quality o f service and they are
asking the public for help.
“W e are going to stand up and fight
b ack ,” Partridge said. N ext m onth, he said,
there w ill be a tow n hall m eeting on the postal
crisis.
“W e are trying to build the support to get
congress o r the president to do the right
thing,” he said. “A nd tran sfer the funds to
m ake the Postal Service w hole.”
King Memorial Opens
tant than it is in m y life," Lunt said. hope. " V isitors to the m em orial pas
T he sculpture depicts K ing w ith through a sculpture o f the m ountai
rial caused her to reflect on the country's a stem expression, w earing a jack et o f d espair and com e upon the ston
progress, noting that her granddaugh and tie, his arm s folded and clu tch o f hope.
ter is about to begin her freshman year ing papers in his left hand. Lei said
T he N ational M all site w ill b
at Stanford University.
through his son that "you can see surrounded w ith cherry trees th£
"Had he not done w hat he did, the hope" in K ing's face, but that his will blossom in pink and w hite in th
those doors w ould not be open for serious dem eanor also indicates that spring.
h er and all o f us," W atkins said.
"he's thinking."
Sunday's dedication cerem on
Scott Lunt, 42, a freelance video
T he statue depicts K ing em erg will m ark the 48th anniversary o f th
producer, brought his 15-m onth-old ing from a stone. T he co n cep t for M arch on W ashington and K ing'
son, O liver, along for w hat he called the m em orial was taken from a line in fam ous "I H ave a D ream " speech
a "m om entous day."
the "I H ave a D ream " speech, w hich President B arack O bam a is sched
"I hope that m y son can grow up is carv ed into the stone: "O ut o f the uled to speak at the dedication.
in a w orld w here race is less im p o r m ountain o f despair, a stone o f
-The Associated Press
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front