President Biden signs Postal Service Reform Act into law

 

 

Apr 06, 2022

Today, President Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (H.R. 3076) into law. The president’s signature comes after the bill passed with massive bipartisan majorities in the House in February and in the Senate in March.

 

Annette Taylor, an NALC member who delivered mail for 32 years, introduced President Biden at the signing ceremony. Taylor, who served in the Air Force for eight years before beginning her career as a letter carrier, previously served as the president, vice president and recording secretary of Annapolis, MD Branch 651. She is the current vice president of the Maryland State Association of Letter Carriers.

 

“NALC is proud to have contributed to the efforts over the last 12 years that resulted in this bipartisan legislation that brings us together today,” Taylor said. “This legislation will help position the USPS to provide the service that the American people deserve. Mr. President, the Postal Service is an essential facilitator of our democracy and our economy. We know there is more to do to secure its long-term viability, but today is a huge step forward.  My union stands ready to assist you.”

 

“With this bill, we're repealing the pre-funding mandate and setting the Postal Service on a more sustainable and stable financial footing,” President Biden said. “We're guaranteeing that the mail will continue to be delivered six days a week. And the bill increases transparency by requiring the Postal Service to develop an online public dashboard updated weekly with local and national service performance data. Today, we enshrine in law our recognition that the Postal Service is fundamental to our economy, to our democracy, to our health, and the very sense of who we are as a nation.”

 

“After 12 years of fighting for meaningful postal reform, NALC is gratified to see President Biden sign this bill into law,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. “I would like to thank every NALC member who helped us get here. Your solidarity and activism were instrumental in this bill’s path to becoming law.

 

“I would also like to commend the bipartisan work on this bill that was led by Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Ranking Member James Comer (R-KY), Chairman Gary Peters (D-MI) and Ranking Member Rob Portman (R-OH). This legislation will put the Postal Service in a better position to grow and adapt to the evolving needs of America’s households and businesses.

 

“Today, we celebrate this historic victory for letter carriers, the Postal Service and all Americans who depend on our universal service. We look forward to continuing working with members of Congress and the Biden Administration on reforms that will further strengthen the Postal Service and improve the work and lives of our members.”

 

A video of the signing ceremony is available here.

 

White House releases FY 2022 budget proposal

 

May 28, 2021

The Biden Administration released its fiscal year 2022 budget proposal on May 28. The $6 trillion budget proposal is $1.2 trillion larger than the fiscal year 2021 request put forward by the previous administration, and it draws heavily from two initiatives that President Biden released earlier this year, the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan. In a major departure from previous budget requests, President Biden’s proposal does not include any cuts to the Postal Service or measures that attack federal employees’ wages or benefits.

 

For the Postal Service, the budget includes a proposed $800 million allocation for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2024 for the Postal Service to electrify its vehicle fleet. As letter carriers recall, the Postal Service estimates that it would cost $8 billion to electrify its fleet and provide charging infrastructure to support those vehicles. The $800 million per year spread over 10 years totals the $8 billion figure. President Biden has made it a priority to electrify fleets for the 18 federal agencies, including the Postal Service, and his budget request is a clear signal to Congress of this priority currently being discussed as Congress crafts the American Jobs Plan into legislation.

 

As it relates to the federal workforce, the budget does not call for the myriad of misguided proposals aimed at attacking the health and retirement benefits of the federal workforce. Letter carriers may recall those cuts included pay freezes for federal workers, increases in federal employee contributions for health care, retirement, cutting cost-of-living-adjustments and investment returns – all non-starters in Congress over the years. Instead, the administration proposed a 2.7 percent pay increase for federal workers and noted that it will release a management agenda later this year with agency specific guidance.

 

“NALC appreciates President Biden’s strong support for the federal and postal workforce,” said NALC President Fredric Rolando. “This budget will set a positive tone for Congress. It also demonstrates respect for postal employees, who continue to rank as the most trusted of federal employees, especially on the heels of a pandemic that solidified our role as essential, front-line workers.”

 

Overall, the budget proposes $1.5 trillion in discretionary spending, a 16.5% increase in non-defense spending and a 1.6% increase in defense spending. This includes $14 billion for agencies and programs to combat climate change, $133.7 billion for HHS spending, $800 billion in new spending and tax cuts for clean energy, $36.5 billion in high-poverty schools, $13.2 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to enforce collections on corporations and the wealthiest individuals, and increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health.

 

For the Department of Labor, the budget also scrapped budget and training cuts and union monitoring funding in favor of a 14% increase for the department. Overall, the DOL budget restates the administration’s commitment to “protect workers’ rights, health and safety, and wages; strengthen the Federal-State unemployment compensation program; support training opportunities that provide pathways to the middle class; fully enforce employment anti-discrimination laws; and more.” Of primary interest to letter carriers, the budget request includes $183 million for the Office of Workers Compensation Protection (OWCP), which reflects an increase of $26 million over fiscal year 2021. The request also includes $664 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which reflects a $74 million increase from fiscal year 2021.

 

NALC will update letter carriers as the House and Senate begin their budget considerations.

 

 

 

May 07, 2021

Statement from NALC President Fredric V. Rolando on Postal Service's FY 2021 Q2 Financial Report

The postal revenue increase over the same quarter last year drives home two points. The first is how much the American people and their businesses rely on the essential work of the Postal Service. During the pandemic, letter carriers have helped tens of millions of Americans shelter safely at home, after helping them vote safely from home. Secondly, the fact that despite the demonstrated strength of the postal business model USPS reported a net loss indicates the urgent need for postal reform to address the artificial red ink caused by the 2006 congressional mandate that the USPS--alone among all U.S. companies and agencies--pre-fund future retiree benefits.