Dear Representative:
On behalf of the thousands of postal employees and retirees represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), an affiliated union of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am writing to urge your strong support for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, when it is brought before the House for a vote this week.
This historic bipartisan legislation was unanimously supported by every member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform when it was adopted during the first session of this Congress. The legislation is also unanimously supported by our nation’s four leading postal unions, including the NALC, American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), which collectively represent 650,000 postal employees and retirees.
The Postal Service is a pillar of our democracy that universally serves the American public without receiving a single taxpayer penny. Yet, it has been financially hamstrung by the onerous congressionally-mandated requirement to pre-fund retirees’ health benefits for all employees, hampering its ability to invest in itself and its employees ever since the mandate was implemented in 2006.
The Postal Service Reform Act would stabilize and strengthen the financial wellbeing of this essential democratic institution through several measures. First, it would repeal the unprecedented retiree health benefits pre-funding requirement, which is notably not imposed on any other public or private agency. Second, the bill would adopt a private sector best practice by integrating future Postal Service annuitants into the Medicare program, to which they have already contributed more than $34 billion. Additionally, the bipartisan bill finally enshrines six-day mail delivery for the Postal Service’s 159 million residential and business customers.
During the pandemic, which has now entered its third year, every congressional district has relied on the essential services and universal delivery provided by the Postal Service and its employees. In rural and suburban communities across the nation, they have delivered lifesaving medication to seniors, kept small businesses afloat, and been a lifeline for your constituents.
The Postal Service Reform Act is the culmination of years of legislative efforts to improve the Postal Service’s financial health and enjoys strong support from America’s postal unions. TTD strongly urges a YES vote on this historic investment in America’s postal service and its workers.
Sincerely,
Greg Regan
President