LETTER: Congress Needs to Change Retirement Funding for Postal Employees
President of the Framingham Letter Carriers' union says U.S. Postal Service has been profitable 3 out of the last 4 years and Congress should change how retirement benefits are funded, to keep 6-day delivery.
Postal employees rallied in front of Congressman Ed Markey's office on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Photos (2)
Photos
On Tuesday, Sept. 27 members from all four major unions of the U.S. Postal Service rallied at over 900 offices of our congressional leaders all over the country.
Postal employees from Framingham, Natick, Maynard and Burlington gathered at Rep. Edward Markey's office on Concord Street in Framingham, to thank him for his support of H.R. 1351.
H.R. 1351 is a bill before congress that would allow the U.S. Postal Service to access its "OWN" money, as well as maintain 6-day delivery, which the public deserves, and is currently mandated, by congress.
Congressman Markey is one of over 211 co-sponsors of this bill, but we need more.
The public needs to know the TRUTH about the financial crisis of the post office. It boils down to this. The Postal Service is not “broke."
What congress has done, is mandated the U.S. Postal Service to pre-fund retiree benefits. This mandate came in 2006, when the U.S. Postal Service was on solid financial ground.
Recently, two independent studies were conducted, one by the Postal Regulatory Commission and one by the U.S. Office of the Inspector General. Both studies concluded that the U.S. Postal Service "OVERPAID" this fund by as much as $75 billion.
The only way for the U.S. Postal Service to get this money back, or at the minimum to stop payments, is with the help of congress.
Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service has been operationally profitable for the past four years to the tune of $700 million?
If not for the payments into this retiree fund, the U.S. Postal Service would have made money, three out of the past four years.
There is so much money in the retiree fund that retirement benefits are paid in full, for people who haven’t even been born yet.
Congress needs to act now, before it’s too late.
The public wants, and deserves 6-day delivery, to every home across the country.
There is a reason why letter carriers have been the most trusted government employee for the past several years.
We want to get you the mail, in a timely, safe manner that everyone deserves.
I would also like to personally thank the union members, and their family and friends who supported us Tuesday, as well as the public for their support in our efforts to expose the truth, and take action.
Bill Lynch
President
National Association of Letter Carriers
Branch 334
Framingham
