The ANSWER Coalition is part of a new ad hoc labor/community coalition that is organizing actions in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere from June 25 to 28 to "Save the U.S. Postal Service," and to stop the layoffs and union busting efforts by politicians in Congress who want to privatize the postal service. Please read the call to action below and become an endorser to this critically important initiative.
Call to Action
HUNGER STRIKE to SAVE THE POSTAL SERVICE
June 25–28, Washington, D.C., and across the nation
Congress: Stop Starving the Postal Service!
Repeal the Pre-funding Mandate! Refund the Pension Surplus!
Postmaster General: Suspend the Closures and Cuts!
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America’s postal service is being starved to death. A 2006 Congressional mandate forces the USPS to prefund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance. 10% of the postal budget, $5.5 billion per year, goes to prefund benefits for people who aren’t even born yet. Not only would the postal service have been profitable without the mandate, the USPS has also overpaid tens of billions into two pension funds.
Not the internet, not private competition, not the recession – Congress is killing the postal service. Corporate interests, working through their friends in Congress, want to undermine the USPS, bust the unions, then privatize it. The Postmaster General’s response is to speed the death spiral by pushing forward massive cuts to service, closures of facilities and the decimation of living wage jobs.
We will not stand by as our beloved postal service is destroyed. A group of postal patrons and postal workers will declare a hunger strike the week of June 25th in Washington, D.C. We will shame Congress and denounce the Postmaster General. We will engage in dramatic actions in the halls of Congress and at USPS Headquarters to raise public awareness and turn up the heat on decision makers. We invite all who care about our national treasure – enshrined in the Constitution, serving over 150 million households and businesses six days a week, providing universal mail services at reasonable, uniform rates – to join, endorse and otherwise support our hunger strike, in Washington, D.C., or in their local area.
Contact: Communities and Postal Workers United, [email protected] & www.cpwunited.com
Initial endorsers (partial list)
Community-Labor United for Postal Jobs & Services, New York City
Traven Leyshon, AFL-CIO, Vermont, Secretary-Treasurer
Kevin Card, NALC Oregon State, President
Mack I. Julion, NALC Branch 11, Chicago IL, President
Clint Burelson, APWU 2354, Olympia WA, President
Ken Lerch, NALC 3825, Rockville MD, President
David Yao, APWU 28, Seattle WA, Vice President
Jim Cook, NALC 82, Portland OR, President
Bill Schorsch, NALC 825, Oakbrook IL, Vice President
Jane Duggan, APWU 295, Detroit MI, Secretary-Treasurer
Rich Shelley, APWU 181, Baltimore MD, Director of Organizing
Doug May, NALC 825, Oakbrook IL, Legislative Liaison
Patty Olson, APWU 128, Portland OR, Legislative Director
Tom Richardson, NALC 82, Portland OR, Executive Board
Willie Groshell, NALC 82, Portland OR, Organizing Chair
Jamie Partridge, NALC 82, Portland OR, Organizing Committee
Frank Couget, NALC 36, New York City, steward
Charles Twist, NALC 36, New York City, steward
Glenn Shelton, NPMHU 307, Detroit, MI, Retired
Dave Welsh, NALC 214, San Francisco, past Executive VP
Melissa Rakestraw, NALC 825 , Oakbrook IL
John Dennie, NPMHU 300, New York City, retired
Matt McAuliffe, NPMHU 321, Denver CO, steward
Steve Brown, NPMHU 321, Denver CO
Tom Dodge, APWU 181, Baltimore MD
Rev. Graylan Hagler, Senior Pastor, Plymouth Congregational Church
Justice First
Brian Becker, ANSWER Coalition, National Coordinator