NALC: Senate Voted To Begin Slow Dismantling of USPS and Attack Injured Workers

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Statement of NALC President Fred Rolando following today’s Senate vote on S. 1789

April 24, 2010 — The Senate voted Tuesday to begin the slow dismantling of the United States Postal Service and to attack injured postal workers by slashing their workers’ compensation benefits.

The NALC has argued for months that S. 1789 would fail to preserve the long-term viability of the Postal Service because it embraces the downsizing plans of Postmaster General Pat Donahoe. Today, by voting against an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) to preserve six-day delivery (by a vote of 56 to 43) and by voting to slash federal employee workers’ compensation benefits (by a vote of 53 to 46), the Senate has failed to improve a deeply flawed bill.

Senators ignored more than 25,000 phone calls from NALC members around the country Tuesday urging them to adopt these amendments. Now we have no choice now but to strongly oppose final passage of S. 1789, a vote on which is expected Wednesday in the Senate.

We cannot give up the fight for positive reform. So our first task must be to do everything we can defeat the 21st Century Postal Service Act when it comes up for a final vote tomorrow.

I urge you and every city letter carrier to call 1-888-863-6103 to be connected to your two senators’ offices. Tell your senators to vote “NO” on S. 1789. (If you have trouble getting through, call the Capitol Hill switchboard, 202-224-3121, and ask to be transferred to your senators.)

I know all of you share my deep disappointment with today’s action on the amendments. But we cannot let that disappointment diminish our energy or silence our voices. We must send a message to our representatives in the Senate that we cannot save the Postal Service by dismantling its greatest asset—the last-mile delivery network that our members make real every day. And no reform can justify the punitive workers’ compensation reforms shoe-horned into this bill.

We’ve been knocked down, but we have to get up right away and continue the fight.

Call 1-888-863-6103 and tell your senators to vote NO Wednesday on final passage of S. 1789.

Whatever happens tomorrow in the Senate, the fight to save America’s Postal service will go on. A bill doesn’t become law until both houses of Congress passes it and the president signs it.

We have a long battle ahead of us. If we stay together and mobilize all of our resources, we can prevail.

See below for how your senators voted.

7 thoughts on “NALC: Senate Voted To Begin Slow Dismantling of USPS and Attack Injured Workers”

  1. We’re all in this together… Why does everything have to be Mgmt vs Craft? We’re all on the same sinking ship…. Stop the Hate already..

  2. ROLANDO THE PO IS A DYING BUISNESS PLEASE ROLANDO MAKE THE CUTS 5 DAY DELIVERY NOW CUT STUPID MANAGEMENT BY 40 %

  3. WITHOUT UNION DUES, THEIR WOULD BE NO UNIONS. I HOPE THE UNIONS GET THE MESSAGE. AVERAGE AMERICANS CAN NOT AFFORD TO HAVE WHAT SOME HAVE FOUGHT AND DIED FOR TO BE SNATCHED FROM US BY THE GREEDY. IF WE ARE DOWNSIZED AND ROUTES ARE SEVERELY OVERBURDEN. WE WILL LOSE THIS BATTLE. THE FUTURE OF THE POST OFFICE IS AT STAKE. LETS PUT THE BLAME WHERE IT BELONGS. THERE WERE BAD DECISIONS MADE COMING FROM TOP MANAGEMENT. STOP BLAMING THE VICTIMS(EMPLOYEES). UNION LEADERS NEED TO PROTECT ALL OF US AND STOP THROWING OTHERS UNDER THE BUS(LIMITED DUTY WORKERS), THEY PAY UNION DUES TOO.

  4. To all my co-workers (NALC) be not dismayed when the fox watching the hen house goes to the restroom. In charge then is a hawk. Well, it is what it is. The best we can do is remain in solidarity. This is the result when one individual vote is cast in the without careful scrutiny on all issues.
    We will always be successful as along as our work is complete and it doesn’t matter who gets the credit, point!

  5. I’m a letter carrier and I’m not deeply saddened by this news. You reap what you sow and for the last 10 years or so our union leadership put all their eggs in the basket of politicians, instead of what they should have stood for. You gave away the store abd when you needed the politicians to gone through they didn’t. All we ever hear from you is give to COLCEP and now we have almost nothing.

  6. Most do not care if they get mail 6 days. Let the carriers take some of the burden that has been foisted on the clerks for years. I have no sympathy and support 5 day 100%

  7. It is futile to try to hold onto the status quo. It makes the Unions look unreasonable with reality.

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