April 12, 2012
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today said the Postal Service cannot cut its way to a solution that protects jobs, reduces costs and maintains service. Instead, the Postal Service which employs more than 30,000 people in Illinois must work with Congress and the American people to address its financial problems. Durbin, who worked to secure a five-month moratorium on postal facility closures, also noted that the U.S. Senate is expected to debate comprehensive reform legislation within the next few weeks.
“The Postal Service faces serious financial challenges and it needs to work with Congress and the American people to address them. The Postal Service – employing 30,000 Illinoisans from clerks, to drivers, to postmasters, to letter carriers – needs to restructure its services in a way that preserves its reputation for affordable, timely service; expands revenue opportunities; and reflects the reality of an internet driven world. Without Congressional action, the damaging cuts proposed by the Postal Service would likely take effect.”
“I share the National Association of Letter Carriers view that we need to create a long-term business model that will reform and grow the Postal Service to meet the needs of Americans in the 21st century. Any legislation that aims to do this deserves consideration in Congress before the moratorium on closures ends next month. I look forward to working with my colleagues to strengthen comprehensive legislation during an open and honest debate on the Senate floor within the next few weeks.”
On December 13, 2011, Durbin joined with 14 other Senators to announce that at their request, the Postal Service voluntarily agreed to put in place a five-month moratorium on closing postal facilities. Their announcement followed a meeting between several Senators, Postmaster General Donahoe and the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Thurgood Marshall, Jr., in which Senators expressed concern over the impact of reduced service and the loss of thousands of jobs. During the moratorium, scheduled to end on May 15, 2012, the Postal Service will continue to study the impact of proposed closures on service and costs and to solicit community input.
On September 15, 2011, the U.S. Postal Service announced plans to review its mail processing network in the hopes of reducing costs. When the moratorium expires, the Postal Service is planning to move forward with the elimination of overnight delivery and the closure of as many as 3,700 mostly rural post offices and over 200 mail processing facilities, including at least 8 in Illinois, four of which – Springfield, Quincy, Carbondale and Centralia – are being considered for consolidation with out-of-state facilities. All of the Illinois facilities are owned by the Postal Service and employ a total of approximately 1,600 people.
Just make sure you get on the right picket bus and don’t forget to put in your liquor order otherwise you get whatever is left over and after those Occupy folks finish…there might be none left until the convention this summer.
Call Your Senators:
202-224-3121
(Capitol Switchboard)
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Tell them you Support
S. 1789 & S.1853 as currently written
Tell the Senate
There are no new updates as to when S. 1789 may come to the floor for a vote. This legislation can still be brought forward any day- – – possibly within the next week. Please make sure to be vigilant in checking your inbox for new e-team updates on S. 1789.
to send a quick message telling both of your Senators that the postal reform bill Click here S. 1789, is acceptable in its current form. No amendments need to be made to S. 1789. The stakes for postal workers have never been higher. This legislation, as written, would give the Postal Service financial relief while preventing long-term damage to the Postal Service. As written, S. 1789 would strengthen current service standards, and save jobs facilities.
Support S. 1789 ! for APWU and NALC supported Early Out Incentives.
I have to give the Postmaster General credit he stuck it up the politician’s a$$es. He made cuts and now their all whinnying no cuts in my back yard.
It looks like Congress has no plans on giving back that 5.5 billion that they’ve been pilfering from the USPS since 2006. That’s a nice little sum of money that helps the budget look more balanced than it really is. Why do you think that most of the bills in Congress don’t even address it? They would rather destroy a Constitutionally mandated service than do the right thing. The USPS is a service not a business, it is designed not to make a profit. But some people are intent on stripping it down to a point were it can be privatized. And our Postmaster General is leading the pack. He really needs to go because he has abandoned the public’s interest a long time ago. Don’t let Congress take away something that our Founding Fathers thought the American people needed in order to stay connected as a nation. Also needed to conduct commerce at a fare price to all. Do you think that today’s politicians are smarter than our Founding Fathers? Whose approval rating do you think is better, Congress or the USPS? These do nothing politicians who can’t even come together to make the important decisions this country needs are about to make the wrong decision on the future of the USPS. Call your representatives and let them know how you feel about the closing of post offices and the downgrading of delivery standards that will come if the right decisions aren’t made.
The house of representatives,congress,think we are all fools,with
All they are concern when the next recess. There are going to
Bicker until the post office gut the system ,look at NASA 7,000 jobs
Lost.I have no confidence in lying greedy politician it’s sad that young
People won’t have the opportunity to make a living wage they won’t
Be satisfied until every one is on welfare and food stamps and
Get your free cell phone to.the post master nothing but a tool hired
To break up the p/o ain’t no tellen who hand in the jar.when they
Finish gutting the system stamp will be a 1 fifty employee will
Be temporary making seven dollars with no benefits worked
Like a government mule .post office will be in walmart and connivence
Ugly cluster mail boxes will star showing up every where you
Won’t know who is touching the mail.mail will get lost and move like a snell
W