President Obama Announces Recess Appointments to NLRB Posts
President Obama announced yesterday his intent to recess appoint three individuals to the National Labor Relations Board:
• Sharon Block, Member, National Labor Relations Board
• Terence F. Flynn, Member, National Labor Relations Board
• Richard Griffin, Member, National Labor Relations Board
President Obama said, “The American people deserve to have qualified public servants fighting for them every day – whether it is to enforce new consumer protections or uphold the rights of working Americans. We can’t wait to act to strengthen the economy and restore security for our middle class and those trying to get in it, and that’s why I am proud to appoint these fine individuals to get to work for the American people.” Read more
President Obama Names Republican Tony Hammond to Postal Regulatory Commission
Filed under: politics, postal, postal news, PRC, press releases, usps
Ignores Union’s call to appoint Democrat to the Postal Regulatory Commission
December 2, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
- Tony Hammond – Commissioner, Postal Regulatory Commission
Tony Hammond, Nominee for Commissioner, Postal Regulatory Commission
Tony Hammond served on the Postal Regulatory Commission and its predecessor agency, the Postal Rate Commission, from August 1, 2002 to October 7, 2011. During that time, he was elected to two separate terms as Vice Chairman of the Commissions. Previously, Mr. Hammond was owner and managing member of T. Hammond Company, LLC, a private consulting firm. In addition, he was Senior Vice President of the direct marketing firm FL&S, and Senior Consultant to Forbes 2000, Inc. Mr. Hammond served for ten years on the staff of then-Southwest Missouri Congressman Gene Taylor, the ranking member of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee. Mr. Hammond received a B.S. from Missouri State University. – White House Press Release
If confirmed, Mr. Hammond will join the Commission with his fellow Republicans Mark Acton and Robert G. Taub, and Democrats Ruth Y. Goldway and Nanci E. Langley. Read more
NALC encouraged and outraged by Obama plan for USPS
NALC report On Obama Proposals
On Sept. 19, President Obama sent a $3 trillion deficit reduction package to the special joint committee of Congress established by the debt limit law to find ways to reduce the federal budget deficit. The package included a number of reforms to address the financial crisis at USPS.
Although we are somewhat encouraged by the proposed short-term cash relief provided to the Postal Service in the president’s package, NALC is bitterly disappointed that that the Obama administration has given in to postal management’s relentless two-year campaign in favor of five-day delivery. The administration has proposed giving the USPS the authority to eliminate Saturday mail delivery service, although it called for a delay in its implementation until January 2013. In doing so, the administration has embraced the downsizing strategy demanded by the majority on the USPS Board of Governors who were appointed by President George W. Bush. We will fight this proposal in Congress and renew our demands that the administration fill the two vacancies on the Board with people who believe in the mission of the Postal Service and who will seek to balance a sensible cost-cutting agenda with a revenue-growth strategy.
NALC Report on Obama Proposals
Issa on President’s Proposed Bailout for Postal Service: “Not what taxpayers or the Postal Service needs”
Filed under: Congress, politics, postal, postal news, postal reform, press releases, usps, white house
WASHINGTON- In response to a proposal outlined by President Obama on the United States Postal Service, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which oversees the Postal Service, issued the following statement:
“The President’s proposal is not what taxpayers or the Postal Service needs. The President’s plan to achieve savings for the Postal Service does so by sticking taxpayers with the tab. Rather than backing an effort to seek fundamental reform, the accounting gimmicks used in the plan are a thinly veiled attempt to offset continued operating losses with a taxpayer funded bailout. The Oversight Committee will move forward and consider a separate proposal Wednesday, the Postal Reform Act, that will produce at least $10.7 billion annually in savings for the Postal Service and doesn’t stick taxpayers with the bill,” Issa said. Read more
Not a Done Deal: NALC vows to oppose 5-day delivery in Obama plan
Statement from NALC President Fred Rolando on President Obama’s deficit plan
Return of FERS surplus, other short-term relief a good start—but not enough
Monday, Sept. 19 — President Obama sent a deficit-reduction package Sept. 19 to the special joint committee of Congress established by the debt limit law to find ways to reduce the federal budget deficit. The package included a number of reforms to address the financial crisis at USPS.
We are both encouraged and disappointed.
We are encouraged that President Obama is attempting to creatively address the USPS cash crisis through the deficit reduction process and welcome his proposal to return the $6.9 billion postal pension surplus in FERS to the Postal Service as proposed in Rep. Stephen Lynch’s H.R. 1351.
But we are very disappointed that the administration opted for a deferral of the next two pre-funding payments ($5.5 billion each) instead of embracing a permanent reform based on the Lynch bill’s recovery of the even larger CSRS surplus. And we deeply regret that the administration has given into pressure from the postmaster general and has proposed to eliminate Saturday mail delivery.
The NALC is carefully examining the various elements of the White House plan. It is important to remember that these are just proposals; they cannot become law unless Congress adopts them. We want to assure our members and all those who are interested in preserving the U.S. Postal Service that we will work with everyone involved, including members of the joint congressional committee, to build a strong Postal Service that will continue to provide exceptional service to the public six days a week.
A full report on President Obama’s proposals as they relate to federal and postal employees will be posted on Tuesday.
From NALC e-Activist:
Dear Supporter,
Chairman Darrell Issa of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee has called a subcommittee mark-up of his bill, H.R. 2309, for Wednesday, September 21, at 1:30 p.m. I am writing to ask that you call your member of Congress on the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy (contact information below). Ask him or her to SHOW UP at the mark-up to fight for the survival of the U.S. Postal Service and its customers and employees, and urge him or her to vote NO on the adoption of H.R. 2309, a radical proposal that does nothing to address the immediate financial concerns of the Postal Service. Instead, it seeks to dismantle the USPS, piece by piece.
Drastically downsizing the Postal Service is not the answer, especially when the real cost will be passed on to postal customers throughout the country. H.R. 2309 has only one co-sponsor, while H.R. 1351, a bill with 206 co-sponsors from both parties, goes right to the heart of the problem and offers real solutions for the Postal Service’s financial future without the use of taxpayer money.
H.R. 2309 fails to address the real cause of the postal financial crisis: a congressional mandate that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund future retiree health benefits at a grossly accelerated rate of $5.5 billion a year. No other agency or company faces such a burden. The bill also fails to return tens of billions of dollars in overpayments to the Postal Service’s portion of the CSRS Pension Fund. Instead, Chairman Issa is asking for:
a shift to five-day mail delivery service at a cost of 80,000 jobs — many of them held by veterans of the armed forces;
a new, unelected board to order massive post office and processing facility closures;
a new, unelected control authority to micro-manage the USPS, with the power to override labor contracts;
and provisions to intervene in postal collective bargaining and to tilt the process of binding arbitration in favor of management.
In addition to these radical proposals, we are told that new amendments will be considered at the markup this Wednesday that would further slash postal employment and attack workers’ pay and benefits:
a phase-out of door-to-door delivery and a phase-in of cluster box delivery nationwide, including to the elderly and disabled; and damaging and grossly unfair cuts to OWCP benefits.
Congress cannot save the Postal Service by slowly killing it, piece by piece, and by attacking middle-class workers who live and work in all 50 states, red states and blue states alike. Please call your representative and urge him or her to stand up for America’s Postal Service and to vote against the passage of H.R. 2309. Americans deserve a real solution that saves the Postal Service — not one that simply destroys it.
Minority
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) 202-225-8050
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11) 202-225-1492
Rep. Danny K. Davis (IL-7) 202-225-5006
Majority
Rep. Dennis Ross, chairman (FL-12) 202-225-1252 (co-sponsor of H.R. 2309)
Rep. Justin Amash, vice chairman (MI-3) 202-225-3831
Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4) 202-225-2676
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (UT-3) 202-225-7751
Rep. Connie Mack (FL-14) 202-225-2536
Rep. Tim Walberg (MI-7) 202-225-6276
Rep. Trey Gowdy (SC-4) 202-225-6030
In Solidarity,
Fredric V. Rolando, President
National Association of Letter Carriers
Statement from PMG on Obama’s Proposal For USPS
I would like to thank the President for acknowledging the enormous value of the United States Postal Service to the nation’s commerce and communications. The President also recognized the urgent need for reform to ensure the Postal Service’s future viability.
The President has offered helpful recommendations to stabilize the Postal Service’s financial crisis.
We are looking forward to reviewing the plan in more detail and we are continuing to work with the White House and the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction on specific proposals that involve the Postal Service.
Statement from Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe on the President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction
White House Proposals For USPS in Deficit Reduction Plan
From the President’s Plan for Economic Growth and Deficit Reduction
Provide Postal Service financial relief and undertake reform.
The Administration recognizes the enormous value of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to the Nation’s commerce and communications, as well as the urgent need for reform to ensure its future viability. USPS faces a long-term, structural operating deficit that has been exacerbated by the precipitous drop in mail volume in the last few years due to the economic crisis and the continuing shift toward electronic communication. Absent legislative intervention, USPS will be insolvent by the end of September 2011 when it will be unable to make the statutory $5.5 billion Retiree Health Benefit prefunding payment to the Office of Personnel Management, will have exhausted its cash reserves, and will have hit its cumulative statutory Treasury borrowing ceiling of $15 billion. Bold action is needed to ensure that USPS can continue to operate in the short-run and achieve viability in the longrun. Read more
Labor Groups Ask Obama To Reject Proposals That Target Feds In Deficit Reduction Plan
Coalition tells White House that federal employees, retirees have sacrificed enough
WASHINGTON – A coalition of labor and management groups sent a letter to President Obama today urging him to reject proposals that would require federal employees and retirees to shoulder more of the cost of lowering the nation’s deficit.
President Obama is scheduled to submit a deficit reduction plan to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction on Sept. 19. The plan will detail how to pay for the $447 billion jobs bill that Obama announced Sept. 8, as well as suggest other steps to reduce the nation’s debt in the long term. Read more
Federal-Postal Employees Coalition Urge Obama To Reject Proposals Damaging To Workforce
Filed under: politics, postal, postal news, retirement, white house
A coalition of federal and postal employee organizations wrote a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to reject proposals aimed at the federal workforce. The groups major concern is the proposal to require federal employees to contribute a much higher share towards their retirement annuity which in effect is a pay cut. Read more
Idaho Retired Vet and Postal Worker flies Nazi flag in protest of Obama’s policies
“Flying his Nazi flag is one way Gene Martin has chosen to express his disdain for the political direction of the United States.