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Talking Points: A guide for branch leaders on the postal financial crisis; the truth about the Postal Service and the need for congressional action. PDF

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Previously in 'POSTAL FACTS'
The road ahead. On April 24, NALC President Fredric Rolando served on a panel during the annual PostalVision 2020 conference in Washington. Rolando and his fellow panelists discussed “The Road Ahead” for the Postal Service. The Nation’s John Nichols discusses Rep. Peter DeFazio's (D-OR) “rare step” of posting a petition on the White House's “We The People” website.
Unjust pre-funding of benefits is killing the Postal Service. NALC President Fredric Rolando had a powerful op-ed in The Washington Examiner. Letter carriers from Idaho rallied in Twin Falls on Friday, April 26, to support keeping six-day mail delivery service. (Also read a letter to the editor and an interview in the Twin Falls Times-News.) An article on The Huffington Post’s “Post 50” blog gives a good mention of Carrier Alert. Des Plaines, IL Branch 2076 President Luis Rivas’s talk inspired an audience member to write an opinion piece for the Glen Ellyn [IL] Patch. Royal Oak, MI Branch 3126 Food Drive Coordinator Jim Hunter was a guest on WDFN-AM’s “First Shift with Tony Trupiano.” Burlington, NC Branch 2262 President Mark Bare’s letter to the editor of The Times-News countered an earlier editorial. Writing for The American Reporter, correspondent Randolph T. Holhut points out how the 2006 postal reform law created “a phony postal crisis.”
DeFazio starts White House petition to remove needless requirement bankrupting USPS. NALC President Fredric Rolando tells ThinkProgress that he is happy with Rep. Peter DeFazio’s (D-OR) efforts to try to repeal the Postal Service’s onerous pre-funding requirement. Vint Cerf, one of the “fathers of the Internet,” told attendees at PostalVision 2020 that he considers USPS to be part of the national infrastructure and that it must be preserved for the good of the country. In Nebraska, NALC Assistant Secretary-Treasurer Nicole Rhine explained to television viewers that the Postal Service’s current financial crisis is a direct result of Congress’ onerous pre-funding requirement.
Solving the Postal Service's problems
NALC President Fredric Rolando’s letter to the editor of The Washington Post was printed on Wednesday, April 17—the day he appeared before a House committee hearing. Rolando’s letter was in response to an April 15 editorial in The Post. On the subject of the hearing, a post to The Hill’s “On The Money” blog quoted President Rolando and noted that more than two-thirds of the Postal Service’s recent losses are the result of the pre-funding requirement, and that the USPS is the only government agency or private enterprise that is bound by law to pre-fund.
Click here for more previous POSTAL FACTS
 
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    Updated May 16, 2013    
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NALC plays prominent role in reactions to
USPS 2nd quarter report

May 13, 2013—Coverage of Friday’s USPS quarterly financial report varied in depth and quality over the weekend among news outlets, but NALC President Fredric Rolando was widely quoted, lending perspective to many reports. Some examples:

Associated Press:

The National Association of Letter Carriers noted that the Postal Service’s operating revenue of $16.3 billion was nearly 1 percent higher than the same period last year, a sign of gradual progress in the agency’s financial picture. Fredric Rolando, the union’s president, said the improvement “shows the absurdity of taking the radical step of degrading the postal network by eliminating Saturday delivery.”

“This would cost the USPS its competitive advantage, drive customers away, reduce revenue and make the Postal Service less able to adapt to an evolving society,” Rolando said.

The unusual requirement for the Postal Service to pre-fund future retiree health benefits decades in advance “accounts for 90 percent of this year’s red ink” and shows the urgency for Congress to end the mandate, Rolando said.

The Postal Service is an independent agency that receives no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control.

The New York Times:

Postal unions praised the second-quarter numbers, saying the figures show the continuing viability of the Postal Service.

“This positive trend undermines the doom-and-gloom scenarios postal critics cite — and it shows the folly of reducing services to Americans, as the postmaster general seeks to do,” said Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Reuters:

The National Association of Letter Carriers said gains in the second quarter in the parcel business, a rare bright spot as more Americans shop online, showed that cutting delivery days would be foolish.

Package volumes increased by 9.3 percent or $267 million in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year.

“Instead of the postmaster general’s ‘shrink to survive’ strategy - which will only begin a death spiral for the USPS - what is needed is a dynamic business plan for the future to take advantage of the many opportunities for growth, including in the exploding package delivery market,” Fredric Rolando, the union’s president, said in a statement.

Diana Reese is author of The Washington Post’s “She the People” blog. Her father was a letter carrier for 30 years in Northwest Missouri.

Click here to read her May 10 blog post.

Idaho State Association President John Paige’s letter to the editor of the Twin Falls Times-News ran May 14.

Click here to read the letter.

Long Island, NY Merged Branch 6000 President Walter Barton was interviewed by New York City’s WABC-TV for a story about Saturday mail.

Click here to watch the video.

 
© National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO