Government affairs

“America’s letter carriers applaud the 79 members of the U.S. Senate who voted to pass the Postal Reform Act last night, following its adoption by the House of Representatives with a massive bipartisan majority in February.

We express our deep gratitude to Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH), the chair and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, for marshalling a huge bipartisan majority for the reform bill and for working with Democrats and Republicans in the House to craft the legislation. H.R. 3076 was a sensible set of reforms that all four corners of Congress could enthusiastically support.  

The successful adoption of the bill reflects years of steady work by NALC members and staff to build consensus among postal stakeholders and members of Congress – as well as the overwhelming support of the American people who have long embraced the Postal Service as a national treasure. We thank our fellow postal unions, the mailing industry and postal management for working together on this effort. The resulting legislation, which repeals the unfair prefunding mandate for retiree health benefits put in place in 2006 and secures the continuation of six-day delivery, puts the USPS in a position to grow and adapt to meet the evolving needs of America’s households and businesses.

Looking ahead, we will continue our efforts to ensure that postal management properly staffs the city carrier craft so that we may once again provide the highest quality of service to our customers throughout the country. And we also look forward to working with the Biden Administration to pursue further administrative and legislative reforms to achieve fair and effective postal pension policies that will further strengthen the agency.

The bill passed last night – with President Biden’s anticipated signature – is a giant step forward in the NALC’s ongoing efforts to secure a brilliant future for one of America’s oldest and most essential institutions.”