Government affairs

This was a very significant week in Washington DC. The impeachment trial concluded in the Senate, the House voted through the strongest pro-labor legislation in years via the PRO Act, and most importantly to letter carriers, the USPS Fairness Act cleared the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support.

House activity

On Wednesday, the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382), which would repeal the requirement that USPS prepay future retirement benefits, passed the House of Representatives in a 309-106 vote. 28 Republicans who were not cosponsors of the bill ended up voting in favor of the bill, while 5 Republicans who were cosponsors at one time chose to vote against the bill. Finally, 13 more cosponsors (9 Democrats, 4 Republicans) were not present for the vote. Read more here.

Passage of H.R. 2382 is a tremendous achievement for letter carriers and the broader postal community. Now that the bill has advanced through the House, it will be up to the Senate to take action on S. 2965, the bipartisan companion bill. Letter carriers should be ready to engage and educate their Senators and staff on the need to repeal the prefunding mandate. Read more here.

On Thursday, the House also passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (H.R. 2474), legislation that would increase protections for workers’ right to organize and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer working conditions. Passage of this bill follows years of stagnant wages for the majority of Americans, poor working conditions, and attacks on unions and workers’ rights in general by corporate special interests and their representatives. This is a fantastic statement of intent from the House as Senate passage of the companion bill (S. 1306) is unlikely due to Republican control of the chamber and opposition to the legislation. Read more here.

On January 6, the White House formally nominated William Zollars of Kansas to be a Member of the USPS BOG for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2022. Zollars was the former president and chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide, Inc., an American holding company of freight shipping brands. Prior to that, he was an executive at a number of other various transportation and supply chain management companies. His name has been sent to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs (HSGAC) for consideration and a hearing is expected in the coming weeks or months. NALC will be sure to keep letter carriers updated on his progression.

NALC Priority Bills/Resolutions

H.R. 2382/S. 2965 – USPS Fairness Act
Status: Passed House of Representatives, introduced in Senate by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT)
Co-sponsors: 2 Senate (2 Democrats – 0 Republicans)
House vote: 309 Yea (222 Democrats – 87 Republicans) – 106 Nays (105 Republicans – 1 Independent)

To repeal the requirement that the United States Postal Service prepay future retirement benefits.

House Resolution 23 (H. Res. 23) – Door Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Peter King (R-NY)
Co-sponsors: 258 (206 Democrats – 52 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of door delivery for all business and residential customers.

House Resolution 33 (H. Res. 33) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rodney Davis (R-IL)
Co-sponsors: 267 (226 Democrats – 41 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.

House Resolution 54 (H. Res. 54) – Six-day Delivery
Status: Introduced by Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Sam Graves (R-MO)
Co-sponsors: 291 (218 Democrats – 73 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its six-day mail delivery service.

House Resolution 60 (H. Res. 60) – Service Standards
Status: Introduced by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Co-sponsors: 206 (180 Democrats – 26 Republicans)

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to restore service standards in effect as of July 1, 2012.

Senate Resolution 99 (S. Res. 99) – Anti-privatization
Status: Introduced by Sens. Gary Peters and Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Co-sponsors: 53 (43 Democrats – 8 Republicans – 2 Independents)

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Congress should take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization in whole or in part.

H.R. 2478 – Fed Retirement Fairness Act
Status: Introduced by Reps. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Tom Cole (R-OK)
Co-sponsors: 54 (41 Democrats – 13 Republicans)

To provide certain federal employees the opportunity to make catch-up retirement contributions for time spent as temporary employees after Dec. 31, 1988, thus making such time creditable service under the Federal Employees Retirement System. Now applies to temporary postal employees, such as letter carriers who spent time as casuals, TEs, and CCAs.