|
NALC President William H. Young, testifying
on behalf of postal labor at a hearing of the House Government
Reform Subcommittee on Civil Service and Agency Reorganization,
told subcommittee chair Jo Ann Davis (R-VA) that the union
takes pride in having been a leader in establishing "premium
conversion" within the federal community.
"Thanks to the collective
bargaining process in place for postal employees, we were
able to establish premium conversion for our active members
nearly a decade before it became available to the rest
of the federal workforce," Young said. "Over
that time, this bargained-for contractual provision has
saved active letter carriers throughout the country millions
of dollars."
Young praised full committee chairman
Tom Davis (R-VA) and Sen. John Warner (R-VA) for leading
the effort to expand this benefit to retirees. Davis' bill,
H.R. 1231, already has more than 250 cosponsors.
The NALC leader noted that while letter carriers are generally
a healthy group, a full career of walking the streets and
battling the elements presents postal retirees with some
unique and real physical challenges. He said they also face
some difficult financial decisions exasperated by the Windfall
Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset
which deprive civil service retirees of earned benefits.
Using as an example a new NALC retiree
with 30 years service under the Civil Service Retirement
System and enrolled in the family-coverage NALC Health Benefit
Plan, Young showed how H.R. 1231 would save such a retiree
$345 yearly.
"That may not sound like
a lot, but to people who must live on a modest fixed income
in the face of escalating health care costs and rising
premiums, such savings are not insignificant," Young
added.
The 114-year-old NALC represents
city delivery letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal
Service in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions. Its membership
includes some 86,000 retired letter carriers.
|
