Postal Service activists from across the nation are descending on Washington, D.C., beginning Monday, June 25, to persuade Congress to repeal the pre-funding mandate and to refund the pension surplus.
Ten activists began their hunger strike protest at 10 a.m. with a press conference at the U.S. Capitol with U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, followed by the "Stop the Robbery" march from postal headquarters to the Capitol on June 26. A "Tell the Truth" protest at the Washington Post will take place at 9 a.m. June 27. The protest will culminate in a mass rally at postal headquarters at 4 p.m. June 28 in an attempt to encounter Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.
The strike is in response to a 2006 congressional mandate that forces the Postal Service to prefund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance. According to Communities and Postal Workers United, that mandate is "responsible for the financial crisis facing the service.'
"Without that mandate, postal revenues came close to matching expenses over the past six years," according to a CPWU news release. The USPS has also overpaid tens of billions into two pension funds, according to the Office of the Inspector General and the Postal Regulatory Commission.
To combat the service's financial problems, Donahoe earlier this year announced plans to change the organization's delivery system. Starting July 1, overnight single-piece first class mail delivery will end, meaning the Postal Service cannot guarantee the delivery of things such as bill payments, letters and cards. In addition, the Postal Service will close or consolidate mail sorting plants across the country and cut retail hours in half the nation's post offices, including many in West Virginia.
But one retired letter carrier from Portland, Ore., said the Postal Service's actions are not necessary.
"The Postal Service is not broke," Jamie Patridge said in the CPWU news release. "It's not the Internet, not private competition, not the recession – Congress is starving the U.S. Postal Service."
The protesters are calling on Donahoe to maintain delivery standards and suspend cuts and closures and allow Congress to fix the Postal Service's financial issues by repealing the prefunding mandate and refunding the pension surplus.
"The Postmaster General is sending the service into a death spiral," said Matt McAuliffe, a mail handler from Denver. "By slowing the mail one or two days, the Postal Service will drive away customers. Those most dependent on the mail – the elderly, the poor and rural communities – will be hit the hardest."
Protesters represent cities nationwide including Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago and New York. The strike was organized by Communities and Postal Workers United, a national grassroots network fighting the "privatization and the decrease in customer service of the United States Postal Service," according to the organization's website.
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