Letter carriers rally in Bloomington, across country in support of bill

More than 40 Bloomington area Postal Service workers joined letter carriers across the country Tuesday to rally in support of a bill they say could help save thousands of jobs.

A total of 492 “Save America’s Postal Service” rallies took place throughout the United States — at least one for every congressional district — promoting House Resolution 1351.

In Bloomington, letter carrier Bill Sherman walked near the back of the crowd of rally-goers as it made its way from the City Hall-Shower’s Building down College Avenue.

Sherman, who has been a letter carrier for 32 years, wore a blue peaked cap over his gray hair and a “Save America’s Postal Service” t-shirt slung over his shoulder. A badge pinned to his blue cardigan displayed three words depicting his way of life: eat, sleep and carry.

“This rally is really about how we want Congress to support H.R. 1351,” Sherman said. “This bill would give back pre-funding to the Postal Service after a lame duck Congress decided we had to pay up-front medical costs for 75 years from now.”

The move came in 2006, when Congress passed legislation that requires the Postal Service to pay its health care benefits for future retirees far in advance. Because of the law, the Postal Service must come up with 75 years’ worth of benefits during ten years.
 
As of 2011, the Postal Service now faces an $8.3 billion budget deficit.

The legislation put an unfair burden on the Postal Service, Ken Hill, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers local 828, said during a quick break from shouting chants through a bullhorn. It is the only company in the country legally required to pre-fund benefits, he said.

“We’ve got a $5 billion payment due to pay for these benefits,” Hill said. “We’ll be paying for people we haven’t hired and people that haven’t even been born yet.” 

Post Master General Patrick Donahue, however, said  he believes the debt is the result of another problem. With text messaging and emails, there’s been a decline in so-called “snail mail,” and he suggests shutting down thousands of local offices and eliminating Saturday delivery as a way of saving money.

This could eliminate 19,000 jobs, Postal Service unions estimate.

A bill sponsored by U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Dennis Ross, R-Fla., proposes similar cuts and was passed in a House subcommittee Sept. 21. Issa has also said the Postal Service is going come to American taxpayers looking for a bailout.

Postal Service Unions said H.R 1351 would just reallocate the extra funds the Postal Service has already overpaid toward pensions and not pull a single penny from taxes. In fact, for the past 30 years, the Postal Service has not been funded by taxes in any way. Instead, it is run through the sale of stamps and postage.

Sherman said while it’s true the Postal Service’s place in the country has changed in recent years, not all of it has been for the worse.

“Things have changed,” he said. “Everyone realizes that. Our work force has already decreased by 25 percent in the last few years.”

But there has been growth too, he said.

“Netflix was good to us,” Sherman said. “Amazon and online shopping, too. Lots of package services help us by us helping them. UPS and FedEx can’t always make it out to the rural areas, so we take it the rest of the way.”

If the thousands of post offices potentially slated to close shut their doors, small-town America and rural areas would suffer, Sherman said. Standing outside the old courthouse at the square, Hill brought his bullhorn
to Sherman.

“What do we want?” Sherman shouted through it.

“Six-day delivery,” answered the crowd gathered in front of him.

“When do we want it?”

“Now!”

“Forever and ever?”

“Forever and ever!”

Then Hill told the crowd to head back to City Hall, where they would present a stack of signed petitions to U.S. Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind.

Inside the Shower’s building, the rally-goers squeezed into the representative’s office. Young was not there, but District Office Manager Hal Turner took the petitions and promised to give them to the congressman.

Young is not one of the nearly 200 co-sponsors who have already signed the
resolution. 

“This is just the start,” Hill said as the rally came to a close. “It’s just the beginning of the push to keep our doors open.”