OPEIU Local 2 Resolution to Stand in Solidarity with U.S. Postal Workers

 

Whereas the United States Postal Service is the second largest employer in the country, and

 

Whereas the more than 550,00 postal workers are overwhelmingly union members and the United States Postal Service

employs three times as many union members as the U.S. auto industry, and

 

Whereas postal workers and postal service in this country are under unprecedented attack, with threats to eliminate over 200,000 union jobs,

privatize the postal service, eliminate a day of delivery, reduce hours of operation to the public, and close nearly 4,000 post offices in mostly

rural and poor urban communities, and

 

Whereas the Postmaster General is calling on Congress to repeal the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the United States Postal Service

and the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO and limit collective bargaining for all of the postal unions, and

 

Whereas the Postmaster General has petitioned Congress to void articles 6 (No layoff clause) and 21 (Health Benefits and Retirement plan) of the

NALC National Agreement, and

 

Whereas the postal service is self-sufficient and receives no taxpayer funds whatsoever, and

 

Whereas the postal service's supposed debt is actually a product of a Congressional mandate forced on the postal service alone that forces the

 USPS to pay $5.5 billion a year toward future retiree health benefits through 282 (to cover some whom are not even born yet), and

 

Whereas the USPS has shown a profit of nearly $800 million over that last four years after deducting the pre-funding for future retiree healthy benefits,

and

 

Whereas Congress is refusing to release $70 billion for over funded pension plans, and

 

Whereas we agree with he National Association of Letter Carrier's President Rolando who stated that "We do not need to destroy the Postal Service

in order to save it,"

 

Therefore be it resolved that the OPEIU Local 2 General Membership meeting convened on October 4, 2011, vehemently condemns and

actively opposes any efforts to dismantle, privatize, or reduce postal services and attack workers rights to collectively bargain, and be in further

 

Resolved, that the OPEIU Local 2 disseminate this resolution among its members and encourage its members to actively stand with the

postal workers and their unions to defend our postal services, and good jobs and strong communities.