PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Letter carriers around the country are calling on Congress to take action to save the postal service.
It is in dire financial straits, and it is clear that something needs to be done. There have been several bills introduced that offer possible solutions.
Tuesday, letter carriers rallied around Maine and around the nation to support HR 1351. The bill is co-sponsored by Representatvies Pingree and Michaud. It would repeal a five year-old mandate that forces the postal service to put $5.5 billion a year into a retirement fund for future postal employees. Letter carriers say that if the postal service stopped doing that, it would save jobs and preserve a service so many rely on.
"We don't want to see mass layoffs in our industry," Retired Ellsworth letter carrier John Curtis said at a rally in Bangor. "We don't want to see mass layoffs in related postal industries, and we don't want to see customer service shrink up in rural areas. That's our primary focus today."
"So this is something where we're really just looking at Congress fixing what they did five years ago," Portland letter carrier Mark Terry said. "Take away the burden that is on us, that is on no other company or government agency."
Others in Congress say the key to saving the post office is cuts. There is another bill before Congress, HR 2309, that would create a Commission on Postal Reorganization. The bill would give that board the power to override union contracts and lay off workers to make the postal service profitable again.
NEWS CENTER