The House Subcommittee on Government Operations held a hearing on March 17 to discuss “Oversight of the U.S. Postal Service: The Financial Future Under Postmaster General Steiner.”
In addition to the postmaster general (PMG), David Marroni of the Government Accountability Office was called to testify.
The PMG’s testimony underscored the financial difficulties facing the USPS. The Postal Service projects it will run out of cash in the next year if it maintains the “status quo,” Steiner said.
To avert a crisis and ensure continuity of mail service, the PMG requested that Congress extend the USPS’s borrowing authority. By law, the Postal Service can only borrow money from the U.S. Treasury, and its borrowing limit is capped at $15 billion. That borrowing cap has not changed since the early 1990s.
The APWU supports this short-term measure.
The postmaster general also urged Congress and the administration to adopt reforms that would recalculate the Postal Service’s Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) obligations and allow USPS retirement and health funds to be responsibly invested in higher-yield funds. These two reforms alone would save the Postal Service billions of dollars per year and right decades-old injustices in the treatment of the USPS’s retirement obligations.
The APWU supports these changes and has worked for years on Capitol Hill to see them realized.
The postmaster general noted that there are opportunities to increase revenue by “reimagining mail” and partnering with the government to provide more service. He noted in particular that other federal agencies partner with private-sector competitors to deliver packages, something the USPS should be doing as an integral part of the government.
One cost-saving measure raised by the postmaster general is of particular concern to the APWU. The PMG raised the prospect of increasing the non-career postal workforce to reduce labor costs. Short staffing and turnover are already affecting service and the APWU will oppose any effort to increase the use of non-career employees in our crafts.
“Postal management is ringing the alarm bells to spur Congress to act,” said APWU President Jonathan Smith. “We are committed to working with the USPS and Congress to achieve some common-sense solutions to avert a crisis and keep the country’s mail and packages moving.”
“But let’s be clear,” Smith continued, “America’s postal workers are not prepared to pay for decades of Washington’s stalling on doing what’s right to help address the Postal Service’s finances.”
“We will work with anyone who shares our commitment to providing the prompt, reliable, and efficient service promised under the law,” Smith concluded. “The APWU will continue the fight for good jobs at the post office, and a Postal Service that continues to meet the needs of the public we are so proud to serve.”
President Smith submitted a statement for the record in advance of the hearing, and APWU’s legislative team will continue to work with members of Congress as discussions evolve.
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