Here's what you need to know this week:
As the pandemic continues, employees of the USPS continue to work on the front lines, putting themselves at risk, to keep our Postal Service running. This, combined with the fact that the organization's income is lower due to less purchasing activity (stamps, packages, etc), has left the USPS in a precarious position. In the most recent COVID relief bill, the CARES Act, dozens of billions of dollars in relief was given to large corporations, while the Postal Service was left with only an additional $10 billion in debt authority. This sounds like a lot, but it’s really just a loan with massive strings attached. To properly help the USPS, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is asking congress to authorize a direct “public service” appropriation to the Postal Service for the duration of the crisis and a direct appropriation of $25 billion to ensure operational ability, provide a mechanism to reimburse the USPS for COVID related leave, ensure equal treatment for postal employees, and to remove the Federal Finance Bank’s discretion to attach strings to the money the USPS can borrow.
Make no mistake, a portion of this crisis is manufactured. The USPS is entirely self funded through the services it provides and is NOT funded by taxpayer dollars. If you've heard that the USPS is failing or operating in the red, this is ONLY because the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed in 2006 required the USPS to pre-fund employees' retirement 75 years into the future, a requirement almost unheard of in any other organization.
The USPS is an American institution that working people around our country rely on every day. Especially during times of crisis, our letter carriers, postal workers, and mail handlers are often the only connection to the rest of the world for many people. We need to save our Postal Service. You can help by by simply buying stamps and other items from the USPS, or by contacting your congressperson and senators and telling them that our Postal Service needs real relief, not just a conditional loan. For information on how you can do this and other actions, visit www.nalc.org and www.apwu.org.
Here's what's coming up:
For the time being, most future meetings are being replaced with Zoom meetings. For those unfamiliar with Zoom, we highly recommend you attend one of the free digital trainings offered by the AFL-CIO. The next one is available tomorrow at 3pm. You can register and get more info on these trainings and sign up by following THIS LINK. Stay tuned for more info on future events.
Keep in Mind:
We are still collecting video testimonials from workers who have been attempting to navigate our broken unemployment system. If you or someone you know has been struggling with this system and would like to share your story in the form of a video that will go out through the Florida AFL-CIO network, please reach out to us for details and instructions. We also continue to urge everyone who has not already done so to visit www.flworkersneedrelief.org to sign our petition telling Governor DeSantis to use emergency power to fix our unemployment system now.
That's all for this week! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more updates. If you would like to receive text message alerts from the Florida AFL-CIO (Msg & data rates may apply), text FLUNION to 235246!
In Solidarity,
West Central Florida Labor Council
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