NALC: Refuting the Big Lie

By Fred Rolando, President
National Association of Letter Carriers

On Thursday (August 11), mere days before the NALC formally opens collective bargaining negotiations with the U.S. Postal Service, letter carriers across the country received a mandatory stand-up talk from supervisors, part of a concerted campaign by top postal management to convince Congress to slash postal employees’ health and pension benefits and override lay-off protection provisions in the postal unions’ contracts.

The Service also issued a press release on the subject to the media and distributed two “white papers” to congressional decision-makers.

The USPS developed its plans without any discussion or negotiation with NALC or any of the other unions. So let me be clear: We would never agree to any benefit plan unilaterally designed by postal management.

Click here to read my statement on how the NALC will resist this blatant attempt by the Postal Service to use the financial crisis, which was caused by the deep recession and the crushing congressional pre-funding mandates, to subvert and circumvent collective bargaining.

In the same stand-up talk, postal management also told carriers that if the USPS were a private company, it would have already filed for bankruptcy and gone through restructuring–much like major automakers did two years ago. It repeated this claim in a press release distributed to the nation’s news media as well. The USPS seems to think that if it repeats this “Big Lie” often enough, most people–and especially members of Congress–will think it’s true. But of course, it’s not true.

Click here to read my statement on why you shouldn’t believe the Postal Service’s “Big Lie,” and learn the truth about a common-sense, legislative solution to the Postal Service’s financial problems.

Please keep checking nalc.org for the latest news about our fight against any attempt by the Postal Service to gut our benefits and reduce our bargaining rights without negotiations.

If you need to update your NALC e-Activist Netweork e-mail address, you need to complete the sign-up process again to help us validate your membership information. Click here to go to the e-Activist Network sign-up page at nalc.org.

Call your House member and–

1. Tell him or her to oppose the Postal Service’s proposals to downsize its workforce through layoffs and to gut its employees’ health and pension benefits.

2. Tell him or her to support HR 1351, a legislative first step toward ensuring a sound financial future for the Postal Service. Click here to find your representative’s Washington office phone number.

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