The Postal Workers Union is gearing up for a battle with the Trump Regime. The Trump/Ryan budget, if it passes, will be devastating for the U.S. Post Office. It calls for a $47 billion cut (over 10 years) to retirement benefits and mail delivery costs. The budget forces postal workers to pay an additional billion dollars in contributions to their health and life insurance plans. The budget would end Saturday delivery-- freeing up the post office to work for UPS and FedEx on the weekends-- cut back on delivery service, especially in rural areas (that voted overwhelmingly for Trump) to a frequency rate "where there is a business case for doing so," and reduces door-to-door delivery, allowing the Post Office to move toward centralized "cluster box" delivery.Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, called Trump's plan a threat to "the long-term viability of the Postal Service... It is unfortunate and disappointing that the administration would so recklessly attack the livelihoods of active and retired federal retirees who have devoted their lives to our country. NALC will vigorously fight any budget proposal that attacks our members or the Postal Service." Updated wikipedia page-- Presidents of the ConfederacyThis morning, Paul Ryan's rival for the southeast Wisconsin congressional seat, Randy Bryce, told me that the budgetary cuts to the post office would be very damaging to rural parts of his own district. "This would absolutely hurt rural areas in WI-01," he said. "It’s an attempt to privatize yet another national treasure. Unlike other services, USPS has to pay for their pensions decades in advance! This is yet another blatant attempt by the GOP to reward their donors on the backs of hard working people. Private delivery companies don’t travel anywhere near the extent of USPS routes. Instead of continuing to pick off American workers by dividing and conquering, we need to unite and stop this garbage right now-- right here."The Trump-Ryan budget will also increase the price of first class postage significantly-- possibly as soon as this fall or maybe not until after the 2018 elections. (A first class stamp, which used to cost 3 cents for my entire childhood is now 49 cents and could rise as high as 75 cents or even a dollar.) A friend of mine in Florida just got a letter from his union today starting the mobilization process against Trump's and Ryan's plans to destroy their livelihoods-- and the postal service in general:
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