Take Action

On April 30, as part of the budget reconciliation process, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability advanced a measure that would reduce benefits for federal employees, including letter carriers.

These proposals include:

• Increasing the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) contribution rate for existing employees up to 4.4 percent
• Cutting retirement benefits by eliminating the FERS special annuity supplement
• Reducing annuity payments by calculating a retiree's annuity based on their high-five salary average (instead of three)

Our benefits are not free. We earn them through hard work and contributions.

Contact your representative and ask them to OPPOSE cuts to letter carrier retirement benefits.

Privatizing the Postal Service would have far-reaching negative consequences nationwide, including:

• Jeopardizing the jobs of 640,000 postal employees, over 73,000 of whom are military veterans, and impacting the 7.9 million Americans in the mailing industry.
• Endangering the security of the nation’s mail system, threatening the safe delivery of prescription drugs, money, and election mail.
• Slashing service quality and hiking prices beyond affordability.
• Potentially ceasing delivery for America’s rural and low-income communities, negatively impacting nearly all 50 states in some form, but especially large, less-populous regions.

Reps. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Nick LaLota (R-NY) introduced H. Res.70 and Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) introduced S.Res. 147, which calls on Congress to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the federal government and not subject to privatization.

Click here for the fact sheet.

This bipartisan Federal Retirement Fairness Act (H.R.1522) would provide greater retirement security for federal employees, including Postal Service employees, who begin their service in non-career positions. It would:

Over 65 percent of current letter carriers began their USPS careers as casuals, transitional employees (TEs) or city carrier assistants (CCAs), all of which are non-career positions. More than 132,000 letter carriers who started in non-career positions, in most cases doing the exact same work as career employees, have time currently not credible towards their retirement.  H.R. 1522 would allow these affected letter carriers the opportunity to purchase retirement credit for the time they spent in these non-career positions, providing greater retirement security.

Click here for fact sheet.

This bill would allow the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to ship alcohol directly from licensed producers and retailers to legal customers, overturning a current ban. This change would open up access to more Americans, particularly in rural areas, and is projected to bring in $190 million annually in revenue for USPS. If passed, USPS would have two years to create regulations for safe delivery and age verification. Currently, only private carriers like FedEx and UPS can ship alcoholic beverages.

Click here for fact sheet.

Between 2019 and 2023 (the most recent data available), the number of serious crimes against postal employees nearly doubled. In 2023, postal inspectors opened 1,367 cases, 542 assaults, 628 robberies, and 197 burglaries, against postal employees in almost 500 metropolitan areas. Over two-thirds of these attacks involve a firearm or other weapon. Tragically, five letter carriers have been murdered while dutifully doing their jobs since 2022.

This bipartisan bill includes three measure to deter these crimes:

• $7 billion in funding (appropriated over five years) to replace and modernize postal infrastructure that criminals often seek out.
• Designation for an assistant district attorney in each judicial district to prioritize cases involving an assault against a letter carrier in a timely manner.
• Standardizing sentencing guidelines for those who are found guilty of committing these crimes.

Click here for the fact sheet.

Postal employees account for nearly half of the claims made to the Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs each year, and letter carriers file a majority of these claims. When letter carriers are injured on the job, it is critical for them to receive the care they need from their chosen provider.

Under current law, only physicians can treat federal workers compensation cases. Unfortunately, in many parts of the country injured letter carriers live in areas where there is a shortage of physicians who will treat injured federal workers.

The Improving Access to Workers' Compensation for Injured Federal Workers Act would expand care options by allowing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to treat these cases. 

Click here for the fact sheet.