Union-built Emission Free Postal Fleet 

We are now at over 350,000 emails asking members of Congress to co-sponsor Gerry Connolly’s Green Postal Service Fleet Act of 2022! We will be gearing up our work in this space, especially directed at the Board of Governors, and possibly supporting some corporate campaigning directed at Oshkosh Defense, since the current contract puts their profit forecasts at risk due to big legal liabilities and could make investors nervous. Watch this space…

Republican Leadership Pushes Back on Postal Banking

On Wednesday, Republican leadership from the House Financial Service Committee and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called upon DeJoy to stop the extension of the financial services pilot program USPS rolled out last September. Committee Ranking members Patrick McHenry, James Comer, and Blaine Luetkemeyer wrote in their letter that “the failure of the pilot program demonstrates that consumers are not interested in banking with the federal government, including USPS.” This sweeping statement fails to recognize the high flat rate set for check cashing ($5.95), the product was not advertised, and it was only launched in neighborhoods with little demand for the service.

We’re advocating for a more robust banking pilot program in the FY23 appropriations bill, one that gives postal banking a fair shot in more locations with a low cost fee for its services. We are also releasing a paper next month that will speak to why DeJoy’s poorly designed pilot is set up to fail, and what a successful pilot looks like, especially where pricing is concerned. Finally, we are working on a digital advertising campaign on postal banking, featuring the stories of people who have been unbanked or underbanked, to be released this summer. It’s time to take the fight to them!

Mail Slow Downs Starting in May

Continuing with DeJoy’s 10 year plan as planned, USPS will slow down package delivery again starting May 1. First-Class mail specifically will be slowing down, more packages being delivered in 4-5 days than the previous 2-3. USPS leadership claims that slower delivery times allow USPS to shift to more postal trucks and trains as more cost-effective and reliable than air transportation. They estimate saving about $42 million annually from their budget with these changes. The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) questioned these figures and doubted that the slow downs would have any bearing at all on USPS’s finances.

Gearing Up on the Next 2 Postal Board Nominees

We are preparing for a mini-campaign around making sure the next two nominees to the postal board see it as their mission to protect and expand USPS. We were pretty engaged on the first round of Biden appointees though we didn’t get everything we wanted, less engaged on the second round and didn’t get much in Tangherlini and Kan, so now it’s time to redouble our efforts for the Moak and Zollars seats up in December! Stay tuned for how you can support.