USPS May Be Unable to Make Payroll in October and Retiree Health Plan Costs, Unions’ Letter to White House Says

July 19, 2009

[link to www.myfederalretirement.com]

On July 14, unions representing United States Postal Service (USPS) workers wrote the White House with “extreme urgency” asking for a meeting to address lack of funding for both employee payroll in October and health benefits for retired employees.

The letter, which the FederalTimes.com blog provided a scanned copy late last week, says:

“[USPS] top executives are now saying that the USPS will default on a $5.4 billion payment to prefund future retiree health benefits on September 30, 2009. And its government affairs representative are now telling Congressional staff that the Postal Service may not be able to make payroll in October and will be forced to issue IOUs instead.”

The letter was co-signed by the presidents of the American Postal Workers Union, National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, National Association of Letter Carriers and National Postal Mailhandlers Union, and sent to White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Jim Messina.