Postal workers' ad campaign blames USPS woes on Congress
The campaign is meant to build support for a bill by Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, which addresses the USPS crisis without cutting pay, benefits or collective bargaining rights.
The American Postal Workers Union is pushing ahead with an ad campaign meant to inform people about what it says are the real reasons the U.S. Postal Service is in such dire straits.
The ads, which will run for two months on CNN, MSNBC and Fox, pin the blame on a law Congress passed in 2006 that the union contends burdened the Postal Service with billions in costs other agencies and businesses don't have to pay.
"The USPS's difficulties have gotten the attention of legislators and the news media," APWU president Cliff Guffey said in a statement sent to National Journal's Influence Alley . "But, unfortunately, the cause of the problem is frequently misunderstood. It is crucial we tell the real story."
The ad closes by saying: "Congress created this problem and Congress can fix it."
The campaign is meant to build support for a bill by Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, which addresses the USPS crisis without cutting pay, benefits or collective bargaining rights. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa has blocked consideration of Lynch's bill in favor of his own legislation, which the postal workers' union says "would be devastating for the Postal Service, the American people and postal employees."
The National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union are helping finance the ad campaign. Postal workers are also set to hold demonstrations across the country on Sept. 27 to avoid post office closures and worker layoffs.