Earlier this week a coalition of big mailers sent Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) a warning that the iPOST postal reform bill would not get their blessing unless a clause making the 4.3% exigent surcharge permanent was removed. That letter was prompted by an earlier letter mentioned in a hearing of Johnson’s Homeland Securities & Government Affairs committee from mailers conceding the exigency issue.
Now the original mailers group—which was joined by postal unions in the sending of the first letter—have fired off a notice to Johnson that they’ere sticking to their guns.
“Another association asserts that there is ‘NO consensus’ within the mailing industry. It is correct that a potential rate cut can be irresistible to some. However, there is an unprecedented level of consensus among the broader postal stakeholder community,” said the most recent missive, which was signed by the Greeting Cards Association (GCA), the American Postal Workers’ Union, and Amazon, among others.
All stakeholders agree on iPOST proposals for restructuring the prefunding of postal retirees’ health benefit plan and moving them to Medicare, but the GCA group told Johnson that wouldn’t be enough to put the Postal Service on a solid path to the future.
“Unfortunately, to stabilize its finances, the Postal Service must maintain revenues,” read their letter. “It cannot afford a $2.1 billion per year price cut, which some want. Rather than an unsustainable price cut, we propose a rate freeze.”
The letter noted that it was registering disagreement with the views expressed by “a few others.” In fact, not counting the four postal unions signing the new letter, both letters were signed by 36 mailer organizations. All signers of the pro-exigency letter were:
Amazon; American Greetings; American Postal Workers Union; Artists to Watch; Colony Brands; DaySpring; DCG One; Deluxe Corporation; Diamond Envelope Corporation; Engineering Innovation; Envelope Manufacturers Association; EPICOMM; Fixture Resource Group; Greeting Card Association; Hallmark Cards; Formation Packaging; Inland Envelope Company; Kenmore Envelope Company; and Legacy Publishing.
Also, Mac Paper Converters; National Association of Letter Carriers; National Newspaper Association; National Postal Mail Handlers Union; National Rural Letter Carriers Association; New Direction Partners; Newgistics; Newspaper Association of America; Ohio Envelope Manufacturing Company; Papercone; Parcel Partners; Parcel Shippers Association; Pumpernickel Press; Royal Envelope Company; Tension Envelope Company; TriState Envelope; U-PIC Insurance Services; Universal Presentation Concepts; Up With Paper; and Western States Envelope & Label Co.
