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Saving Saturday Service
Sample Letter to Congress
Please note: Below are sample letters to U.S Representatives and Senators about why it is crucial to save Saturday mail delivery. Please feel free to put the message in your own words.
[Sample letter to your U.S. Senators]
Sample letter to your U.S. Representative [PDF | MS Word Version]
The Honorable _________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative _________:
I am writing to urge you to oppose the Postal Service’s plan to end mail delivery on Saturdays, a misguided effort to address its financial problems.
Millions of Americans depend on Saturday delivery to receive prescription drugs, checks, newspapers, magazines, greeting cards, and notices from churches and community organizations. Many U.S. businesses operate six or seven days a week, and they rely on a six-day mail delivery cycle. For retailers, magazine publishers and companies like Medco, Netflix, Caremark and eBay, Saturday delivery is crucial.
Ending Saturday delivery also would weaken the USPS – perhaps fatally. Depriving citizens of the right to receive mail on Saturdays would eliminate any justification for the Postal Service’s exclusive access to mailboxes, and would encourage high-priced private couriers to try to fill the void.
And that would be the beginning of the end: Allowing private companies to skim the most lucrative operations would undermine the Postal Service’s ability to serve every American at a reasonable, uniform rate.
The Postal Service’s financial difficulties are caused by a provision of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which directs the USPS to “pre-fund” future retiree healthcare benefits. As a result of the pre-funding mandate, before the Postal Service sells its first stamp, it begins every fiscal year more than $5 billion in debt. No other federal agency or business is forced to bear a similar burden: paying for a 75-year liability in just 10 years.
Without the pre-funding requirement, the USPS would have experienced a cumulative surplus of $3.7 billion over the last three fiscal years – despite declining mail volume and an economy in chaos.
The Postal Service is barred from ending six-day delivery by a provision in annual Appropriations bills. I am asking you to retain that provision, and to support H. Res. 173, which expresses support for continuing Saturday mail service in every American community.
Sincerely,
[Add signature, printed name and address]
Sample Letter to U.S. Senators [PDF | MS Word Version]
The Honorable _________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator _________:
I am writing to urge you to oppose the Postal Service’s plan to end mail delivery on Saturdays, a misguided effort to address its financial problems.
Millions of Americans depend on Saturday delivery to receive prescription drugs, checks, newspapers, magazines, greeting cards, and notices from churches and community organizations. Many U.S. businesses operate six or seven days a week, and they rely on a six-day mail delivery cycle. For retailers, magazine publishers and companies like Medco, Netflix, Caremark and eBay, Saturday delivery is crucial.
Ending Saturday delivery also would weaken the USPS – perhaps fatally. Depriving citizens of the right to receive mail on Saturdays would eliminate any justification for the Postal Service’s exclusive access to mailboxes, and would encourage high-priced private couriers to try to fill the void.
And that would be the beginning of the end: Allowing private companies to skim the most lucrative operations would undermine the Postal Service’s ability to serve every American at a reasonable, uniform rate.
The Postal Service’s financial difficulties are caused by a provision of the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which directs the USPS to “pre-fund” future retiree healthcare benefits. As a result of the pre-funding mandate, before the Postal Service sells its first stamp, it begins every fiscal year more than $5 billion in debt. No other federal agency or business is forced to bear a similar burden: paying for a 75-year liability in just 10 years.
Without the pre-funding requirement, the USPS would have experienced a cumulative surplus of $3.7 billion over the last three fiscal years – despite declining mail volume and an economy in chaos.
The Postal Service is barred from ending six-day delivery by a provision in annual Appropriations bills. I am asking you to retain that provision, and to support H. Res. 173, which expresses support for continuing Saturday mail service in every American community.
Sincerely,
[Add signature, printed name and address]
[Get the Facts, Spread with Word (APWU Web News Article 035-2010, April 28, 2010)]
