Postal Workers to Celebrate Service's Birthday on Thursday

To mark the 237th birthday of the U.S. Postal Service, postal workers will be handing out free cake and giving kids collectible stamps at the Northeast 85th street office in Redmond from noon to 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 26.

The celebration is also meant as something of a send-off for the office, which is closing on Saturday, July 28. Following the closure, services will be moved to a postal distribution center at 7241 185th Avenue NE.

Many postal workers are unhappy with the closure and say that the new location will be less convenient for many customers, and is itself on a national list of facilities slated for closure in February 2013.

Postal workers say that the consolidation and closure of postal facilities, and plans to reduce the speed and frequency of mail delivery, are all consequences of a 2006 law passed by Congress that has ruined postal finances. Postal customers can expect to face more inconvenience and service disruptions until Congress repeals that law, says the postal workers union.

The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act has pumped $20.9 billion from postal coffers into the Federal treasury. The stated purpose was to “prefund” future retiree benefits through the year 2081. The practical effect has been to push the agency close to its debt limit and insolvency.

On August 1, the Postal service will “default” on its deferred 2011 payment of $5.5 billion that was required by the act.

“It is clearly a stupid law, one that makes no sense to continue, and one that has caused more needless damage than any legislation in recent memory,” said David Yao, Vice President of the American Postal Workers Union local which represents the retail clerks in Redmond. “While postal employment has dropped to match declining mail volume, it is Congress that has wrecked postal finances; Congress must restore them.”

--Information from the American Postal Workers Union