Postal workers rally in Joliet

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Rudolph Morgan, a retired postal worker, holds a sign outside of U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger's office, during a Union postal workers rally at 2701 Black Rd. in Joliet, Il on Tuesday September 27th, 2011 | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media

Updated: November 11, 2011 4:24PM

JOLIET — Postal service workers rallied in Joliet and across the country Tuesday, trying to get out their side of what’s gone wrong with the U.S. Mail.

More than 200 postal union employees picketed at 4 p.m. along Black Road outside the Joliet office of U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Manteno.

The pickets here and elsewhere were aimed at drumming up support for legislation that the unions say would end a congressional mandate that is bleeding revenues out of the postal service for the sake of over-funding future pension and retirement benefits.

“What we’re asking is that Congress support House Resolution 1351, which would put the postal service on a much better financial platform,” said Rob Whitehead, president of the South Suburban Merged Branch 4016 of the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Whitehead said the postal service is cutting jobs at the same time that it is putting so much money into retiree benefits that it is in effect paying on future health insurance for people who have yet to be born.

The postal union contends cuts in Saturday delivery and widespread closing of post offices would not be necessary if Congress would lift the mandate that was put in place in 2007.

“We don’t need these service cuts right now,” Whitehead said. He acknowledged cuts may be inevitable in coming years, but Whitehead and other union leaders argue that the postal service is being pushed into a financial crisis by an outdated congressional mandate put in place when the economy was good and the postal service was generating surplus revenues.

While the union is at odds with management’s plans to shut offices and lay off employees, both sides say that the retirement funding mandates are unreasonable.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told the Senate earlier this month that the postal service has contributed $21 billion to retirement health benefits in the past four years while incurring $20 billion of net losses.

“This pre-funding requirement has put a stranglehold on our finances and cannot be sustained,” Donahoe said in written statement to a Senate committee.

Whitehead said he presented petitions with more than 3,000 signatures backing HR 1351 to Kinzinger’s staff on Tuesday.

Kinzinger put out a written statement earlier saying, “Ultimately, the postal service must reform its operations to ensure its longevity without leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for billions of dollars.”

Postal workers chafe under what they say has been a misrepresentation of the plan in HR 1351 as a taxpayer bailout by some members of Congress.

Michael Lemenager, a postal worker from Kankakee at the rally, noted that the postal service is not supported with tax dollars, and money put into the pension and retirement plans comes out of postal service revenues.

“It’s very simple,” Lemenager said. “We’re asking Congress to fix the mess that they made. ...It’s diverting a lot of funds that the post office could be using to keep things flowing.”

Lemenager and other postal workers said they also were rallying for the sake of their jobs.

“We want people to know that we’re standing up for our jobs,” said Everett Drane, a 26-year postal employee from Joliet who works at the Bolingbrook post office.

David Colegrove, president of Joliet Branch 305 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said he is concerned that the loss of Saturday delivery will lead to the elimination of more days in the future and more job cuts.

The postal worker rally did get a sympathetic ear from Angel DiPasquale of Crest Hill, who just happened to be putting letters in a nearby public mailbox.

“I’m only worried about more people out of jobs,” DiPasquale said. “Of course, we could live without Saturday delivery. But, what are they going to do? They’ll still have bills to pay,” she said, looking out to the workers lined along Black Road.