Dear e-activist,
I am writing to update you on congressional action here in Washington with regard to H.R. 3813.
Rather than vote on H.R. 3813 now, the House leadership instead has scheduled a vote to extend the payroll tax cut, and has decided to hold off on taking up H.R. 3813 until after the Presidents’ Day recess.
This is not welcome news, as lawmakers have since found another way to continue the assault on federal and postal workers through the payroll tax cut extension legislation. While House Republicans have agreed to extend the payroll tax holiday for the remainder of 2012 without requiring that it be offset by other federal savings, I’m afraid the devil remains in the details.
There is an unemployment insurance extension provision in the bill that is slated to be paid for through an increase in retirement contributions from future federal and postal employees. This would raise contributions to 3.1 percent for new or rehired employees starting in 2013—an increase of 2.3 percent, up from the 0.8 percent current FERS employees contribute.
This future workforce has no voice on this issue, and diminishing the value of these solid middle-class public-service jobs is unfair and misguided.
While the NALC supports unemployment insurance for the nation’s workforce, we believe in shared sacrifice, not in targeting the next generation of federal and postal workers to pay for such a safety net on their own.
Please call your legislators both in the House and in the Senate and urge them to remove the provision in the payroll tax cut extension bill that would require all new federal and postal employees to foot the bill for continued unemployment insurance.
- To find the phone number for your member of the House of Representatives, click here.
- To find your senator’s number, click here.
We need to keep the pressure on—the assault won’t stop here.
Thank you for your quick response on this very important action.
In Solidarity,
Fredric V. Rolando, President
National Association of Letter Carriers
