Through rain, snow, and gloom of night, and now through hunger. Outraged postal workers hope to deliver a message to Congress by staging a three-and-a-half day hunger strike on Capitol Hill, starting today.
Current and retired postal workers want to save the budget-strapped Postal Service.
Congress is requiring the agency to pre-fund its retiree benefits 75 years in advance, at what some consider a crippling cost.
I strongly believe that we can protect the viability of the United States Postal Service and the unique, irreplaceable services it provides to all Americans, without sacrificing its dedicated employees or its mandate to provide universal service," says Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
The House Oversight Committee website says the postal service has to save now, or it will not be able to afford retiree health care later.
To meet the tight budget, the Postal Service has plans to close processing plants, eliminate jobs, and cut post office hours.
Hunger strikes also took place in South Bend Monday. The protest happened at the South Bend Post Office on South Michigan Street. Postal Workers were not the only ones protesting. Members of the A-F-L C-I-O were supporting their union brothers.
The hunger strike is to symbolize how they say the postal service is being "starved to death" by Congress.
"We want South Bend to know. We want Michiana to know, that their post office is in trouble for one reason. Congress made a mess in 2006 when it passed a law when it required the post office to turn over billions of dollars every year for a trust fund. It's not the internet, it's not privatization, it's not the recession that's causing the postal deficits, it's that," says Tony Flora.
The strikers will continue to protest until they say changes are made.
