National TV Campaign for Military Veterans/Letter Carriers

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With about one-quarter of letter carriers having served in the military, the National Association of Letter Carriers is undertaking a campaign to inform the public about the vital service they have provided – and continue to provide as letter carriers.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110406/DC78673LOGO)

The centerpiece of the campaign is a national TV ad running this week and concluding on Veterans Day that contains images of letter carriers in their Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine uniforms as well as their current letter carrier uniforms. The 280,000 members of the NALC include about 70,000 military veterans, from the Vietnam era to current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Referring to legislation that would decimate delivery services to Americans, the ad concludes with the words, "Their service never ended – and neither should yours."

(To view the ad and photos of carrier/veterans, go to www.nalc.org/veterans)

"Six days a week," NALC President Fredric Rolando said, "letter carriers help bind this vast country together while also unifying individual communities, serving the needs of small businesses that provide two-thirds of new jobs and helping residents keep in touch with loved ones."

Proposed cuts – including eliminating Saturday delivery and most door-to-door delivery – would deprive businesses and residents of needed services.

"Reducing and degrading service would amount to a new tax on Americans," Rolando said. "Since the Postal Service is funded by its own revenue, not by taxes, taxpayers and businesses won't save a dime if Saturday delivery is eliminated. In fact, this would cost them money – not only would they have to use more-expensive private carriers, they'd be on the hook for unemployment benefits for some 200,000 postal employees."

These cuts would lead to the layoffs of tens of thousands of veterans, at a time of mass unemployment.

"With President Obama having announced that thousands of Iraq War troops will soon come home, they deserve jobs to return to, and the last thing Congress should do is take away decent jobs from our veterans," Rolando said.

The Postal Service is the core of a $1.3 trillion mailing industry that employs 8 million Americans, and dismantling the Postal Service would jeopardize those jobs – at the worst possible time for our economy.

Letter carriers do far more than deliver the mail. They serve as the eyes and ears of communities around the country, saving elderly residents, finding lost children, stopping crime and putting out fires, often aided by their military training. And, under a program started by former President George W. Bush and the Department of Homeland Security, letter carriers have set up – on a volunteer basis – pilot programs in five major cities to deliver medicines to residents in the event of a biological attack.

For 200 years, the Postal Service – an agency rooted in the U.S. Constitution – has adapted to technological change, and it can continue to do so if lawmakers act responsibly.

SOURCE National Association of Letter Carriers