Nancy Olumekor

September 10, 2022 

The midterm elections are approaching. Use your voice to let the candidates running for Congress, the House and the Senate, know that you and your family will only vote for those candidates who are committed to protecting your hard-earned benefits, your federal pension (CSRS or FERS), Social Security, Medicare, as well as health insurance and life insurance.

Tell the candidates running for Congress in your area that you will only support candidates who are opposed to privatizing the Postal Service and federal agencies such as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and the Social Security and Veterans Administrations.  Review the incumbent candidates’ voting records on these issues and other issues of importance to you.  If they haven’t supported our issues in the past, let them know that you will not be supporting them during the mid-term elections. If the candidate doesn’t have a voting record, then ask them questions, ask them for a commitment to support our issues, which include protecting our federal pensions, Social Security, and Medicare. Ask them to support legislation to improve the standard of living for seniors and retirees, as well as the standard of living for all working people. 

Take ten minutes to write a letter or a send postcard to your elected representatives in the House and the Senate. Tell them why this election is important to you, your family and your future.  Then, make that telephone call to your members of Congress at 1-202-224-3121 or use the APWU Legislative Hotline 1-844-402-1001 to call Capitol Hill.  Remind them that you are a registered voter; you are a postal retiree with a federal pension; you will only support candidates who will protect your federal pension, benefits, the postal service and federal agencies.

These issues are of paramount importance in this election for postal and federal retirees, senior citizens, and postal workers. We need to make sure that we elect candidates who are going to protect our livelihood and our federal pensions and benefits.

Talk to your family, your neighbors, your friends and other like-minded registered voters.  Educate them on the issues of importance to you.  Ask your family and friends to vote for those candidates who will support our issues.  Join with others who are working to elect candidates in your area who will support our issues in Congress. 

Contact your local Central Labor Council or your local union office to help.  Volunteer to make telephone calls, knock on doors to help elect candidates who will support our issues in Congress.

Then, last but certainly not least, VOTE.  Vote early, if you can; vote by mail or vote in-person. Then help someone else get to the polls to VOTE on election day Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

Nancy Olumekor

July 12, 2022 

(This article first appeared in the July/August 2022 issue of the American Postal Worker magazine)

This time of the year we recognize the anniversary of Medicare, signed into law in July 1965 and Social Security, created in August 1935.

We celebrated the April 6 passage of the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) after over 15 years of legislative activism, and we achieved this legislative success by working together for the good of all workers, retirees, and the public. While signing the Bill into law, President Biden said “Today, we enshrine in law our recognition that the Postal Service is fundamental.”

The PSRA addresses the finances and operations of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). This bill repeals the requirement that the USPS annually prepay future retirement health benefits, which created a liability the for USPS. It also requires the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish the Postal Service Health Benefi ts Program (PSHBP) within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), under which OPM may contract with carriers to offer health benefits plans for USPS employees and retirees. In addition, the bill also provides for coordinated enrollment of retirees under this program and Medicare.

Effective January 1, 2025 current postal employees who become Medicare eligible as retirees, will enroll in Medicare. Medicare then becomes their primary insurance and their postal-only FEHBP plan becomes their secondary insurance; these changes are projected to save the USPS nearly $50 billion over the next decade. All postal workers and postal retirees will be able to keep their current FEHBP and participate in the annual FEHBP open season.

Beginning April 1, 2024, during a six (6) month special enrollment period, those current postal retirees age 65 and over with Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan (FEHBP) who did not join Medicare Part B will be able to join Medicare B and have the “late enrollment” penalty waived. These changes are expected to save postal retirees money by eliminating out-of-pocket medical expenses and by mitigating future premium increases. In coordination with OPM, and no later than 18 months after enactment (April 2022), the USPS must establish a Health Benefits Education Program to notify and provide information about the PSHBP to annuitants and employees as well as respond to any inquiries.

The PSRA also ensures that the USPS will continue to provide six-day-delivery long into the future, and the USPS can provide certain nonpostal products and services, that reasonably contribute to the costs of the USPS and meet other specifi ed criteria, by entering into agreements with state, local, or tribal governments in other areas.

Celebrate The Anniversary of Social Security

Tell Congress to Pass the “Social Security Fairness Act” now, during the 117th Congress, before the end of 2022! The Social Security Fairness Act repeals the Windfall Elimination Provisions (WEP) enacted by Congress in 1983 and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) enacted in 1977. The WEP and GPO continue to adversely impact millions of retired federal, state, and local public servants who are not reaping the full retirement benefi ts that they paid for during their working life. These retirees qualify for Social Security benefi ts by working and paying the required rate into Social Security for least ten (10) years and they also receive a federal or state pension from other employment that did not pay into Social Security. Unfortunately, these retirees are denied an equitable social security benefi t for their contributions because WEP and GPO greatly reduces their social security benefits.

Contact your representative on Capitol Hill - write letters or postcards, and call 1-202-224-3121 or use the APWU line 1-844-402-1001, to speak to your congressional representatives.
Tell Congress that retirees deserve fair returns on their investment in the Social Security system.

Ask your congressional representatives to co-sponsor these and move these Bills to the Floor in order to vote for passage of H.R. 82 in the House and S.1302 in the Senate.

Remind your congressional representatives that older Americans also vote – there is power in our vote.

September 19, 2022 

For years, APWU has been fighting to end the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), which dramatically reduce the Social Security benefits of many retirees. On Tuesday, Sept. 20, the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), is scheduled for a vote by the House Ways and Means Committee. The vote is an accomplishment for APWU’s long-running campaign to correct this injustice.

The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal the WEP, which penalizes many APWU retirees who receive a civil service pension but paid into Social Security in previous employment. It also repeals the GPO, which unfairly penalizes many spouses and widows with prior employment pensions.

This vote means that we are closer than ever to removing the GPO and WEP. However, we must continue fighting to make sure that the bill is voted out of committee with a bipartisan majority. That bipartisan majority is key to making sure it does not stall in the Senate, where it will likely need broad support to pass. Similarly, we must keep pressure on the House of Representatives to guarantee that the bill receives a floor vote before the end of the month.

It is more important than ever to let your member of Congress know that you support this bill. APWU is holding a National Day of Action to call House members on Tuesday, Sept 20. We encourage everyone to participate. Contact your representative by calling our legislative hotline at 844-402-1001 and urge them to support the Social Security Fairness Act.

To learn more about the Social Security Fairness Act, and how GPO and WEP reduce Social Security benefits for many retirees, please click here.