The postal workers and boosters

The oakley sunglasses discount outlet postal workers and boosters said they were trying to draw attention to a wonky yet crucial element of postal service reform being considered: the repeal of what's called the "prefunding mandate," a 2006 requirement from Congress that the USPS prefund the retiree health benefits for its workers 75 years in advance, to the tune of about $5.5 billion per year. "Congress created the problem, Congress can fix it," said Jamie Partridge, a retired letter carrier who worked in Portland, Ore., for 27 years and is taking part in the hunger strike. "We're just frustrated. We're indignant, we're outraged, we're here to shame Congress into doing the right thing. We're willing to suffer, to go on a hunger strike in order to show our indignation." Although the volume of first-class mail has declined, the prefunding mandate has accounted for most of the red ink recently incurred by oakley sunglasses cheap 2012 new arrival the postal service. Postal unions and many workers have said that the mandate is the primary threat to the agency's financial stability, while the agency's postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, has insisted that eliminating the mandate is no silver bullet in a digital age of falling mail volume. Along with many members of Congress, Donahoe has called for the elimination of Saturday delivery, the shedding of workers now covered by no-layoff clauses and the closing of some postal facilities -- measures generally opposed by USPS employees. Unions and workers have said that drastic cuts to service will create a "death spiral" in which a oakley sunglasses cheapest for women online outlet diminished service leads inevitably to more and more cuts.