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Washington, D.C.—Postal reform legislation pending in the Senate would unfairly turn to the federal workforce—the group that already has contributed more than any other to deficit reduction—to bear higher health insurance costs to keep the beleaguered Postal Service running, the leader of the nation’s largest independent union of federal employees said today.

“This time, federal employees are being called on to pay extra for their health benefits in an effort to bail out the Postal Service,” said President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).

In testimony submitted to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Kelley emphasized the unfairness of S. 1486, the postal reform bill, in seeking to shift additional costs to a federal workforce that has contributed $114 billion to efforts at economic recovery and deficit reduction through a three-year pay freeze and higher pension contributions.

As a result of these problems and others, President Kelley said NTEU “cannot support the legislation in its current form.”

The postal reform bill would set in motion creation of a separate health benefits program for the Postal Service, potentially reducing by 25 percent enrollment in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and likely leading health insurance plans with primarily postal employees to withdraw from participation in FEHBP.

“This would have the unintended effect of forcing over three million non-postal enrollees to choose a new health plan, and possibly new service providers as well,” Kelley said.

She added: “The Postal Service claims it can operate its own health insurance plan more efficiently and at less cost than the FEHBP. There is no evidence to support this conclusion and, in fact, the opposite may be true.”

Kelley noted that any savings likely would not come from shrinking costs, but from shifting costs onto employees and retirees by requiring them to pay higher premiums for their coverage; by reducing their benefit package; and/or by increasing copayments and deductibles.

Another key aspect of the proposed legislation, dealing with workers’ compensation, also drew negative comments from the NTEU leader.

As she has done previously, Kelley criticized provisions in S. 1486 that would cut workers’ compensation benefits for older, injured beneficiaries and for those injured workers with family obligations.

“Forcing a worker to take reduced (Federal Employee Compensation Act) benefits at some age deemed to be retirement age would cause grave economic hardship to many disabled employees,” she told the committee.

In particular, she said, the government-wide FECA cuts proposed in this bill “would have a disproportionate impact on the lowest wage workers and those injured early in their federal service careers.”

NTEU, she emphasized, has long been committed to a safe and healthy federal workplace where employees are less likely to suffer the injuries that lead to FECA claims—and has worked with management on new programs to accomplish that end, despite an all-too-common reluctance on the part of many agency managers.

“A change in management practices and culture is needed,” she told senators. “The first step is to end the myth that able-bodied workers are receiving FECA benefits and accept the fact that many injured workers would like to return to work and could do so with open-minded and innovative agency practices.”

In particular, she cited the importance toward achieving that goal of light-duty assignments, alternative worksites, disability accommodations and similar actions and programs

As the nation’s largest independent federal union, NTEU represents 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.