Garden Grove, CA – Steve Young, candidate for the 68th Assembly District spoke about issues important to postal workers before the National Association of Letter Carriers of Local 1100 (NALC) last night and walked away with their endorsement. Young’s speech before the packed room received enthusiastic applause several times as he talked about the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), decried “Do Not Mail”  legislation that may come before the state legislature, and recounted personal experiences with various union issues.
Young urged letter carriers to continue to put pressure on California Senator Diane Feinstein who has not yet signed on to support EFCA. He added that as someone who has contributed to the Senator’s campaigns in the past that he wants to know why she isn’t supporting the desires of her union and progressive donors, and that he doesn’t mind others telling her that he believes she should be accountable to the voters of California.
Hot button issue for letter carriers is the threat of “Do Not Mail” (DNM) legislation as proposed in a non-binding resolution (# 081526) by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in late March. The resolution urges state legislature and the U.S. Congress to pass bills providing for “Do Not Mail” registries by state or federal mandate. So far, mayor Gavin Newsome has not signed the resolution.
Letter carriers, printers, designers, marketing firms and others who benefit from the jobs created by the direct mail industry are especially concerned about potential loss of jobs and increased sales generated for largely small businesses who utilize postal delivery of their advertising. More information about the impact of direct mail on the California economy and potential prohibitions can be found at: Â http://www.mailmovesamerica.org/ca.php.
Young also decried the policy of reducing employee pension payouts by deducting the amount of social security benefits a retiree is entitled to under the CSRS plan currently in effect which amounts to having postal employees pay into both their retirement plan and Social Security, but only being able to collect on one of the funds. An example of the disparity between these retirees and those from private industries such as aerospace are under no such limitation and may collect multiple pensions. For example a retiree who served in the military may collect those benefits, social security, AND retirement benefits from their company.
Steve Young is a Civil Justice Attorney who is running as Democrat for California’s 68th Assembly District in Orange County .He is a businesmann, father of four children, and has six grown children.