Postal Benefit Cuts? Never Mind

Postal organizations say that there was a mistake in the Obama administration’s preliminary budget for 2010 where it recommended requiring postal employees to pay the same shares toward FEGLI basic insurance and toward FEHB premiums as executive branch employees. Currently, USPS pays the entire cost of FEGLI basic while executive agencies pay only a third, and USPS also pays more toward FEHB premiums. The organizations say that administration officials told them that the provisions—which had been under discussion during the transition period—were included in the preliminary budget inadvertently and that they will not be in the formal budget proposal due out next month. The higher employer contributions are set by contract at USPS, in contrast to executive agencies where unions are not allowed to bargain on those issues and the policies are set by statute.