The National Postal Mail Handlers Union has been fighting the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)  and advocating for all postal retirees with repeal of both of these bad policies with the Social Security Fairness Act for the past twenty years. 

GPO and WEP were developed in the 1970s to compensate for public sector retirement programs that do not utilize Social Security benefits – including postal employees within the Civil Service Retirement System – in order to ensure retirees were not taking advantage of the system. However, provisions of the policy have created a funding gap for those who also worked in the private sector where they earned Social Security, or if their spouse earned Social Security benefits.  

This created an undue burden for many spouses and widows. A Social Security widow's benefit is reduced by $2 for every $3 earned if the widow is eligible for a pension based on a public sector job that was not covered by Social Security. 

Additionally, inequity created by WEP reduced the Social Security benefits postal retirees receive based on the number of years they served in the United States Postal Service that did not require their payment of Social Security taxes, affecting nearly one million Social Security beneficiaries.  

Over 2 million beneficiaries are affected by the WEP while over 723,000 people are affected by the GPO, including myself. 

The NPMHU is grateful for the work of Representatives Garret Graves of Louisiana and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, and Senators Sherrod Brown and Susan Collins of Maine for sponsoring this legislation, and their relentless work on the issue. It is because of their dedication, NPMHU retirees can enjoy their retirement knowing their spouses and dependents will have the full benefits they earned during their long careers.