Postal Reorganization Act

1970 U.S. federal law, created the U.S. Postal Service

Postal Reorganization Act

Long title| An act to improve and modernize the postal service, to reorganize the Post Office Department, and for other purposes.
Enacted by| the 91st United States Congress
Citations
Public law| Pub. L. 91–375
Statutes at Large| 84 Stat. 719
Legislative history

* Introduced in the House as H.R. 17070
* Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970

The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 was a law passed by the United States Congress that abolished the then U.S. Post Office Department, which was a part of the Cabinet, and created the U.S. Postal Service, a corporation-like independent agency authorized by the U.S. government as an official service for the delivery of mail in the United States. President Richard Nixon signed the Act in law on August 12, 1970.[1][2]

The legislation was a direct outcome of the U.S. postal strike of 1970. Prior to the act, postal workers were not permitted by law to engage in collective bargaining. In the act, the four major postal unions (National Association of Letter Carriers, American Postal Workers Union, National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association) won full collective bargaining rights: the right to negotiate on wages, benefits and working conditions, although they still were not allowed the right to strike.[3]

The first paragraph of the act reads:[2]

> The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people. The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people. It shall provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities. The costs of establishing and maintaining the Postal Service shall not be apportioned to impair the overall value of such service to the people.

The Postal Reorganization Act (at 39 USC 410(c)(2)) exempts the USPS from Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) disclosure of "information of a commercial nature, including trade secrets, whether or not obtained from a person outside the Postal Service, which under good business practice would not be publicly disclosed".[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Post Office Act of 1872
* Postal Service Act
* United States Postal Service

## References

[edit]

1. ^ (1) "The History Behind the USPS Logo". Postal Posts. uspsblog.com. November 5, 2015. Archived from the original on January 4, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
(2) "Postal Reorganization Act". Publication 100 - The United States Postal Service - An American History 1775 - 2006: The history of the United States Postal Service. United States Postal Service. 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
2. ^ a b "TITLE 39
POSTAL SERVICE" (PDF). Public Law 91-375, An Act to improve and modernize the postal service, to reorganize the Post Office Department, and for other purposes. Government Publishing Office. August 12, 1970. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
3. ^ Rubio, Philip F. (2010). There's Always Work at the Post Office: African-American postal workers and the fight for jobs, justice, and equality. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807859865.
4. ^ (1) "39 U.S. Code § 410 - Application of other laws". Legal Information Institute. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Law School. Archived from the original on March 26, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
(2) "USPS: ZIP Codes are 'Commercially Sensitive' Trade Secrets". The WebLaws.org Blog. November 6, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.

## External links

[edit]

* The Postal Reorganization Act (original statute)

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United States Postal Service

Organizations|

* American Letter Mail Company
* American Postal Workers Union
* Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service
* Bureau of Transportation
* Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
* National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees
* National Association of Letter Carriers
* National Association of Presort Mailers
* National Postal Mail Handlers Union
* National Rural Letter Carriers' Association
* Postal Regulatory Commission
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* PostalWatch Incorporated
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Systems|

* Address Management System
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Services|

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Facilities|

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* Red Brick Roads
* Sectional center facility
* Streetcar railway post office
* Terminal railway post office

Legal|

* Comstock Act of 1873
* Post Office Consolidation Act of 1872
* Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006
* Postal Reorganization Act of 1970
* Postal Service Act of 1792
* Postal Service Reform Act of 2022
* Private Express Statutes
* Rural Post Roads Act of 1916
* Title 39 of the United States Code

Related|

* 2020 United States Postal Service crisis
* United States airmail service
* CAR-RT SORT
* Catcher pouch
* Cimarron Redoubt
* Domestic Mail Manual
* Facing Identification Mark
* Flats
* Grumman LLV
* Information-Based Indicia
* The Inspectors
* Intelligent Mail barcode
* Label 228
* List of postal killings
* List of U.S. state abbreviations
* List of United States airmail stamps
* Mail bag
* Mail cover
* Mail hook
* Mail Isolation Control and Tracking
* Mail jumping
* Mail pouch
* Mail sack
* Mail satchel
* The Mail Story
* Nixie
* ORM-D
* Owney (dog)
* Pony Express mochila
* Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
* Postal Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique
* Postal Clause
* Postal voting in the United States
* Postal worker
* Postmaster General
* Prohibitory Order
* Remote Bar Coding System
* Rural Free Delivery
* Rural letter carrier
* STD-4C
* United States post office murals
* List of murals
* USPS Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program
* United States Postal Service creed

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States

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