Local postal service workers will rally Tuesday in Rock Hill as part of a nationwide effort to draw support for a bill in Congress they say will help the agency meet its financial challenges.

Workers will gather in the parking lot at Essie's Catering at 1509 Ebenezer Road, 4 p.m. Tuesday. U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney's office is located nearby.

The National Association of Letter Carriers, a union of city delivery letter carriers working for the postal service, is organizing the rally. The union is encouraging rallies on Tuesday across the nation.

The rally, which is not sanctioned by the U.S. Postal Service, follows the agency's announcement this month that it would default on its obligation to make a mandatory $5.5 billion payment for prefunded retiree health benefits and that it's running out of cash.

Post office officials point to declining demand in services and overpayments it has made to the federal employee retirement system as two reasons for its financial woes.

Postal service officials have offered ideas for legislation to give the agency more financial flexibility. They've also offered plans to reduce offices and processing centers and its workforce.

Rock Hill's Randy Hayes, a mail carrier for 23 years and a member of the Rock Hill branch of the NALC, disagrees with their solutions.

"The public has been misinformed," Hayes said.

The post office's financial woes can be fixed without cuts to services and workforce, he said.

He and other union members support a bill in the U.S. House called the United States Postal Service Pension Obligation Recalculation and Restoration Act of 2011. The bill was introduced in April and immediately went into committee where it still resides with more than 200 co-sponsors.

One of the bill's provisions calls for a recalculation of what the postal service owes to its pension fund and a transfer of any surpluses toward the health benefits payment it owes.

There have been more recent proposals to help the postal service recover from its financial crunch, including several by President Barack Obama last week.

The proposals include ending Saturday mail delivery and closing offices and processing centers, which union workers oppose, Hayes said, adding that letter carriers play a vital role in keeping the community informed, especially in rural areas where office closures are likeliest.

The post office is "the heartbeat of the community," he said. "We keep everybody connected."