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APWU President William Burrus will testify Feb. 20 before the President’s Commission on the Postal Service. The second meeting of the full panel is to focus on the Postal
Service “business model,” including an assessment of its universal service obligation, the postage rate regulatory structure, and pricing flexibility.
“Despite our opposition to the establishment of the commission, I am pleased to be given the opportunity to testify,” Burrus said. “The recommendations of the commission
could have a devastating impact on postal workers and postal customers, so it is important that our voice is heard.”
Burrus has been asked by the commission to include in his address his views on work-sharing, which involves private companies performing work that historically has been
handled by the Postal Service. Work-sharing includes the pre-sorting done by big mailers who receive discounts.
“The excessive discounts are nothing more than subsidies for these businesses,” Burrus said. “The Postal Service’s flawed rate structure is the root cause of many of its
current problems. When you combine the rate-setting policies with a weak economy, it is no wonder the Postal Service is drowning in red ink.”
The commission’s report, due July 31, is likely to serve as a blueprint for legislation that the White House will support in Congress.
The President’s Commission could make recommendations to:
n Reduce delivery to five days or fewer;
n Expand work-sharing to permit private companies to perform retail, maintenance, or processing work;
n Eliminate the USPS monopoly on mail delivery;
n End the universal service obligation;
n Erode workers’ collective bargaining rights;
n Create a two-tiered postage rate structure that would charge businesses less than consumers; and
n Establish “user fees” for delivery.
At press time, the union was working diligently to complete position papers to submit to the commission by the Feb. 12 deadline for written comments.
The commission will hold field hearings in Texas, California, and Illinois in March and April. The APWU will ask that its state presidents be permitted to testify about the
impact that changes to the Postal Service could have on workers and consumers in each state.
Other challenges, such as plant consolidations and expected proposals for legislation, also loom. National officers and staff are developing plans to meet these challenges,
Burrus said.
Among the ideas are the activation of a national legislative network to contact elected officials to oppose plant consolidations and to fight any legislation that would be
detrimental to postal workers and consumers.
In addition, the union will develop guidelines to help state and local unions form coalitions with citizens whose mail service is likely to deteriorate if plants are closed.
If legislation is proposed that would erode postal workers’ collective bargaining rights, the APWU would seek to form a coalition with other postal unions and labor groups
to oppose such attacks.
“We will evaluate whether we can be successful in quashing legislation in the Congressional Committees, or whether the fight will occur in the full House and Senate,” Burrus
said. “Our legislative strategy will be influenced by that decision.”
“If the White House’s legislation is backed by the Republican Congress, it will be extremely difficult to defeat,” he said.
“This is a fight in which the union will need the involvement of all APWU members, their families, and community activists.
“Our members must understand that their future is at stake.”
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