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Meeting for the first time Jan. 8, the nine-member President's Commission on the United States Postal Service gave some
indication about how it plans to craft a "fresh business model" for the nation's mail delivery system.
"Everything is on the table," said Peter Fisher, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, except for continuing the status quo and "rolling up all
the costs either on the taxpayer or the ratepayer." President Bush created the panel last month, giving it broad discretion. The Treasury Department is providing staffing and funding.
Following Fisher's opening remarks, Postmaster General John E. Potter and USPS Chief Financial Officer Richard J. Strasser discussed the Postal Service's current financial
situation and outlined its Transformation Plan, which calls for many administrative and legislative reforms.
"The key question is: `How can we provide universal service to all Americans and still make it affordable in the face of potentially declining mail volume?' That is the
central public policy issue facing this commission," Potter said.
The panel must determine "the appropriate meaning of `universal service'," Potter said.
The commission also focused on labor costs. Yale University President Richard C. Levin, embroiled in a lingering labor dispute with clerical and technical employees on his
own campus, urged fellow panel members to consider "a unique feature" of the Postal Service. "To my knowledge," Levin said, "this is the only government entity required to go to
binding arbitration to determine wages and benefits in labor contracts."
Four subcommittees were created to concentrate on specific sets of issues:
The Business Model Subcommittee will examine the Postal Service's universal service obligation, delivery infrastructure, the current rate regulation system, and the
"Commercial Government Enterprise" model proposed in the Transformation Plan.
The Private Sector Partnership Subcommittee will analyze the current role of the private sector in the mail delivery system, including negotiated service agreements,
outsourcing, and work-sharing.
The Technology Challenges Subcommittee will assess the impact of new technologies, such as online bill paying and e-mail, and consider how these advances erode the USPS market share. USPS technological initiatives and their impact on productivity also will be assessed.
The Workforce Subcommittee will assess "the Postal service's current collective bargaining and dispute resolution procedures as well as review alternate models. It will review employee pay and other associated labor costs; productivity; employee recruitment, training and development; and workers' compensation. The Workforce Subcommittee will also review the status of the Postal Service's unfunded pension and retiree health-care liabilities."
The panel's next meeting will be held Feb. 20 in Washington. Other one-day public hearings will be held in Illinois, Texas and California. Citizens groups and other
interested parties have until Feb.12 to comment on postal issues and the commission's activities.
With its report to President Bush due July 31, the panel has less than seven months to do its work. APWU President William Burrus expressed his concern regarding the broad
mandate before the committee: "I question whether conservative right-wing philosophy will dictate the panel's final recommendations."
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