Contract Negotiations Begin Today

Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement between the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union opened today - September 1, 2010.  Our current contract expires at midnight on November 20.  The APWU is the largest postal union in the world.

Anthony Vegliante, Chief Human Resources Officer of the USPS, said: "Our goal is to negotiate a contract that's fair to our customers, fair to our employees and meets our financial and operational needs".  Mr. Vegliante was quoted in bloomberg.com as saying - "Labor cost is a big piece of our success or not success because if affects prices.  We have to look forward and adjust things". 

Bloomberg reported that the USPS, which lost $5.1 billion in the first half of this year, will seek to cut costs by paring the size of its full-time workforce.

The negotiating team for the union will be led by retiring president William Burrus.  During the APWU Convention concluded last week, President Burrus vowed to fight any concessions.  Brother Burrus was quoted as saying - " Once again naysayers warn of the imminent demise of the Postal Service.  They demand wholesale changes to the foundation we have built over our 40-year history, ignoring the fact that each provision in the expiring contract has a history of give-and-take".

If November 20 comes without a new agreement, the negotiations automatically go to arbitration.  A neutral, third party would ultimately decide what language would be contained in a new contract.

Legislation is pending in Congress to provide relief to the Postal Service from the over-payments made into the retirees health care benefits and into Civil Service Retirement System.  These over-payments total between $50-150 BILLION.  Relief would provide the USPS with more than adequate funds to solidify it's financial stability.

Boycott "Voice of the Employee" Survey

Please do not participate in this survey.  Postal management manipulates the results and uses it during contract negotiations.  Our collective bargaining agreement expires on November 20, 2010.  Contract negotiations will commence right after the completion of the APWU Biennial Convention that is being held in Detroit, Michigan from August 23-27.

In the past the results of surveys have been misrepresented by the Postal Service in efforts to reduce employee wages and benefits.  We do not want to provide postal management with any more evidence to erode what we have fought so hard to gain.

Contract negotiations are expected to be extremely difficult given the financial problems facing the USPS.  The Union has been lobbying Congress to provide relief to the Postal Service from the burden of financing future retiree health care benefits.  Both OPM and the Postal Service Office of the Inspector General have completed studies that show overpayments into this fund and into CSRS that total between 50-150 billion dollars.  This kind of relief would solve any financial woes and put the Postal Service in the black.

BOYCOTT THE "VOICE OF THE EMPLOYEE" SURVEY!!!!!!!!!!!

News Important to You

Below you will find various items that should be of interest to any postal worker or patron.  When reading this material it is important to note that the USPS is asking for an exigent rate increase and that negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement will begin this fall.

Experts Say Ending Saturday Delivery Will Harm Small Town America

Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky testifed for the Postal Regulatory Commission and said: "Reducing the quality of postal service will reduce the quality of life in rural America, making it a less attractive place to live."

Max Heath of the National Newspaper Association said: "It is regrettable that policymakers in the nation's capital do not take the time to visit smaller towns."  The loss of Saturday mail will deeply affect many newspapers that count on USPS for delivery over the weekend.  Newspaper publishers need Saturday delivery because readers and advertizers want and need it, Heath told the Commission.  If the USPS will not deliver, publishers will be forced to create private delivery services, which will compete with the Postal Service for mail volume.

AFL-CIO Adopts Resolution to Save Saturday Service

At it's August 4 Executive Council meeting, the AFL-CIO adopted a resolution expressing the labor movement's opposition to the USPS proposal to eliminate Saturday delivery. "Denying Americans six days of mail delivery will weaken their confidence in the Postal Service's ability to meet their personal and business needs and lead to the ultimate demise of this important government service."

Postal Service Seeks $4 Billion Waiver of Upcoming Retiree Health Fund Payment

Just as it did last year, the USPS is asking Congress for a $4 billions break on a contribution due next month to its Retiree Health Benefits Fund.  Last year, Congress allowed the Postal Service to only pay $1.4 billion instead of the $5.4 billion due each year through 2016.  Both the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Postal Service's Inspector General have concluded that the current payment schedule for the retiree health fund is overly aggressive.

Postal Service Ends 3rd Quarter with $3.5 Billion Loss

The USPS ended the third quarter of fiscal year 2010 (April1-June 30) with a net loss of $3.5 billion, compared to a net loss of $2.4 billion for the same quarter last year.  Third quarter mail volume totaled 40.9 billion pieces, down approximately 700 million pieces, or 1.7 percent, compared to a year ago.

Former USPS Chief Financial Officer Says Elimination of Saturday Delivery

Is Not Necessary

In support of the proposal to elminate Saturday delivery, USPS CFO Joseph Corbett asserts that a change to five-day dleivery is "necessary and unavoidable".  He says that the Postal Service is now in "dire financial condition" and that eliminating Saturday delivery is needed to help "close the gap" between the Postal Service's costs and revenues.  However, former USPS CFO Michael Riley testified in front of the Postal Regulatory Commission and said; "In fact, the Postal Service's costs and revenues are not fundamentally misaligned and no radical change like ending Saturday delivery is necessary."

DOL Files Motion to Consolidate USPS Electrial Safety Charges

The Department of Labor is seeking to consolidate complaints regarding the USPS's ongoing and systemic violations of safe electrical work practices, and has initiated settlement discussions with the Service. Responding to APWU safety complaints, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued fines of more than $3.7 million for "willful and serious" electrical safety violations at 17 USPS facilities since January.

USPS Takes 2.2 Years to Process Employee Ideas Instead of Seven Days

The USPS Office of Inspector Genral reviewed the eIDEAS program.  When an idea is approved, management can award noncash and cash awards up to $10,000.  Part of their conclusion: "We found the eIDEAS program was not timely and management's resulting actions were not transparent.  The program stipulates that evaluators asses ideas within 7 days of submission.  We found level 1 evaluators took an average of 2.2 YEARS to process employee ideas.

Wow, lots of stuff going on.  Seems that postal management talks out of both sides of their mouths and doesn't necessarily practice what they preach.  For the future of the USPS, I sincerely hope that Congress is paying very strict attention to all that is happening.  The only way the Service will survive is for our elected officials to change the way the retiree health fund is handled and the over-payments into the Civil Service Retiement System must be stopped.

The Postal Service Speaks

In a recent news release entitled "Delivering the Future" the USPS responded to the current financial crisis by providing accurate information to help customers and the mailing industry better understand what is really happening.

Here are some of the things stated:

1.  The Postal Service has achieved cost savings of $1 billion per year every year since 2001; in 2009 the cost savings reached $6.1 billion by reducing its workforce by the equivalent of 65,000 full time employees. The career workforce has been reduced from an all-time high of 802,970 in 1999 to today's 588,561.

2.  The Postal Service has been and will continue to address the cost of employee benefits through the collective bargaining process.

3.  Their action plan calls for continuing modernizing customer access by providing online services 24/7 and providing services at places more convenient to customers - grocery stores, pharmacies, retail centers, office supply stores (Office Depot).

4.  Legislative changes are needed so they can introduce non-postal products for sale to reflect the changing customer needs and generate more revenue.

5.  Since their action plan was released on March 2, 2010 they are on track to eliminate $3.5 billion in costs and have identified necessary steps to erase $123 billion in expenses on the next 10 years.

6.  There are 26,000 post offices with expenses that exceed revenue.  The USPS wants regulatory change that would grant the authority to close those offices.  Where they already have that authority, in 2009 alone they closed - nine airmail centers and  consolidated 40 mail processing centers (22 more are in the process).

So, you can see that our jobs are in serious jeopardy.  Managment wants to cut employees, reduce benefits, close facilities, consolidate mail processing, and move retail out of postal facilities. All of this comes when our collective bargaining agreement is up for negotiation. 

It will be a serious and dangerous contract negotiations.  If the process concludes without an agreement and we go to arbitration, I cannot see an arbitrator awarding much in salary increases or making improvements in benefits.

We need to stay vigilant and become more involved with our local unions.  They need your help - it is time to step up!

$50 Billion Found!

Sometimes it is almost comical - the things that happen in and around the USPS.  Check this out - The Postal Regulatory Commission submitted to Congress, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Postal Service an independent actuarial report on the allocation of the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) benefits paid to former Post Office Department employees.  The Commission report found that an adjustment of $50-55 BILLION in favor of the Postal Service would be equitable.

Wow!  This is unbelievable.  First, a $75 billion overpayment was found, then the $32 billion still owed by the USPS because of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act that  brings it to a total of $158 BILLION  that the Postal Service overpaid or should not have paid at all.  Put this money back in the USPS's general fund and even I can see the financial condition improving a heck of a lot!

Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Federal Financial Management Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the U.S. Postal Service reacted to the report by saying: "Every once in a while in life we find money in places that we aren't expecting, sort of like when you find a ten dollar bill your forgot in the pocket of your jeans that you haven't worn for a while.  This is a very good day indeed because rarely in life do you discover an extra $50 Billion lying around......This is certainly a helpful development that will give Congress some assistance as we work to provide the Postal Service with much-needed relief from the overly-agressive retiree health funding schedule that was placed on in 2006."

If this wasn't so serious an issue, it would be almost laffable.  Hey, a few billion here, a few billion there - what's a government supposed to do?

Hopefully, Congress will go about setting in motion the relief needed by the USPS and we can stop such dumb ideas like 5 day delivery, closing of station/branches and eliminating service.

Terry Grant

President OPWU