Postal union leaders testifying before a Senate panel Tuesday blasted the attacks on collective bargaining recommended in the report of the President’s Commission on the U.S. Postal Service.
In addition, at least one of them called for the other government agencies to relieve the USPS of further pension-related financial obligations.
In testimony before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, William Burrus, president of the American Postal Workers Union, asserted, “the workforce-related recommendations are outrageous and totally unacceptable to me and the workers I represent and…are fundamentally dishonest.”
He went on to list how the while the Commission said it supported postal workers’ “right to engage in collective bargaining,” it also recommended the establishment of a Presidentially appointed three-person Postal Regulatory Board to set postal employee compensation.
Burrus further blasted the Commission’s proposal that the existing no-layoff protection be outlawed.
In further defense of collective bargaining, William Young, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers said that, “since the Postal Reorganization Act was enacted [in 1970], there has not been a single work stoppage or significant disruption in service as a result of labor relations.”
Noting that postal management–labor relations “have improved dramatically in recent years, “ Young recommended that Congress basically maintain the current collective bargaining system.
Like Burrus, he opposed the creation of a Postal Regulatory Board.
“At this moment of great challenges for the Postal Service, we have worked hard with the Postmaster General to build trust between us and improve the workplace culture and in the Postal Service,” he said. “Please tread lightly in these areas so as not to risk the progress we’ve made.”
