by APWU President William Burrus on Contracting Out Mail Delivery
My testimony last month [PDF] before the House Oversight and Reform Committee revealed differences of opinion between the APWU on the one hand and the other postal unions and management associations on the other, regarding the issue of congressional interference in collective bargaining.
The long-standing APWU position is that mandatory subjects of collective bargaining are best left to the parties for resolution, even when bargaining has not achieved the desired results. I believe the danger of Congress determining conditions of employment for postal employees far outweighs the possibility of short-term success in specific areas.
Having begun my postal career during the era when all postal matters were decided on Capitol Hill, I vividly recall congressional decisions that restrained our wages, benefits, and conditions of employment to the point where many postal employees actually qualified for Welfare. Requesting congressional re-intervention carries enormous risks and threatens all of the gains that we have made over the past 37 years.
The concept of petitioning Congress to declare that mail delivery can be performed only by career postal employees is much more complicated than it appears at first glance.
The first issue to be resolved is whether or not the ban should extend beyond delivery. Are there other postal functions that require limitations? Obviously, the APWU would make a valid argument on the numerous and varied activities that are best performed by career clerks, maintenance, or motor vehicle employees. But even within the single function of delivery, significant questions would have to be resolved.
If delivery by non-career employees is banned, does that include delivery to post office boxes? Is mail deposited in a lock box deserving of less government protection than mail delivered door-to-door? And if the answer to this question is in the affirmative, how does delivery to cluster boxes differ from box delivery? Apartment buildings and large commercial establishments also pose questions that would be open to varying interpretations.
These are issues best reserved for the parties who understand the nuances and distinctions. And, should bargaining fail, we can each make our case before a neutral arbitrator who has the authority to settle disputes.
Progress in negotiations on the central subject of subcontracting is never as rewarding as employees would like. As postal employees, we know that we are more trustworthy and more committed to serving the public than a casual workforce, and we know that we perform at a higher level. Career postal employees have made ours the best postal system in the world, and it is frustrating to witness an erosion in service due to the quality of the workforce.
But collective bargaining was never intended to guarantee specific results. Through our unions we are guaranteed the opportunity to continue to try.
Related Link :Harkin Inroduces Senate Bill to Outlaw Contracting Out
oops
…of any contract delivery route which performs service formerly performed in a particular installation by a city letter carrier. The Employer’s decision as to whether commence or renew the contract delivery route will be made on a cost effective basis.
My thoughts:
The USPS is not giving advance notification to the Union.
Now that the Postal Board of Governors is pushing that any new delivery be contracted out, the Union, Congress and any concerned patron of the U.S.P.S. has to stand up against it. As a blanket program it will be horrible.
What is the incentive for a worker in a big city to do his job diligently if he is not making a living wage for that area? When he/she calls in sick who will deliver? When they find another better paying job…will there be enough notice or will the subcontractor be someone such as a day labor workforce that has new people showing up in the morning for any work? How much money will they save if the subcontractor has to do all of the stuff that a manager would? What kind of vehicles will they be driving? Will these vehicles be inspected every day as we do? What will happen to the contractor and the mail in his vehicle if he has a breakdown?
With all of the new security precautions and all of the new programs such as Delivery Confirmation and Express Mail and all of the other stuff that a scanner captures, why would they act as tho anyone could do the job?
How will they know the qualifications of employees if they are no longer involved in the hiring and training of them?
This is just a horrible idea, one that assumes that if they pay the lowest, most hard working employee of their company even less, that they can make more profit while allowing the product to go to crap.
After 23 years that I have spent dedicated to this company, they are telling me that my work is worth much less than the 49,000 a year that I make.
The number of carriers is going down while the number of deliveries is going up.
I just don’t see the logic or the concern about the future of our excellent mail service…
Here is article 32.
Subcontracting
Section 1 General Principles
A. The Employer will give due consideration to public interest, cost, efficiency, availability of Equipment and qualification of employees when evaluating the need to subcontract.
B. The Employer will give advance notification to the Union at the national level when subcontracting which will have a significant impact on bargaining unit work is being considered and will meet to consider the Union’s view on minimizing such impact. No final decision on whether or not such work will be contracted out will be made until the matter is discussed with the Union.
C. The Employer and the Union agree that upon the request of the NALC National President, the Employer will furnish relevent cost information prior to the commencement or renewal
aproudlettercarrier how did management violate Article 32?
I have to disagree with Burrus, Congress has to get involved because the folks who Bush has lined up to serve as the Postal Board of Governors have decided to forego the language of Article 32 of the National Agreement.
Congess must realize that not only does this affect postal employees that they represent in their districts but every constituent that sends and receives mail.
This might get resolved by the binding arbitration that is coming up but in the meantime…
contracts can go to the lowest bidder and the sanctity of mail is compromised.
The NALC has been lobbying and educating congressfolk so no longer do congressman and senators have to be in the dark about what is going on within the Post Office.