(May 10, 2013) – President John Hegarty responds to Postmaster General Donahoe’s request to reopen contract negotiations. President Hegarty’s letter reads, in part; “While we are always willing to work with the Postal Service to achieve cost savings, and to find new revenue streams, we cannot accommodate your request to reopen contract negotiations. Mail handlers already have contributed to the recent financial restructuring of the Postal Service; it is now up to Congress to authorize additional rate increases, to return the Postal Service’s pension overpayments, and to eliminate the onerous financial obligations imposed by the PAEA.”
Text of letter:
This is in response to your letter dated April 16, 2013, in which you request that “we reopen negotiations as soon as possible to address the potential for further cost reductions.”
The NPMHU must politely decline your request. As you know, the NPMHU and USPS just concluded a lengthy round of collective bargaining, ending in binding interest arbitration. The arbitrator (as always) took into account the financial condition of the Postal Service, and awarded a contract with substantial cost savings to the USPS. The Postal Service has just begun to implement the award, and as it does the savings will increase over time. The NPMHU therefore believes that to reopen negotiations only two months after issuance of a binding arbitration award would send the wrong message to the dedicated mail handlers working for the Postal Service, and would corrupt the collective bargaining process for future rounds of bargaining.
While we are always willing to work with the Postal Service to achieve cost savings, and to find new revenue streams, we cannot accommodate your request to reopen contract negotiations. Mail handlers already have contributed to the recent financial restructuring of the Postal Service; it is now up to Congress to authorize additional rate increases, to return the Postal Service’s pension overpayments, and to eliminate the onerous financial obligations imposed by the PAEA.
Postmaster General Donahue Requests to Reopen Negotiations
President Hegarty Responds to PMG Donahue
As a mail handler at North Texas in Coppell, I was wonder the same thing, how in the hell can a PSE supervise regular clerk craft. I mean how in the hell can they get any respect.
PSE’s clerks are now driving power equipments (forklifts) for the pittsburgh, pa NDC. Regular clerks are/were now being asked, if volunteer to do mailhandler’s jobs
Some info doesn’t seem to filter down… Middle Management has had a “pay for performance” freeze for the last three years! Obvisously upper level must be getting something or they wouldn’t have their foot on our throats wnating more out of us and craft employees! Too many EAS want out and this thing seems to be spiraling out of control! Closures every where that’s costing us more money than if they’d stayed open!!!!
The mail handlers just settled and USPS wants to go back to the negotiation table? Right after the clerks APWU settled, the USPS went to Congress requesting them to null and void their contract…really? What is going on? Looking at all of it now, it appears the USPS wants to eliminate the unions, and what a field day they will have then!
This action was speculated a few months ago. Come September 2012 the new postal fiscal year, the postmaster will go to all its union and he will tell them that he can not make the payroll its either $18.00 per hour all unions or NO PAYCHECKS. TAKE A GUESS HOW IT WILL TURN OUT???
Unionized workers must stand together against the worthless over paid management and do nothing congress. The unoins should colaberate to make sure they don’t make a dumb mistake. SCRew the U>S>P>S Lets not forget the CONSTITUTION. They are all theifs my oic just put vacancy’s V’s in my edit book trying to lower my customer count. thus lowering my pay with out a mail count. She was doing it to all of us, I am a Rural carrier, Someone in my office filed a grievence and she caved in 2 secs. So be carefull people management has been ordered to reduce costs that means YOU! Good reject bye Mail Handlers Unoins. The U>S>P>S can a rot in and go to HELL.
Stand Strong Hegarty,
PMG and all his congressional butties need to open the files of “new revenue streams”.
Files of ideas that will generate revenue. They all need to quit playing politics with what’s left of a once great service.
Quit whining and start winning, “oh my, we lost” replaced with “we can”; or just order 400,000+ FEDX hats we could advertise our cooperative and keep us honest, UPS brown shoes too, another big check.
All three Collective Bargaining Unions should ask PMG Donahoe when he proposes to eliminate the ridiculous “Pay for (non) Performance Bonus`s” for Management?
Good for the NPMHU. I as a carrier only hope the NALC has the same respect for their craft employees to reject this ridiculous request by pmg to reopen contract after a long stubborn”negotiation”,that resulted in arbitration and the garbage contract we ultimately recieved.
@Tod-The use of 204b’s in the APWU contract is supposed to be limited to vacation relief if supervisors on annual leave for two weeks or out for an extended period and only regulars are supposed to be used unless the local president has a deal with management not to enforce it.
THEM WELL PMG OTHER EXEC. START PAYING FOR HEALTH INS////
They are already using PSEs at Sacramento PD&C as 204b.
Go to The Clerks Union.Goofy will do it.
mackman says:
why not make cca’s supervisor’s and mangers.They only make
$15.an hour.Sure can’t hurt anything.
GREAT IDEA MACKMAN. Like how you think.
Congress needs to do nothing until 10/01/2013 when the USPS can no longer pay it’s employee’s. Rest assured Dono-who and his cronies will have enough in their pockets by then to jump ship. Congress needs to take back the USPS and F-I-R-E Dono-who and everyone from the top down. Replace them with competent individuals who know how to run a business and not imcompetent individuals that want to run the business into the ground.
Dono-who is the defunct captain of the USPS Titanic with mindset of “full speed ahead” into the Atlantic Ocean.
Congress will not lift the Mandate of the Reform Act because it was enacted to stop Upper Postal Management (Carvin Marvin/Dono-who and company) from fleecing the Postal Service. Upper Management has not learned their lesson.
How soon we forget how Upper Management continued to give themselves EVA Bonuses on top of pay raises. How Upper Management continued to loot the Postal Service by rewarding themselves for failure with paid for performance nonsense.
When was the last time you took your kids out to celebrate the “F’s” they recieved in their report cards?
As I stated before, and I will state it again. Congress needs to do nothing! Take back the USPS in October and FIRE the S.O.B.’s. Have the DOJ go through the books and prosecute the S.O.B’s and have them forfeit their pension for restitution.
Enough said, it’s time to enjoy the weekend.
why not make cca’s supervisor’s and mangers.They only make
$15.an hour.Sure can’t hurt anything.
NALC better reject opening too Rolando; you better be listening.
What about the PMG’s and all of management’s pay? Are they willing to take a pay cut? Didn’t think so!
Oh so now this buffoon wants us not only to be forced to uproot our lives and move to another area, he also thinks we should bend over and take it up our butt for less pay ? This PMG has to be the worst in history. And for anyone who remembers marvelous Marvin Runyon that’s pretty bad indeed !!
Just because Congress fails to do nothing and do their part after we have done ours,this should be a give and take. If we are on our own we need to raise prices on mailers,stop use of rubber bands/string,cut supervisors positions,and stop the Postal reform Act of 2006 of paying out 75 years of payments for Health and benefits in advance