On July 24, 2013, strictly by party lines, Congressman Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) postal reform legislation, H.R. 2748, was marked up and passed by the full Committee (Oversight and Government Reform). The vote was by a 22-17 margin. The mark-up process is used to formulate legislation by considering amendments to a draft bill.
President Hegarty reached out to Chairman Issa and Ranking Member Cummings in a letter dated July 18, 2013 (see previous posting on this website) expressing concern on what should be in an acceptable bill, and what is needed to make the USPS viable economically, both now and for the foreseeable future. These reasonable suggestions fell on the deaf ears of Chairman Issa and the Republican majority on the Committee.
All amendments put forward by Democrats that would have been helpful to the USPS were soundly defeated, again, along party lines.
Some of the most onerous portions of H.R. 2748, as marked-up:
- CHANGES LAYOFF LANGUAGE IN NEXT NATIONAL AGREEMENT
- CONSOLIDATES PROCESSING PLANTS
- INCREASES HEALTH BENEFIT COSTS FOR EMPLOYEES
- DOES NOT MAINTAIN SERVICE STANDARDS
- INTERFERES WITH COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
- DOES NOT FAIRLY ADDRESS FERS OVERPAYMENTS
- MAINTAINS ROADBLOCKS TO SEEKING ADDITIONAL REVENUE FOR USPS COFFERS
- ALLOWS FIVE-DAY DELIVERY AND FORCES USE OF CLUSTER BOXES INSTEAD OF DOOR DELIVERY
All mail handlers are urged to write to their Members of Congress, to urge a vote against the Issa legislation.
Throughout the years of my employment, I have noticed a steady decline in first-class letters. However, we all know the real reason behind the USPS financial downfall, the passing of the PAEA was certainly that start of the financial ruin of the USPS. The USPS has shed thousands and thousands of craft positions, however, front line supervisors and upper management has increasingly got larger. Pay-for-performance bonuses must be cut out, the “Top Heavy” upper management must also be reduced in order to meet the smaller version of what the USPS used to be. Chairman Issa and most Republicans have an agenda they are going to keep. To me its obvious that Chairman Issa and others are brutuly attacking the middle class and Unionized labor. Its going to be a rough ride my friends in the choppy waters of the Republican agenda. It certainly would not surprise me if the Koch brothers had their hands in the cookie jar also. The power of a few in congress, large corporations and big money will eventually destroy our nations greatest treasure.
ISSA MESSA !
I do believe the craft side of the usps has been downsized. can you say the same for the management side? I don’t believe you can. in fact they add to their numbers and keep getting bonuses. if you work in a post office you know the postmaster and supervisor are nothing more than glorified schedule makers. they cannot do anything unless an idiotic mpoo, senior mpoo or district manager tell them. those jobs should be eliminated. let the ones you put in charge of an office do their jobs. better yet give the craft more power and let us govern ourselves. we actually care about our jobs and would like to keep them unlike the management side, you can tell by some of their decisions. usps wastes more money on paperwork and harassing employees. they would come closer achieving their goal if they just left us alone
Not the Congressman but the Union’s unwillingness to help save the Postal Service by downsizeing the workforce sooner….just for the sake of dues to fuel their Grossly Bloated Organizations