USPS Wage, Benefit Proposal: An Insult to Postal Workers

Burrus Update #19-2010, Nov. 1, 2010

Contract negotiations took a dramatic turn today as postal management presented its economic proposal, which would establish employees’ wages and benefits for the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. Notwithstanding my expectation that management would seek to restrain costs, I was surprised to receive a USPS proposal that would destroy 20 years of progress.

Postmaster General Potter has said he intends to protect current employees by “grandfathering” their wages, and imposing lower pay and benefits on future employees. Management’s wage proposal reflects that objective: It would severely reduce the pay and benefits of employees hired after the signing of a new agreement, and would make postal jobs substantially less desirable.

Management’s proposal is just one step in the bargaining process, which requires additional intense negotiations — but it is not a good starting point.

Upon receipt of the proposal, I informed USPS negotiators that it is an insult to all postal employees who have dedicated their working lives to maintaining the best postal system in the world. There is zero possibility that the union will agree to wage cuts.

We hope that as bargaining proceeds, management will join us and engage in serious dialogue about the terms and conditions of a new contract. We have come too far to consider revisiting the past.

William Burrus
President

Early Retirement Rumors:

Again, APWU Says: Don’t Go!

Burrus Update 07-2010, April 8, 2010

Rumors about Voluntary Early Retirement offers are once again circulating throughout the Postal Service, and employees are evaluating the possibilities.

Let me state plainly:

• There have been no discussions with postal management about offering new monetary incentives as an enticement for retiring.
• If incentives are contemplated at some future date, the law says they must be negotiated with the union.
• Any rumor that monetary incentives are under consideration is false.

In recent years the Postal Service has offered Voluntary Early Retirements (VERs) — without monetary incentives — without the union’s involvement. Management may do so again in the future.

The APWU has challenged these VER offers in the appropriate forums. As we noted in grievances protesting non-incentive VERs, the National Agreement requires the payment of severance pay to employees who voluntarily terminate their employment through early retirement.

We await final disposition of the dispute. In the meantime, it is very likely that postal management will pursue further reductions in the employee complement through Voluntary Early Retirement offers.

The union repeats the advice we offered regarding prior VERs without incentives: Don’t Go!

William Burrus
President

OIG Says USPS Overpaid Federal Government $75 Billion

A Stunning Announcement:

Burrus Update 03-2010, Jan. 20, 2010

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has issued a stunning announcement [PDF]:
The USPS has been overcharged $75 billion in contributions to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension fund.

After an in-depth investigation, the OIG has concluded that an inequitable system for computing the Postal Service’s CSRS pension responsibility has caused the dramatic overpayment. The OIG study [PDF] was conducted in conjunction with the Hay Group, a well-known economic consulting firm.

The funding error follows two previous findings that the Postal Service had been required to overfund its pension obligations. In 2002 it was determined that the Postal Service was on track to overfund CSRS by $78 billion, and in 2003 the USPS was overcharged $27 billion for CSRS military service credits. The earlier overpayments were corrected by legislation adopted in 2003 and 2006, respectively.

The newest overfunding debacle, if corrected, would more than offset the Postal Service’s deficit from Fiscal Year 2009 and the expected shortfalls in FY 2010 and 2011. The doomsday predictors of the imminent demise of the Postal Service must now find a new rationale for their efforts to dismantle postal services.

The cry for a new business model and legislative relief ring hollow when USPS financial difficulties could be fully resolved by returning to the Postal Service the overpayments made to date. Realigning the network, reducing employee compensation and benefits, and transferring the cost of universal service to individual mailers can now be exposed for the fraudulent exercises they represent. Instead, we can engage in a meaningful dialogue about the future of hard-copy communication and the role of postal services in the 21st century — without the looming threat of bankruptcy.

This report is good news for a beleaguered government service. USPS service standards and productivity have remained at high levels; the economy is recovering, and the black cloud of fiscal insolvency could be removed. All parties in the postal community who wish to be of assistance must join in an effort to correct the inequity and relieve the Postal Service of the unjustified funding requirement.

In the meantime, we can take a deep breath and stop the momentum for another round of harmful postal “reform.” And after the attrition of 115,000 APWU-represented positions since 2002, we would appreciate a public recognition that our members have contributed their share.

William Burrus
President

Changes and Challenges

Burrus Update 08-2009, July 14, 2009

(07/14/09) If postal management continues to respond to the current economic crisis by cutting service and slashing the workforce, it risks causing the USPS irreparable harm, APWU President William Burrus writes in an Update for union members. The union president says the APWU will vigorously enforce the Collective Bargaining Agreement as the Postal Service implements new cost-cutting measures. Support from the public and elected officials also are crucial to the survival of the USPS, he said. [full story]

Source: National APWU Site