USPS faces tough labor contract decisions–March 16,2016

The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) recently opened negotiations with USPS leadership for a new labor contract to replace one that expires on May 20. NALC president Fredric Rolando emphasized in his opening remarks his optimistic outlook for the Postal Service:

Once the recession ended, the Postal Service started making a profit on operations, but it took a while for folks in Washington to notice. Finally, over the past couple of years, the press and members of Congress and leaders in our industry have realized that the conventional wisdom was wrong. The Postal Service is not doomed—we can and will thrive in the 21st century.

President Rolando went on to say that cooperation with management has its limits:

We will not be burdening this day of formality with a detailed list of proposals. That will come in good time. But I believe it will be helpful to outline the framework of what will produce a joint agreement. And what will not.

The men and women letter carriers of the United States Postal Service have earned a reasonable increase in their wages and protection of their health insurance and other basic terms and conditions of employment. This will not be a concessionary agreement. We should not waste our valuable time, energy and resources, or yours, in pursuit of that which will not be.

The other major postal union, the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), recently entered arbitration because it was unable to reach a negotiated agreement with postal management. Its president Mark Dimondstein summarized his position at the opening of arbitration:

“Postal workers earn the right to be justly compensated for our service and hard work,” Dimondstein declared. “The economic lot of workers should be constantly improving, and those improvements should be passed on from generation to generation. We earn the right to be provided a safe workplace, free of harassment and discrimination, and, after concluding our careers, to enjoy a secure and dignified retirement.”

APWU members want a workforce where all members make decent wages and get solid benefits – where our children reap the benefits of a better life, he said.

Rejecting suggestions that the USPS is too broke to pay workers fair and reasonable wages, Dimondstein said, “Absent the congressionally-manufactured pre-funding hoax, the Postal Service is enjoying strong financial operations performance with endless opportunities for expansion in response to the ecommerce revolution and new possibilities for expanded postal products and services.”

He urged the arbitration board to “justly compensate” postal workers and take the opportunity to promote a vision of a Postal Service that will be vibrant for generations to come. “The union proposals do both,” he said.

With labor equal to 80 percent of postal cost, these labor negotiations and arbitration are critically important to the continued success of the USPS, its employees, and its customers.