Postal Service, One of Two Unions, Continue Negotiations Past Deadline to Noon, Nov. 23
Outcome Critical to Postal Service, Employee, Future
WASHINGTON — Contract negotiations with the American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO (APWU) and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association (NRLCA) expired at midnight Sat., Nov. 20. While negotiations with the NRLCA resulted in an impasse, the Postal Service and the APWU agreed to extend the negotiation deadline until Tue., Nov. 23 at noon ET.
Should APWU negotiations fail as they have with the NRLCA, a process begins which could result in a third party determining contract terms and work rules for more than 324,000 employees whose wages and benefits exceeded $20 billion last year.
Unlike the private sector, when negotiations come to an impasse, Postal employees are not permitted to strike. That’s because Congress designated the Postal Service as an essential service to the nation. An arbitrator determines the final outcome and is not legally required to consider the Postal Service’s financial obligations when rendering a decision.
The drop in the economy coupled with the shift to digital communications has created the greatest loss in mail volume since the Great Depression. Mail volume peaked at 213 billion pieces in 2006 and plummeted to 170.6 billion in the fiscal year (FY) ending Sept. 30. Revenues shrank from $72.6 billion in 2006 to $67.1 billion. The 2010 FY net loss was $8.5 billion. By 2020, mail volume is projected to drop to 150 billion pieces.
To remain strong into the future, the Postal Service needs to control costs through a flexible workforce to adapt to the nation’s changing mailing trends.
The Postal Service operates solely from the sale of stamps and related services without taxpayer subsidy. As a quasi government agency, it deals with the challenges of the private sector while continuing to operate under federal regulations and Congressional oversight.
Reasonable wages and benefits are just one element needed to help the Postal Service fully meet its financial obligations and remain strong in the future.
- Survey data reflects that the public favors 5-day delivery over using taxpayer funds and other alternatives. Adjusting delivery days to better reflect current mail volumes and customer trends can save the Postal Service $3.1 billion annually. The Postal Regulatory Commission is expected to announce its recommendation within the next month. Congress has yet to consider this concept.
- Created in 2006 under stronger economic conditions, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act requires the Postal Service, unlike the private or public sector, to prefund retiree health benefits. This equates to an average of $5.6 billion in cash flow every year through 2016, in addition to the $2 billion it annually pays for current retirees. The Postal Service has asked Congress to restructure retiree health benefits payments to “pay-as-you-go,” comparable to what is used by the rest of the federal government and the majority of the private sector.
- According to an audit conducted by the Postal Service Office of Inspector General, the Postal Service has been overcharged $75 billion to its Civil Service Retirement System pension fund.
The APWU represents 209,000 employees who work as clerks, mechanics, vehicle drivers, custodians and in some administrative positions. Employees represented by the NRLCA primarily deliver mail in rural and suburban areas. The NRLCA represents 67,000 career employees and 48,000 non-career employees who substitute for career employees on their days off.
Two other unions represent most other postal employees. More than 205,000 employees represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO (NALC) deliver mail in metropolitan areas and 48,000 employees represented by the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, AFL-CIO (NPMHU) work in mail processing plants and Post Offices.
The NALC and NPMHU begin negotiations next year approximately 90 days prior to the midnight Nov. 20, 2011 contract expiration date. For additional background information on labor negotiations and the Postal Service’s workforce, please click on these links: Labor Negotiations and Workforce.
Has any consideration been given to the creation of FIVE DAY DELIVERY ZONES, rather than throwing a five day blanket over the whole nation?
Five day delivery would be a disaster to my business route.
Post office needs change all management otherwise USPS will be going underground becuase they don’t know how to run an operation in Post Office .
It is quite obvious and has been so for the past 32 years of my Postal Service employment (since I recently retired) that the USPS had no serious interest in negotiating a labor agreement unless of course the Unions they are negotiating with are willing to except almost nothing rather then risk the process go to binding arbitration. This way, management wins regardless of the outcome. If the Unions agree to settle for nothing, Management looks great and is rewarded with huge incentive bonuses. If the Unions walk from the table and the Arbitrator issues virtually nothing to the Unions, Managements position is upheld and they crow,” I told You So” especially if the award comes back with even less then what was previously offered during negotiations. If however the Arbitrator ends up throwing a bone to the Unions and offers them something greater then what was previously offered, Management still wins by crying that the Mediator “gave away the store” against our wisdom and wishes and holds themselves blameless for the outcome. The three months that Management and the Unions use under the pretense of contract negotiations is merely a dance and party for both Union and Management attendees to eat, drink and be merry with the only risk of acquiring a flare up of the gout caused by all the over indulgence. How said that both Union members and the general public are so deceived.
[…] press release put out Sunday by the United States Postal Service is full of spin and distortions aimed at […]
what i want to know is why is Postmaster General John E. Potter being allowed to retire, last i knew if you ran a company into the ground you got fired not retired???
Mail used to be delivered to the loading dock of a local Post Office with a 5 Ton truck. NOW it’s delivered with a Tractor Trailer and Management CLAIMS that the volume is DOWN. Can you spot what’s wrong with this picture??????
The mail volume has not dropped! It has been hijacked by private contractors and included in bulk mail where it receives a substantial discount. The Postal Service has now become the victim of the same methods used to skim off profits by Health Insurers. Private contractors “negotiate” discounts with the PO. Then they proceed to offer mailing services the various advertisers for less money than they would pay if advertising singularly. Fed Ex, UPS, and other parcel services also use the PO to do the real work, while they charge more to the client. With Postal Management negotiating pricing with these competitors, guess who gets the better part of the deal!! Combine these facts with telling the BIG LIE and you claim to have the Blue Collar Worker on the ropes. The American Public is not that stupid. Clean out L’enfant Plaza and adjust the supervisor/management to hourly employee ratio, and you will save Billions!!!
I choose to believe this side of the story!
http://nalc.org/news/latest/usps_finances_2010.html
Yes USPS has problems … but don’t blame it all on labor
It is obvious that the Postal Service has not been negotiating in good faith. They are offering nothing which really means they want to take things back that you have earned through the years. I feel in this case that an independent arbitror will be to the union`s benefit. Hopefully there will be no givebacks. Good Luck!
[…] USPS Says Contract Negotiations Outcome Critical to Postal Service, Employee, Future | Postal Employ…. […]
“To remain strong into the future, the Postal Service needs to control costs through a flexible workforce to adapt to the nation’s changing mailing trends.”
Really? Control Costs? How about in a bad economic times, why can Postmaster General John E. Potter earn about $5.5 million in deferred compensation, retirement benefits and accrued annual leave for the rest of his life when he leaves the U.S. Postal Service next month? (The Washington Post Nov 2010)
“PERFORMANCE BONUS?” Really???
The USPS is NOT a company. FedEx and UPS are companies, and sell shares of stock…the USPS doesn’t. You can’t get make money if you are always in the red. Unless you are crooked in the US government.