NALC addresses USPS ‘spin, distortion’ during APWU, NRLCA talks
The NALC recently responded to a U.S. Postal Service press release regarding its contract negotiations with the American Postal Workers Union and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association, a statement NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said was “full of spin and distortions aimed at influencing public opinion.”
“We recognize that the USPS faces major challenges that need to be addressed to secure its future,” Rolando said, “but this cannot be done responsibly if one party engages in blatant and selfserving attempts to mislead people.”
The Postal Service statement said that in the event of an impasse, “An arbitrator determines the final outcome and is not legally required to consider the Postal Service’s financial obligations when rendering a decision.”
“This is nonsense,” Rolando replied, “because arbitrators are required to consider all evidence presented by the parties. Since the USPS always presents information on its financial situation, its finances always are considered.
“The press release phrasing is a thinly disguised attempt to prompt congressional meddling in the traditional labor-management process by legislation that would insert one-sided language favoring the Postal Service’s positions,” he said. “We don’t think it’s the role of Congress to get involved on behalf of either side, including ours.”
The Postal Service also put a spin on the issue of eliminating Saturday delivery, claiming the public favors five-day delivery over using taxpayer funds and other alternatives.
“In fact, as the USPS well knows, the Postal Service has not used a dime of taxpayer money for 25 years,” Rolando said, “and no one is proposing that it do so now.”
The Postal Service release also said, “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.”
“We all know what this means—a decrease in quality through transforming the workforce into a collection of temporary employees, rather than maintaining the current high standards of a workforce that the very same press release says has led the public to regard the Postal Service as the most trusted government agency six consecutive years,” Rolando said.
“These various spins, half-truths or outright distortions are no way to inform the public and to have a rational discussion about the best way to secure the future of a great national institution on which 150 million households and businesses rely for mail delivery six days a week,” Rolando concluded. “We stand ready to engage in a serious discussion that considers the best interests of the American people.”
Source: NALC