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Congress Approves Postal ‘Reform’ Bill

(This article first appeared in the January/February 2007 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

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After more than 11 years of consideration, Congress passed a far-reaching postal reform bill in the closing hours of the 109th Congress. Under procedures normally reserved for non-controversial matters, the House and Senate approved the 167-page Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in the pre-dawn hours of Dec. 9. President Bush signed it into law Dec. 20.

For more than a decade, the union has fought hard to ensure that the interests of postal workers are protected in any postal overhaul legislation. We were successful in making sure legislators rejected the most objectionable proposals made in 2003 by the President’s Commission on the U.S. Postal Service — measures that would mandate wage and benefit reductions, eliminate our no-layoff clause, undermine collective bargaining rights, outsource jobs, and reduce services to the public.

Major Concerns

Unfortunately, the legislation contains a provision to prevent postage rates from rising above the rate of inflation. This limitation on future rate increases — included at the behest of major mailers, and without regard for spikes in the price of fuel and other costs the USPS incurs — could act as a cap on wages during future contract negotiations. (An exigency clause, however, will allow the USPS to exceed the cap in extraordinary circumstances.)

Regrettably, APWU and other USPS employee organizations also were unable to block a provision in the bill that will force postal workers to use annual leave, sick leave, or leave-without-pay (LWOP) for the first three days of their absence from work due to a work-related injury. This will create an unprecedented disparity in the way postal workers are treated in comparison to other federal employees. (The leave will be restored or be paid if the absence exceeds 14 days.)

The original Senate bill also would have slashed OWCP benefits for those on total disability to 50 percent of the employee’s monthly pay. This provision was discarded.

‘Worksharing’ Victory

The APWU convinced legislators to include a provision in the bill that severely restricts excessive “worksharing” discounts for major mailers that drain billions of dollars in revenue from the Postal Service. Working closely with our allies in the House and Senate, we gained the inclusion of a section in the bill that will phase out these subsidies, with very limited exceptions.

The new law will require that whenever the USPS establishes a worksharing discount, it must get approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (formerly the Postal Rate Commission). A detailed report must be submitted that:

• Explains the Postal Service’s rationale for establishing the rate;
  
  
• Presents data, economic analyses, and other information to justify the rate; and
  
  
• Certifies that the discount will not adversely affect rates or services provided to users of postal services who do not take advantage of the discounted rate.

Financial Relief

There is some good news with significant financial impact on the USPS: The new law releases from an escrow account billions of dollars that the USPS has saved by ending overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement System; and it returns to the Treasury responsibility for paying about $27 billion in military service-related retirement benefits for postal workers. (No other federal agency has been required to pay these costs.)

The USPS was saddled with these financial burdens by provisions contained in the Postal Civil Service Retirement System Funding Reform Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-18). The provisions were supposed to be temporary, but the Bush administration insisted they remain in force to make the federal budget deficit appear smaller. Ultimately, the White House relented on its demand.

APWU Legislative Department officers and staff would like to thank senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Susan Collins (R-ME). On the House side, we were fortunate to have the support of representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Tom Davis (R-VA), and John McHugh (R-NY).

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