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Supporting ‘Universal Service'

(This article was first published in the July/August 2008 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)

On May 8, the APWU presented testimony at a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia. The passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in December 2006 did not change the fundamental mission of the Postal Service, we pointed out, and should not be perceived as justification for privatizing the nation’s mail system or eliminating its obligation to provide service to all Americans.

Nonetheless, we told the congressional panel, “As we meet here today, there is an active and ongoing effort to dismantle the Postal Service as we know it, to privatize it, and to turn its work over to for-profit companies.”

We expressed concern “about the direction being taken by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which has undertaken, through private contractors, to study the Postal Service’s universal service obligation.”The PRC has selected as its contractors people who favor privatization, we testified, adding that these individuals are already on record as hostile to the postal monopoly and uniform rates. A member of the House subcommittee, Stephen Lynch (D-MA), indicated that he, too, was troubled by the lack of impartiality of this study group and that he would ask that a new group take over.

We also testified that survey after survey has shown that the American people consider the Postal Service to be the most efficient and effective federal agency, and that they trust the Postal Service to handle their mail. We pointed out that Great Britain privatized its mail service years ago and its universal service has been jeopardized as a result. According to a British government report, large commercial enterprises have benefited from privatization, but small businesses and individuals have not. The APWU warned that the United States faces similar consequences if the postal monopoly is not protected.

The commitment to universal mail service has been an official obligation of our government for nearly 150 years: A law passed in 1863 stipulated that postage for a letter must be based on its weight, and eliminated all differences based on distance, thus providing the same service to American “customers” no matter where they lived.

(Click here to read more about APWU testimony on this issue.)

Support for H.R. 4236

The Mail Network Protection Act of 2007 (H.R. 4236) would require the Postal Service to bargain with postal unions before engaging in significant subcontracting. The bill requires the Postal Service to notify the affected union of any outsourcing proposal that exceeds $5 million a year or that would involve the equivalent of 50 or more work-years. The bill also requires mediation and/or arbitration if no agreement is reached between the parties.

H.R. 4236 was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (DMA) late last year, and therewere 110 House co-sponsors to this important piece of legislation as of mid-June. Click here for an updated list of co-sponsors.

(If your legislator’s name appears on the list, contact their offices and thank them. If you do not see their names on the list, please contact them and ask that they sign on as co-sponsors.)

Election Success

Even though it is early in the 2008 election cycle, we have already seen three APWU-sponsored candidates successfully elected to congress in special elections.

• Andre Carson (D) was elected to succeed his grandmother, Julia Carson (D), in Indiana’s 7th District. (Julia Carson passed away earlier this year.)
  
  
• In a shocker, Bill Foster (D) was successful in his bid to fill the seat in the Illinois 14th District that was left vacant when former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) resigned.
  
  
• In another surprising outcome, Don Cazayoux (D) won an election to fill the vacancy resulting from the resignation of Richard Barker (R) in Louisiana’s 6th District. Rep. Cazayoux is the first Democrat to represent that district in 32 years. (Our grassroots coordinator for the Southern Region, Aaron Carmella, worked on get-out-the-vote projects with the AFLCIO during that important election.)
  
  
• Finally, Travis Childers (D) won the race for an open seat in Mississippi’s 1st congressional district. His 8-point victory is yet another indication that voters are looking for change in 2008.

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