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President's Viewpoint
Postal Reform Journey Marks a Milestone
(This article was first published in the July/August 2004 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.)
The drive for postal reform has completed the first official step in the long journey to legislative change.
The process that began in December 2002 with the naming of the President’s Commission, then proceeded last July through that panel’s report on its work, has finally passed the initial legislative minefield: the committee-level process. But there are still miles to go on Capitol Hill before the president will have a chance to sign a bill into law.
Since the early days of last year when the entire postal community – with the exception of the APWU – seemed to be supporting postal reform at a feverish pitch, the enthusiasm to enact postal reform legislation has been tempered. Postal management and the large mailers are expressing reservations, and postal unions and management associations all seem to have lingering problems with aspects of the bills before Congress.
Throughout the process, the APWU’s position has been consistent. We favor pricing flexibility, relief from military retirement payments, release of the escrow account, and other modest changes that would not threaten service to the public or the collective bargaining rights of employees. But in the stampede for reform, proponents exercised little restraint. “Be careful what you ask for,” we alone seemed to be cautioning, “You just might get it.”
Robert J. Samuelson, a columnist for the Washington Post, wrote an op-ed article June 2 that I feel succinctly captured the folly of those at the forefront of reform movements. “Reform no longer performs the essential function of a word,” Samuelson wrote, “which is to mean something.”
Samuelson continued, “It has become a public relations tool – a convenient label that partisans of all political persuasions slap on their proposals to claim the high moral ground. It’s a packaging device. Reform is good; its opponents are bad. ... Under the guise of reform, we often make matters worse. The reason that we’re so seduced by reform is that it appeals to our national optimism. If something’s wrong, we Americans think we can fix it. But we don’t often ask whether the problem is worth solving.”
These words capture the essence of the use of terms such as “reform” or “new” in efforts to change and satisfy the desires of the special interests. Many became captured by the lure of progressive-sounding words and are quick to sign on to an unspecified agenda.
“By casting their agendas as reforms,” the Post columnist wrote, “political advocates don’t aim to stimulate debate and discussion. They aim to suppress it. They aim to stigmatize adversaries as nasty, wrongheaded, selfish or misinformed. If you’re in a debate, you want to be the ‘reformer’ and you want the other guy to be the ‘obstructionist.’ Once you've achieved that, you’re halfway to victory. You’ve shifted the contest away from substance – an argument over principles and practicality – and toward symbolism, where your symbol is superior.”
In the human experience, few decisions should be untouchable. But wrapping a desire for change in titles that have a “reformist” or “progressive” appeal can be misleading. One justification for postal reform is the fact that the Postal Reorganization Act is 33 years old, and that age alone qualifies a need for significant change. Such philosophy ignores the 228-year history of the United States Constitution, which, despite its age, governs the nation just fine.
There are changes to the postal business model that arguably are necessary and would have positive effects, but the advocates of blanket reform are now discovering that not all change will work to their advantage. The APWU itself can support much of what we see in the latest reform packaging. But we oppose certain aspects, such as the Senate committee bill’s provisions that would erode compensation for injured workers.
The APWU continues to hold its positions on the issues that we feel are most important. We will not loudly support a “reform” measure until the package is complete. There is a ways to go before the end of that journey is even in sight.
APWU President William Burrus
Telephone: 202-842-4250
ABOUT THE
APWU PRESIDENT
The American Postal Workers Union’s top officer is its president, William Burrus. The president has overall responsibility for the operations of the APWU, as directed by the Constitution and Bylaws.
