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Senate
Approves Short-Term Relief for USPS
(09/30/09) The Senate approved an appropriations bill Sept. 30
that includes emergency financial relief for the Postal Service. The
Fiscal Year 2010 funding measure (H.R. 2918) passed by a vote of 62-38.
President Obama signed the legislation that evening.
The postal provision gives the USPS one year of financial relief, allowing it to make a reduced payment to the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund for future-retiree health benefits. Instead of making a scheduled $5.4 billion payment before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the Postal Service had to pay only $1.4 billion. [read more]
H.R.
22 Included in Stopgap Spending Bill
(09/25/09) A House-Senate panel included the provisions of H.R.
22, which would provide temporary financial relief to the Postal Service,
in a stopgap funding bill that would keep the federal government afloat
for a month after the new fiscal year starts next week.The House, which
approved H.R. 22 as an independent measure on Sept. 15, voted in favor
of the combined spending legislation (H. Con. Res. 191) on Sept. 25
by a vote of 217 to 190. The Senate is expected to take action on the
bill early next week.
[read more]
House Passes HR 22,
Bill Now Moves to Senate
(09/16/09) The House of Representatives voted 388-32 on Sept. 15 to approve a measure that would provide the Postal Service relief for one year from a requirement to prefund retiree healthcare benefits from its operating budget. APWU President William Burrus praised the vote on H.R. 22, and urged the Senate to move quickly to adopt the House bill.
[read more]
House
to Vote Soon on Postal Relief Bill
(09/11/09) The House of Representatives is expected
to vote soon — perhaps as early as Tuesday, Sept. 15 — on
legislation that would provide the USPS with short-term relief from
severe financial difficulties. APWU President William Burrus is urging
union members to contact their representatives and ask them to support
the measure. “We must act quickly," he said. "Without
relief, the USPS will run soon out of money.” [read
more]
The Big Lie:
Postal Arbitrators and
The Cause the USPS Crisis
(08/28/09) A review of 39 years of collective bargaining
refutes a myth that has been circulating in the “postal
community,” APWU President William Burrus wrote in an Update for
union members: The tale suggests that the collective bargaining
process is in need of major repair because arbitrators require
the Postal Service to pay unreasonable wages. [read
more]
President's Viewpoint
Can We Help the Postal Service?
(08/24/09) The Postal Service’s financial difficulties
are a frequent topic of discussion among union members, and recently
I have received several suggestions about ways employees can help
the USPS remain solvent. Most of the ideas involve efforts to increase
mail volume by promoting letter-writing campaigns or other activities.
A submission by Todd Manganello (of the Baton Rouge Local) to Ask
the President on the union’s Web site suggested a stamp-buying
lottery aimed at increasing use of the Postal Service by individuals. [read
more]
USPS Station and Branch Closures
Burrus: ‘Short-Sighted’ Strategy
Will Mean Long-Term Damage
(08/19/09) In a follow-up to recent
testimony before a House subcommittee,
APWU President William Burrus explored
alternatives to station-and-branch closures,
which the Postal Service is planning
in reaction to a severe financial crisis. “Closing and consolidating post offices based
on recession-level volume is short-sighted, and will leave the Postal
Service with an infrastructure unable to accommodate the larger volume
of mail that will be generated by a more robust economy,” Burrus
wrote Aug. 13. [read
more]
APWU
Responds to New York Times Column
(08/13/09) When a business columnist for the venerable New York
Times wrote an article outlining the Postal Service’s financial
difficulties and concluded that the USPS should be privatized, APWU
President William Burrus fired back. In a letter to the editor, the
union president disputed the suggestion that the cause of the Postal
Service’s current financial crisis is the diversion of mail to
the Internet and e-mail. He pointed out that the crisis is the fault
of the 2006 postal “reform” law, which requires the USPS
to pre-fund retiree healthcare costs. [read
more]
Burrus:
USPS Rate Policies Add to Fiscal Woes
(08/11/09) During a question-and-answer
session at a recent Senate subcommittee hearing, APWU
President William Burrus outlined the union’s
objections to an amendment to a bill that would
help the USPS recover from its fiscal woes and
pointed out that the Postal Service’s rate
policies have encouraged the growth of a private-sector
mail-processing network. In an Update for
union members, the union president compares postal
salaries to workshare discounts, and blasts the
USPS for establishing a flawed postage rate
system. [read
more]
(08/10/09) The Senate adjourned for
its August recess without voting on
a bill that would be devastating for
postal workers. As a result, union
members have several more weeks to
voice opposition to legislation that
would undermine our wages and benefits
in future contract negotiations. “If
this bill passes as written it will destroy collective bargaining
for postal workers, jeopardizing our cost- of-living increases, raises,
and protection against layoffs, APUW President William Burrus told
union members July 30.
[read
more]
Give-and-Take
On the
Coburn Amendment
(08/06/09) In a question-and-answer
session following the Aug. 6 testimony before the Senate subcommittee,
APWU President William Burrus and NALC President Fredric Rolando were
asked why postal unions object to the amendment to S. 1507 that was
offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). The union leaders had testified
that arbitrators routinely consider USPS financial circumstances during
contract deliberations, so senators wondered what the problem was with
making it a matter of law. [read
more]
(08/06/09) In testimony before a Senate subcommittee, APWU President William Burrus denounced a provision of Senate bill 1507, which he said would destroy the collective bargaining process. Although the postal community — including APWU — initially had high hopes for the legislation, which was intended to alleviate a severe financial crisis, an amendment to the bill made it unacceptable to postal workers, he said. [read more]
 |
(07/31/09) Closing stations and branches and reducing mail delivery to five days per week “will unquestionably have a negative effect on the postal monopoly,” APWU President William Burrus told a House subcommittee at a hearing July 30. Such actions “will impede the Postal Service’s ability to compete” when the economy rebounds, he said. [read more]
Union
Calls for Campaign
To Defeat Anti-Postal Worker Senate Bill
Teleconference Set for Aug. 3
(07/30/09) APWU President William Burrus has called on APWU
locals and state organizations to organize opposition to a Senate bill
that contains a provision that would be devastating to postal workers.
The Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Funding Reform Act of 2009
(S. 1507) was intended to provide temporary financial relief to the
cash-strapped Postal Service, but an amendment to the bill has rendered
it unacceptable to postal workers. [read
more] | [APWU
News Bulletin #01-2009]
APWU:
Amendment
To Senate Bill Hurts Workers
Lieberman, Carper
Join Republicans
to Support Changes
(07/29/09) An amendment to a bill to provide short-term, temporary
financial relief to the cash-strapped Postal Service was adopted by
a Senate committee July 29, rendering the bill unacceptable to the
APWU. “We oppose on principle, legislation that interferes with
the collective bargaining process,” said APWU President William
Burrus. [read
more]
APWU
Urges Legislators
To Reject Amendments to Senate Bill
(07/27/09) Amendments to a Senate
bill providing short-term temporary financial relief to the USPS
would weaken the legislation, harm the Postal Service, and hurt
postal workers, APWU Legislative and Political Director Myke Reid
said. He urged union members to contact their senators if they serve
on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
and ask them to reject the amendments. [read
more]
Quick
Action Expected
On Senate Bill to Ease USPS Financial Crisis
(07/27/09) Quick action
is expected on a Senate bill that would provide the Postal Service
emergency, short-term financial relief, and APWU President William
Burrus is urging union members to ask their Senators to support
the legislation. The Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Funding
Reform Act of 2009 (S. 1507), which was introduced by Sen. Tom Carper
(D-DE) on July 23, would restructure the USPS obligation to pay retiree
healthcare benefits, and would generate savings of billions of
dollars over the next several years. [read
more]
Postal Unions Seek White House Intervention
(07/16/09) The presidents of the four major postal unions have asked
the White House to address the “deepening crisis” facing
the Postal Service, asserting that “the Obama administration
must intervene now to avoid both a political and economic train wreck.” “The
recession has had a severe impact on the Postal Service’s
finances,” the union leaders wrote to White House Deputy Chief
of Staff Jim Messina, “and the situation has deteriorated significantly” since
they met with White House staffers in March. [read more]
Changes and Challenges
(07/14/09) If postal management continues
to respond to the current economic crisis by cutting service and
slashing the workforce, it risks causing the USPS irreparable harm,
APWU President William Burrus writes in an Update for union
members. The union president says the APWU will vigorously enforce
the Collective Bargaining Agreement as the Postal Service implements
new cost-cutting measures. Support from the public and elected officials
also are crucial to the survival of the USPS, he said. [read
more]
House
Committee Approves HR 22
(07/10/09) The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
unanimously approved H.R. 22 on July 10, clearing the way for consideration
of the measure by the full House. The bill would provide desperately
needed short-term relief to the Postal Service, which is facing a severe
financial crisis. [read
more]
Key
House Panel Passes HR 22
(06/24/09) A House subcommittee has approved
an amended version of H.R. 22, legislation that would provide temporary
relief from a provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement
Act that requires the Postal Service to prefund the healthcare benefits
of future retirees. The funding obligation — combined with the nation’s sharp
economic downturn — has brought the USPS to the brink of insolvency. [read
more]
H.R. 22: Not a Bailout Bill
(6/16/09) H.R. 22, introduced in the U.S. House on Jan. 9 by John
McHugh (R-NY) and Danny Davis (D-IL), would provide financial relief
to the USPS by allowing it access to the Postal Service Retiree Health
Benefits Fund to pay for health insurance for retirees. Statutory
mandates require the Postal Service to prefund 80 percent of future
retiree health benefit costs by 2016. This costs the Postal Service
more than $5.5 billion a year in addition to the $3 billion it pays
annually for current retirees. If passed, H.R. 22 would save the
Postal Service approximately $3.5 billion per year from its operating
budget. [read
more]
Burrus Testifies on Capitol Hill:
To Survive, USPS Must Change Strategy
(05/20/09) In testimony before a House panel May 20, APWU President
William Burrus told lawmakers that if the Postal Service is to
survive, it must re-examine its overall strategy. He emphasized
that the need was urgent for passage of H.R. 22, which would allow
the USPS to pay its share of contributions for annuitants’ health
benefits out of a retirees fund rather than from its operating
budget. [read
more]
H.R.
22 Gains Support from
Twenty-Five More U.S. Representatives
(05/08/09) Support continues to grow in Congress for much needed
legislation to save the Postal Service from a crushing financial crisis.
As of May 6, 299 members of the House of Representatives have signed
on as co-sponsors of H.R. 22, which would modify a provision of the
2006 postal “reform” law that needlessly drains the Postal
Service of billions of dollars per year and has contributed to a financial
crunch so severe that it threatens the viability of the nation's 235-year-old
postal system. [read
more]
Twenty-Two
More U.S. Reps
Sign Up as Sponsors of H.R. 22
(04/23/09) Legislation that is desperately needed to save the Postal
Service from a crushing financial crisis continues to garner support
in the House of Representatives. As of April 23, 274 members of Congress
have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 22, which would modify a provision
of the 2006 postal “reform” law that drains the Postal
Service of billions of dollars per year and has contributed to a crisis
so severe that it threatens the viability of the nation's 235-year-old
postal system. [read
more]
What’s Wrong …and What Can Be
Done
(04/23/09) You certainly have heard about and probably
have witnessed the reduction in mail volume that is taking such
a serious toll on postal revenue. It is important that APWU members
understand that this is not a business-as-usual event that can
be corrected in the short-term. The U.S. Postal Service will have
to fight to remain viable, and we are not likely to see a return
to “normal” for
several years.
[read
more]
H.R.22 Tops Our Hill Agenda
(04/23/09) On the first day of the 111th Congress, Rep. John
McHugh (R-NY) and Rep. Danny K. Davis (DIL) introduced H.R.
22, a bill that would help prevent a financial collapse of the
U.S. Postal Service. The bipartisan legislation would suspend the onerous
burden of a provision of the 2006 postal “reform” law that
requires the USPS to “pre-fund” 80 percent of future retiree
healthcare-benefit costs by 2016. These payments cost the Postal Service
approximately $5.5 billion per year, in addition to the $2-3 billion
it pays annually for current retiree health benefits. [read
more]
Pass H.R. 22
To
Save the Postal Service,
Congress Must Approve H.R. 22
(04/21/09) A new PowerPoint slide show
about H.R. 22, a bill of critical importance to anyone concerned
about the Postal Service, is now available to local, state, and national
officers for use at union meetings. The slide show explains the significance
of H.R. 22 in staving off a financial collapse of the USPS. “We
hope union activists will use the slide show to inform rank-and-file
members about the legislation,” said APWU President William
Burrus. “This
bill is essential to the viability of the Postal Service — and
to our jobs.”
[read
more]
APWU
Local Shows Support
For H.R. 22 at New York City Rally
(04/17/09) The APWU is supporting H.R. 22 — legislation
that is critically needed to preserve the nation’s postal system — not
only by reaching out to lawmakers but by rallying at the heart of
the issue, in front of facilities threatened by the Postal Service’s
precarious fiscal situation. “H.R. 22 will provide necessary
financial relief for the USPS,” said New York Metro APWU President
Clarice Torrence during a rally in front of a Manhattan Post Office
slated for closure this summer. “The bill will enable the Postal
Service to survive without making such drastic cuts and it won’t
cost the taxpayers one cent.”
[read
more]
Support Growing for H.R. 22
Union
Asks Members to Contact Congress
(04/06/09) Legislation that would provide the Postal Service
temporary relief from a crushing financial crisis is gaining wide
support in Congress. More than half of the members of the House
of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 22, which
would modify a provision of the 2006 postal “reform” law
that drains the Postal Service of billions of dollars per year
and has contributed to a financial crisis so severe that it threatens
the viability of the nation's 235-year-old postal system.
[read
more]
 |
(03/25/09) APWU President William Burrus told lawmakers March 25 that Congress must act swiftly to avert a collapse of the nation’s postal system. “The most important thing Congress can do is to pass H.R. 22, which will provide temporary relief from the crippling obligation to pre-fund future retiree healthcare costs,” Burrus said in testimony before the House Federal Workforce, Post Office, and the District of Columbia Subcommittee. [read more]
 |
(03/18/09) Meetings between APWU local and state presidents and their Congressional representatives helped win support for several of APWU’s legislative priorities, said Myke Reid, the union’s Legislative and Political director. [read more]
 |
(02/25/09) The APWU has announced legislative goals for the 111th Congress, including passing the Employee Free Choice Act and H.R. 22 — which would temporarily relieve the USPS of the requirement to pre-fund retiree healthcare benefits. In a brochure produced by the union’s Legislative and Political Department, the union outlines its priorities, which include healthcare reform, passing the Mail Network Protection Act, and winning Social Security Fairness for postal and federal retirees. [read more]
Postmaster General's Testimony Offers Little Insight
(01/29/09)
APWU President William Burrus praised the Postmaster General for
asking Congress to relieve the USPS of an onerous obligation to pre-fund
healthcare liabilities, but said the PMG's testimony before a Senate
subcommittee misstated the cause of the Postal Service's financial
crisis. In an update for union members, Burrus also said that other
proposals offered by PMG have little chance of preventing a disaster.
[read more]
‘Stakeholders’ Urge Congress
to Give USPS Legislative Relief
(11/20/08) The APWU is part of a group of 50 postal unions, management
associations, and mailers that has asked Congress to help the agency
during the current nationwide financial difficulties by giving legislative
relief to its retiree health-insurance liability. In a Nov.
17 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the
group said that the “$900 billion mailing industry, millions
of jobs, continued efficient universal postal services, and the
long-term survival of the Postal Service are at stake.” “The
2006 postal reform law required the Postal Service to pay off,
over the next ten years, its actuarial unfunded liability for retiree
health insurance coverage,” the letter said, while noting that
in today's economic climate, the 10-year payment schedule has become
unrealistic. [read
more]
|
(11/01/08) Dear Mr. Potter: I take this unusual step of communicating with you in a public forum because the issues at stake are so important to our country and to our nation’s dedicated postal employees. The 270,000 employees I represent have an institutional interest in your decisions as postmaster general, but under normal circumstances I would refrain from telling you how to operate the Postal Service as long as you refrain from telling me how to run the union. However, present circumstances have potential consequences of such magnitude that I feel I must depart from that philosophy. [read more]
