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Lobbyists Make Final Push
To Influence Presidential
Commission
Burrus Update #13-03, July 2, 2003
In a last-ditch effort to influence the report of the Presidential Commission on the U.S. Postal Service, lobbyists for the mailing industry are expressing concern that the commission will fall short of recommending the drastic changes the giant mailers are seeking.
In a recent article, Murray Comarow, a lawyer who testified before the commission in February, began with the erroneous statement that "mail volume and revenue have dropped and continue to drop." He continued with the dire warning that "raising rates will drive even more users out of the system."
The facts are that in Fiscal Year 2003 mail volume is expected to be at least 700 million pieces greater than in FY 2002, and postal revenue is expected to be up 5 percent. The postmaster general has publicly announced that rates will not be increased before 2006, guaranteeing rate stability for a period of at least four years. It is expected that in FY 2003, during an extremely sluggish economy, the Postal Service will generate a $4.5 billion surplus - hardly the dire financial straits depicted by those seeking to influence the commission's report.
But facts never get in the way of the lobbyists' drive to enhance the profit margin of their employers.
These detractors suggest that the commission take a "realistic" approach to postal reform by modifying collective bargaining - abolishing arbitration and placing the wages and conditions of employment at the mercy of postal management. They imply that postal volume and revenue will increase if they are successful in imposing reduced wages and benefits on postal workers.
These are the ramblings of desperate characters who fear that despite the obvious tilt of the commission in their favor, the bias is not sufficient to achieve their objectives.
The American Postal Workers Union shares their concern about the commission's report, but for opposite reasons. We anticipate recommendations that would radically alter the Postal Service. Any recommendations that are unrelated to the expressed problem of "increasing volume and revenue" will be viewed as right-wing attacks on postal consumers and postal employees.
We pledge to energize the 78 percent of the American public who recently told a national polling service hired by the commission that they like the Postal Service just the way it is.
William Burrus,
President
