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House Passes Postal Reform Bill
White House Demands Major Changes

APWU Web News Article #34-05, July 27, 2005

The House of Representatives passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act by a vote of 410-20 on July 26 and rejected three amendments that had been approved for consideration by the Rules Committee the day before. The voting lasted until after 9 p.m., and followed three hours of debate.

But a Statement of Administration Policy, released just hours before debate began, signaled that unless significant changes are made, President Bush will veto the bill.

The Senate is not expected to consider its version of postal reform legislation (S. 662) until after Congress returns from its annual August recess, and additional amendments could be introduced at that time. If the Senate approves the measure, a House-Senate conference committee would be convened to resolve differences between the two bills before the legislation is sent to the president.

Significant changes could be made by the conference committee, leaving little time for interested parties — including the APWU — to react.

“The House acted decisively yesterday to defeat three amendments that were hostile to postal workers and to the Postal Service,” said APWU President William Burrus. “But the final chapter on this legislation has not yet been written. We must continue to be vigilant and work to protect the interests of postal workers, the Postal Service, and the American people as the legislative process goes forward.”

An amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) that would have removed a labor seat on the postal Board of Governors was defeated 82-345; an amendment presented by Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) that would have established a pilot program allowing local postmasters to conduct privatization experiments was defeated 51-379; and an amendment offered by Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) that would have left responsibility for military retirement costs with the Postal Service was defeated by a voice vote. A fourth amendment, offered by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), which would have monitored civil rights and civil liberties complaints, was withdrawn.

“I commend House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis (R-VA), Ranking Minority Member Henry Waxman (D-CA), Rep. John McHugh (R-NY), and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) for the leadership they have shown,” Burrus said. “But there are those who remain determined to serve the mailing industry at the expense of postal workers and the American people. We cannot allow them to prevail.”

Key Provisions
In the administration’s policy statement, the White House repeated its opposition to two key provisions of the legislation that enjoy wide support in the postal community and among lawmakers of both parties:

• The administration opposes releasing from an escrow account billions of dollars that the USPS has saved by ending overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) unless those funds — up to $70 billion over 60 years — are dedicated to pre-funding health care and retirement benefits for postal employees. Under the current legislation, the USPS would be able to use a portion of those funds to help cover other operating costs.
  
  
• The White House opposes returning to the Treasury responsibility for paying the military-service related retirement pay for postal employees. That responsibility was transferred to the Postal Service under the 2003 law that allowed the Postal Service to end overpayments to the CSRS system. No other government agency bears responsibility for military retirement costs.

The White House is also demanding that the legislation:

• Allow the Postal Service greater flexibility to use worksharing. “USPS should continue to focus on the last-mile delivery aspect of its business and offer discounts to mailers that perform certain cost-saving tasks like pre-sorting or transportation,” the statement says. The current provision “places too many restrictions on these discounts.”
  
  
• Require arbitrators in postal labor negotiations to consider the financial health of USPS. The USPS must be assured that new limitations imposed by a postage rate cap will be considered by an arbitrator during contract negotiations, the policy statement says. Labor leaders say such a standard would undermine collective bargaining.
  
  
• Include a provision from the Senate bill that would cap future postage increases at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate, with strict exceptions. Strictly limiting the circumstances in which rate increases can exceed the CPI rate will force USPS management to work hard to keep costs under control, the administration asserts.
  
  
• Include provisions from the Senate bill that would reduce the benefits of postal workers who are injured on the job. The provisions would require a three-day waiting period before postal workers who are hurt at work can begin collecting workers compensation, and would force injured workers to retire as soon as they become eligible. (These rules do not apply to any other federal employees; the policy statement notes that the administration will ask Congress to “reform” workers compensation benefits for the entire federal workforce in the coming weeks.)

“The administration continues to insist on provisions that would reduce jobs, wages, benefits, and bargaining rights for postal workers,” Burrus said.

“Yet it has rejected the positive proposals — embraced by the entire postal community — to free postal funds from escrow and return military retirement funding to the Treasury, which would drain billions of dollars from the Postal Service for many years to come.”

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