e-Team Report, July 19, 2013
President Guffey Testifies at Postal Hearing
President Guffey testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on postal reform on July 17. The hearing largely focused on a draft postal bill by Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) that the APWU has called “deeply disturbing.”
At the hearing, President Guffey reminded lawmakers of the devastating impact of plant closures and degraded service standards. “We’re at the point now where the more right-sizing we do, the more the mail is delayed and it loses its value to the customer,” said Guffey. He noted that businesses and individual customers are already voicing frustration at mail delays, which will translate to reduced postal revenue. He further urged the committee to get USPS back on the right track by reinstating robust service standards as a part of their reform legislation.
To read more about the hearing and watch video of President Guffey’s testimony, please click here. Guffey’s testimony begins at the 45 minute mark.
Issa Moves to Advance His “Deeply Disturbing” Postal Bill
Following the hearing on his draft bill, Chairman Issa set a committee business meeting for July 24 to markup his bill so that he might pass it out of his committee. In advance of that markup, Issa announced some changes to his draft bill. Among the changes is the elimination of the requirement to re-open contract negotiations to immediately eliminate protection against layoffs.
These changes, however, do little to change the core of Issa’s destructive postal bill. The revised bill would prohibit postal unions and management from negotiating protection against layoffs in future contracts; increase health insurance costs; limit collective bargaining rights; close post offices, stations and branches; consolidate plants, and privatize operations.
APWU and Mail Handlers Announce August Action on Postal Reform
The APWU and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union have announced plans to conduct a nationwide joint lobbying effort over the congressional recess from Aug. 5 to Sept 6. Members of both unions are encouraged to contact their senators and representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the Postal Service Protection Act (H.R. 630 in the House / S. 316 in the Senate) and the Protect Overnight Delivery Act (H.R. 2459).
“The Postal Service’s plans threaten the jobs of every postal worker,” said APWU President Cliff Guffey. “Dismantling the network and cutting service will not fix the Postal Service’s finances. It will lead to the demise of the Postal Service by making its services less timely and therefore less valuable.”
Now is the time to act! Join us in advocating for postal reform during Congress’s August recess. If you require any assistance, please contact APWU Legislative Director Gary Kloepfer at 202-842-4211 or the Vice President’s office at 202-842-4250.
For more information on the APWU and Mail Handlers August Action, please click here.
Senate GOP Ends Obstruction of Crucial Nominees
This week, Senate Democrats and Republicans resolved their longstanding impasse over many of President Obama’s nominees. Breaking the stalemate, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed not to adjust Senate filibuster rules for nominees and Senate Republicans in turn agreed to stop obstructing several critical nominations.
The development is a big win for working families nationwide, as the Senate voted yesterday to confirm Tom Perez as the next Secretary of Labor. Further, AFL-CIO counsel Nancy Schiffer and NLRB counsel Kent Hirozawa will not be blocked by Senate Republicans and will get a clean vote on their nominations to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This move paves the way for the NLRB to continue its important work of enforcing the nation’s labor laws.
To read more about this positive development, please click here.
Flood, Fire, Snow, Hurricane and Even A Zombie Apocalypse… Postal Workers are Prepared
The U.S. Postal Service and its half a million employees are uniquely equipped to aid in the recovery of disaster effected areas following a natural or man-made disaster. Such events often affect power, phone and wireless services, leaving disaster victims in dire need of relief aid packages and communication. While community disasters also affect postal workers, members of the USPS workforce dependably get back to their stations, facilities and routes following an event, allowing victims to return to a sense normalcy. It is clear the USPS, postal workers and Congress must work to preserve our national communication infrastructure, which provides relief and communication services to our communities.
For more on the vital role of the USPS and the Postal Workforce during a disaster, please click here.
New Bill Would Prohibit Unionization of IRS Employees
Last week Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO) introduced the Preventing Unionization of Revenue Service Employees Act, or PURSE Act. The legislation would add approximately 100,000 IRS employees to the list of federal workers prohibited from joining unions that collectively bargain with their agency, such as the FBI, CIA and Secret Service.
Rep. Gardner’s bill is a thinly-veiled attacked on organized labor rather than a genuine effort to address recent allegations against the IRS. APWU Legislative and Political Director Gary Kloepfer denounced the bill, stating, “Instead of raising up all workers through the ability to collectively bargain for fair working conditions and wages, the conservative Congress wants to sink all federal workers.”
To view the text of the PURSE Act (H.R. 2679) and representatives supporting the bill, please click here.
Senate Conservatives Continue to Push Against Union Representation
During a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Senate Republicans continued to aim fire at the “official time” system. Official time has been part of federal workers’ collective bargaining rights, allowing employees to take paid time off to engage in the union representation. Such measures are necessary for preserving effective labor-management relations. Katherine Archuleta, President Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), testified at the hearing that official time was beneficial and helped to anticipate and resolve issues between workers and management.
On July 16, Sen. Thomas Coburn (R-OK) introduced S. 1312, which would limit the use of official time by federal employees. In the House, H.R. 568 was introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) and passed by committee earlier this year. It would require additional reporting by OPM of official time despite the fact that OPM has produced a similar report for over a decade.
For more on conservative lawmakers’ continued scrutiny of “official time,” please click here.