All Sections ------------------------------- News & Events Pay & Benefits Departments & Divisions Members Only

Advanced Search

---

---

Ask President Burrus

Question:

What caused the three major postal unions to break away from each other during contract negotiations?

Dennis, Colorado Springs Local

Similar Question:

Lawrence, Central NY Area Local

President Burrus:

Thank you for writing.

At the time of passage of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, seven unions were granted bargaining rights on behalf of postal employees, with the existing unions (except for the National Postal Union) recognized as the legal representatives of the designated groups of employees. Four of the unions plus the NPU merged to form the APWU, while the Mail Handlers and two carrier unions remained separate.

The contract negotiations required by Public Law 91-375 were an integral part of the compromises reached to achieve the consensus necessary for passage of the Postal Reorganization Act. This meant that the essential bargaining issues had been decided prior to the first official round of bargaining in 1971. Postal reform included an 8 percent salary increase, and the 1971 negotiations that began immediately following passage of 91-375 included an additional 6 percent increase in wages. In addition, congressional action called for a reduction in the waiting time for step increases.

The bargaining committee representing the unions was known as the “Council of American Postal Employees” (CAPE).

In 1975, the Rural Letter Carriers Association elected to negotiate separately from the other three unions, who called their joint bargaining effort the “Postal Coordinated Bargaining Committee,” which later became the “Postal Labor Negotiating Committee.”

The Mail Handlers bargained separately for the first time in 1981, and in 1987 the National Association of Letter Carriers began separate bargaining.

Each union had its own reasons for bargaining separately and explanations for the decisions are best left to them. From APWU’s perspective, the first group to break away, the Rural Letter Carriers, did so because they viewed their activities as substantially different from the other unions and, indeed, they had a historically different relationship with the Post Office.

The Mail Handlers effectuated merger with the Laborers International Union in 1971, and the bargaining decisions were determined by factions outside the Postal Service. In addition, disputes over craft jurisdiction had become a point of friction between clerks and mail handlers, so they thought it in their interest to bargain separately. In 1987 when the Letter Carriers elected to separate, it was a strategic decision on their part to pursue as a priority higher-level pay for letter carriers.

Each union that decided to bargain on its own justified its decisions based upon the interest of its members. Each continues to bargain as a single entity for much the same reasons.

While the APWU continues to believe that we are a stronger force when we are combined; our view is not controlling on the other unions.

In summary, you asked for the reasons behind the “break away,” and my response is that from the perspective of APWU there were no specific reasons except that the unions thought it in their interests to bargain separately.

The APWU constitution embodies the principle of one postal union, which incorporates joint bargaining, so our union continues to favor joint bargaining. Each of the other postal unions justifies its decisions based upon a perspective of the best interest of its own members.

March 13, 2006

[more questions]

[back to top]