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Ask President Burrus

Question:

Isn’t it true, according to www.USPS.com, that:

• Total mail volumes have increased over the last few years;
  
  
• First-class volume was up .1 percent last year;
  
  
• The USPS paid off all of its debt; and,
  
  
• Over the last three years the Postal Service made approximately $10 billion in revenue from operations?

Isn’t the USPS saying publicly that volumes are down?
Isn’t management projecting a net loss for 2006?

• How can this be?
  
  
• Is this just a pre-contract negotiations propaganda blitz that is part of an effort to get give-backs or limit raises?
  
  
• Isn’t it true that the only thing that stands in the way of postal employees earning $10 an hour is the APWU?

Bob, Stamford CT Area Local

President Burrus:

Thank you for writing.

As you note, mail volume for fiscal year 2005 was strong, with most classes of mail reflecting increases. (Totals for 2002-2004 were below 2001 levels, however, and volume for the first quarter of this year showed a decline.) These USPS charts provide the numbers. [Financial Statement – PDF] [Mail Volume Statement – PDF].

I do not believe that differences over statistics will be the primary issue in negotiations.

I am more concerned about a dangerous trend in USPS policy: Placing the needs and interests of major mailers ahead of the needs of individual customers and small businesses. In recent years, the Postal Service has made transmitting advertising on behalf of the major mailers its main priority. Excessive postage discounts have rewarded “worksharing,” and led to a decline in single-piece letter mail. And with the Evolutionary Network Development process, the USPS is now proposing to shift resources to better serve the needs of big mailers at the expense of the public.

Ninety-six percent of mail volume is business-related, so it is expected that a relationship would evolve between the major mailers and postal officials. But the danger is that the Postal Service no longer views its primary mission as service to the public. The large mailers do not utilize postal retail services; they deposit their mail downstream to avoid outgoing mail processing and to avoid postal transportation costs.

Changes in communications technology, including the Internet, e-mail, faxes, and cell phones, require that postage rates be competitive. The options available to the business community to transmit their messages are not limited to the mail, and they are constantly exploring ways to reduce their costs. In fear that business will seek alternatives, postal management has become their partner, at the expense of the American public.

Regarding your last comment on the subject of the union’s value, the best demonstration is to compare career employees to casual employees. Casuals work for the same employer, and they perform the same duties, under the same conditions. Casuals earn approximately $11 per hour and earn no benefits, while career APWU-represented employees earn substantially more, plus benefits — annual leave, sick leave, paid holidays, retirement benefits, health insurance, and more. The difference in wages and benefits is the union difference.

March 27, 2006

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