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APWU Refutes Myths About the US Postal Service
Fact & Fiction:
The US Postal Service
(11/13/09) The APWU refutes some common misconceptions about the Postal Service
in a flyer titled Fact & Fiction. The most recent myths dispelled include
the idea that rates drive volume and that the USPS is a model of equal employment
opportunity. [read
more]
Fact & Fiction:
The US Postal Service
(09/22/09) In a flyer titled Fact v. Fiction, the APWU
refutes some common misconceptions about the Postal Service and the
cause of its current financial crisis. The latest myths dispelled
include the suggestions that arbitrators are to blame for Postal
Service problems; that workshare discounts comply with legal standards;
that the Internet and e-mail are the primary cause of the erosion
of first-class mail, and that postal management is restricted by
labor agreements from adjusting the workforce. [read
more]
Postal ‘Reform’ Advocates
Attempt to Misdirect
Public’s Attention
(09/14/09) Postal “reform” advocates who claim
that labor agreements are a major contributor to the Postal Service’s
expected deficit of $7 billion in Fiscal Year 2009 are attempting to
divert attention from the colossal blunder, APWU President William
Burrus asserts in an Update for union members. [read
more]
Union Rebuts Myths
About the Postal Service
(08/31/09) News articles often imply that USPS financial problems
are irreversible, and that “hard-copy mail is destined to be replaced
by electronic messages.” In a flyer titled Fact & Fiction [PDF], the APWU refutes these and
other myths about the finances and future of the Postal Service. For
example: “In
2006, well after Americans began using the Internet and e-mail on
a mass scale, mail volume reached the historic level of 213 billion
pieces.”
Union Refutes
Wall Street Journal Editorial
(09/02/09) It came as no surprise that a Wall Street Journal editorial
outlining the Postal Service’s financial difficulties concluded
that the USPS should be privatized, but since the column was riddled
with inaccuracies, APWU President William Burrus fired back.
[read
more]
The Big Lie:
Postal Arbitrators and
the Cause of the USPS Crisis
(08/28/09) A review of 39 years of collective bargaining refutes a
myth that has been circulating in the “postal community,” APWU
President William Burrus wrote in an Update for union members: The
tale suggests that the collective bargaining process is in need of major
repair because arbitrators require the Postal Service to pay unreasonable
wages.
[read more]
President's Viewpoint
Can We Help the Postal Service?
(08/24/09) The Postal Service’s financial difficulties are a
frequent topic of discussion among union members, and recently I have
received several suggestions about ways employees can help the USPS remain
solvent. Most of the ideas involve efforts to increase mail volume by
promoting letter-writing campaigns or other activities. A submission by
Todd Manganello (of the Baton Rouge Local) to Ask the President on
the union’s Web site suggested a stamp-buying lottery aimed at increasing
use of the Postal Service by individuals. [read
more]
Story in Mailers’ Publication Pointedly
Misses the Point About Postal Salaries
(08/21/09) In yet another attempt to promote the myth that postal
employees are not deserving of their collectively-bargained salaries,
APWU President William Burrus writes in an Update for union members,
a business-mailers’ organization has published a fact-error-riddled
story comparing salaries of USPS Electronic Technicians with ETs in the
Federal Aviation Administration. [read more]
APWU Responds to New York Times Column
(08/13/09) When a business columnist for the venerable New York
Times wrote an article outlining the Postal Service’s financial
difficulties and concluded that the USPS should be privatized, APWU President
William Burrus fired back. In a letter to the editor, the union president
disputed the suggestion that the cause of the Postal Service’s current
financial crisis is the diversion of mail to the Internet and e-mail.
He pointed out that the crisis is the fault of the 2006 postal “reform” law,
which requires the USPS to pre-fund retiree healthcare costs. [read more]
