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The People Have Spoken
Burrus Update #16-2004, Nov. 4, 2004
The voters have spoken, and the election of 2004 is now over. President Bush has won re-election, based on narrow victories in the battleground states of Ohio and Florida.
For our part, we must continue to do our best to protect the interests of postal workers. It is worth noting that on Nov. 3 lobbyists for advertising mailers renewed their calls for postal “reform,” urging lawmakers to significantly overhaul the bills currently before the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Buoyed by the victory of the Bush administration, the major mailers hope to modify our collective bargaining process to their benefit.
The labor movement and other groups have begun the process of analyzing the election, and we will do so as well in the days and weeks ahead.
For now, despite my disappointment in the outcome of the election, I must congratulate union members. Union households voted in record numbers, accounting for 1 out of 4 voters and casting 27 million ballots. They voted for Sen. Kerry by 65 percent compared to 33 percent for President Bush.
The democratic process worked, and I am pleased that the decision was made by voters and not the courts.
William Burrus
President
