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Changes and Challenges
Burrus Update 08-2009, July 14, 2009
In response to the staggering decline in mail volume, the Postal Service has implemented significant changes to the postal network, with more to come. Many of the changes have had an adverse impact on employees — including widespread excessing, the loss of the equivalent of 100,000 jobs in the last four years through attrition, and a significant reduction in the number of hours worked by part-time flexibles. And, as the USPS continues to face financial difficulties, management plans to make additional cuts to the postal network and to service.
Although significant change is unavoidable if the Postal Service is to meet its economic challenges, the union expects management to comply fully with all negotiated agreements. Absent contractual protections, the USPS response to the current crisis would be to slash the workforce and eliminate the eight-hour guarantee for full-time workers. Our contract prohibits such a response, but excessing and reassignment continue.
In addition to employee reassignments, postal management recently has launched new Area Mail Processing (AMP) feasibility studies; announced plans to close stations and branches; and requested authorization to reduce delivery from six days per week to five.
APWU locals, in concert with the national Communications Department, have initiated public outreach efforts and have enlisted support from congressional and local officials to oppose many facility consolidations. They have had success in retaining processing operations in numerous locations, and in each case where processing operations have been preserved, local union activity has been crucial.
Different Challenges
The USPS efforts to close stations and branches pose a different set of challenges to the union. It is our intent to preserve the postal presence in communities throughout the country, and we will utilize all available means to accomplish that goal. Included in our efforts will be the enforcement of the contractual Memorandum of Understanding on Retail Operations [PDF], which says, “All existing retail operations will remain within the installation of which they are a part.”
I have reminded postal management of the restrictions of this agreement, and await their response. If management asserts that this commitment does not limit the Postal Service’s right to close existing stations and branches, or if management suggests it does not prevent them from replacing stations and branches with Contract Postal Units (CPUs), the national union will take appropriate action.
In the meantime, I encourage locals to unite with affected residents and elected officials to oppose changes that would reduce service to the public.
Six Days to Five
Management also is pursuing another scheme that would be disastrous in the long term for the USPS: Postal executives intend to seek authorization to reduce the number of delivery days from six per week to five.
This would require congressional approval, as the annual appropriations bills in the House and Senate require six-day delivery service at the 1983 level. This provision would have to be repealed before Saturday delivery could be eliminated.
The union will apply all of our legislative influence to prevent a reduction in the number of delivery days. It is requested that, upon call, all APWU members contact their senators and representatives, requesting opposition to any change to the six-day delivery requirement. The reason is simple: The American people deserve mail service that fulfills their personal needs and enhances commerce.
Reducing the number of delivery days is absolutely the wrong approach to the loss of mail volume, which has been caused primarily by the recession. The economy will recover, but if five-day delivery is implemented, it will have created conditions that will lead to the ultimate demise of the Postal Service.
The Postal Service has been granted a monopoly on access to the mailbox, but if the USPS abandons delivery on a sixth day, it is doubtful the American public will permit the monopoly to continue. If five-day delivery were enacted, the Private Express Statute would likely be modified to permit a private company to deliver mail on the non-delivery day. Rest assured, once the sanctity of the mail box is pierced, it will not be restored at a later date.
Customers will demand Saturday deliveries, and if the Postal Service does not deliver, private companies will fill the vacuum. And if the mailbox is not protected on Saturday, why should it be protected Monday through Friday? This act would preface the dismantling of government-provided postal service as we know it.
Real Problems
Let there be no misunderstanding: The changes initiated by postal management are in response to real financial problems. But the modifications must be consistent with negotiated agreements and the law. The current cash-flow problems are not the result of individual poor management decisions, but rather are directly related to the loss of more than 30 billion pieces of mail – a consequence of a weak economy.
The Postal Service’s biweekly payroll exceeds $2 billion. That figure must be added to the costs of facilities, transportation, the postal network, and all the other expenses of postal operations. Mail volume must generate sufficient revenue to satisfy these obligations.
Congressional approval of H.R. 22, which would provide temporary relief from the $5 billion burden of pre-funding the healthcare benefits of retirees from the USPS operating budget, would be a good start. But standing alone, this legislation will not be sufficient to solve the financial difficulties. The challenges in Fiscal Year 2010, which begins on Oct. 1, 2009, are expected to be just as difficult.
In discussions with postal management about the crisis, I have shared my views that the mail-volume loss that we are experiencing is directly related to the economic slump, and that with economic recovery, mail volume will return. However, many of the steps being considered by postal management will render the USPS unable to meet the demand of volume growth.
If mail returns to 2006 levels — and I believe it will — postal facilities will not have enough space to store mail delayed from non-delivery on Saturday, and the employee complement will be insufficient to provide acceptable levels of service. There will be fewer processing plants, fewer employees, and fewer retail facilities to serve a public demanding more service. If the USPS has surrendered the monopoly, there also will be more competition.
The Union’s Role
The union is already engaged in each of the areas where change is being initiated. We continue to oppose AMP consolidations; the APWU Web site, www.apwu.org, has been updated with guidelines for locals on how to organize communities in opposition.
We believe the Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibits the Postal Service from wholesale closings of stations and branches, and we intend to take the necessary steps to enforce these restrictions. The Legislative and Political Department has been instructed to use all of the APWU resources to preserve the law that mandates six-day delivery.
Management is expected to make adjustments commensurate to the declining mail volume, but we insist the USPS comply with the contract when initiating these changes.
Excessing, reassignment and dislocation are causing major disruptions in the lives of thousands of our members. We have achieved eight-hour guarantees for full-time employees and protection against layoffs for the overwhelming majority of members, but the fight must continue to mitigate the impact of the mail-volume losses.
We have initiated grievances contesting management’s right to reassign employees to vacancies that exceed their qualifications and then issue discipline for “failure to qualify.” We have also prepared comprehensive instructions on excessing procedures and management’s obligations when reassigning employees.
The economy inherited by the Obama administration had deteriorated to levels not experienced in over 70 years, and stimulus efforts cannot be expected to produce an immediate recovery. The costs of the recession to this and future generations will be enormous.
Mail-volume growth will follow recovery, so until businesses have reasonable expectations that advertising will generates sales, the USPS will face significant challenges.
APWU intends to fight to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service is not irrevocably damaged by misguided decisions.
William Burrus
President
