Sen. Coburn Tries to Pull a Fast One
June 24, 2010
Conservative Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) tried to pull a fast one at a joint hearing sponsored by Senate and House postal subcommittees on Wednesday. The hearing, titled "Having Their Say: Customer and Employee Views on the Future of the U.S. Postal Service," featured two panels, one composed of businesses that utilize the USPS extensively, the other composed of leaders of postal unions and management associations.
Coburn, who authored the anti-labor amendment to a Senate bill (S. 1507) to require arbitrators to consider the financial health of the Postal Service when ruling on collective bargaining agreements, remarked that arbitrators are currently prohibited from considering USPS’ economic circumstances.
Of course, that is patently false. Arbitrators are free to consider the financial state of the USPS when issuing their decisions, and have routinely done so throughout the 30-year history of postal collective bargaining. The unions oppose the amendment because inserting it into the law would elevate consideration of USPS finances above all other factors.
Coburn asked the panel of businessmen, “How many of you all would negotiate a labor contract not considering the financial state of your business? Anybody?”
“And yet we do that every year with the Postal Service, when we negotiate contracts we are forbidden to consider the financial condition of the Postal Service. How many of you all think that’s a wise idea? How many of you think it’s unwise?”
Naturally, the businessmen agreed with the senator. But the fact is, none of them would like to negotiate labor contracts under any circumstances: They all run non-union companies and set working conditions as they please. They don’t bargain at all.
Fortunately, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) set the record straight. When it was her turn to question witnesses, she asked members of the panel of union leaders whether Coburn’s statement that arbitrators are forbidden to consider postal finances was accurate. “Patently false,” was the answer.
Coburn wasn’t there to hear the response, however. He departed the hearing before the union leaders began their testimony.
Click here to watch a video of the hearing. (Coburn's remarks on bargaining begin at approximately 107:24 and end at approximately 108:24. Del. Norton's comments on the topic run from 186:19 to 189:53.)
Burrus Testimony: USPS Must Expand, Not Cut, Service
(06/23/10) Predicting that mail volume will grow in 2012, APWU President William Burrus told lawmakers June 23 that slashing service will not solve the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties. The APWU “believes the USPS can and must expand the services it offers,” he said. “No service-oriented business can grow by reducing service,” Burrus said at a joint House-Senate hearing.