THE BULLETIN BOARD
October 2004
[October 18th]Bush Nominates Postal Worker Foe to Board of Governors
from APWU News Bulletin #20-2004
Signaling his attitude toward postal workers, President Bush announced his intention last week to nominate Carolyn L. Gallagher and Louis J. Giuliano to the USPS Board of Governors. Postal workers may remember Gallagher as the chairwoman of the Workforce Subcommittee of the President's Commission on U.S. Postal Service, which recommended that Congress:
- Create a Postal Regulatory Board that would determine the "comparability" of postal pay to private-sector pay and eliminate any "postal premium;"
- Require postal unions to bargain for federal pension and healthcare benefits, which currently are guaranteed by law;
- Consider severing postal workers from federal pension and healthcare programs;
- Change the ground rules for contract negotiations, reducing the time period for negotiations and mediation and employing a "final offer" mechanism; and
- Limit the rights of injured postal workers
President Bush is expected to make the appointments while Congress is in recess, bypassing the Senate confirmation process that is normally required of Board of Governor nominees. The White House announcement of the appointments, issued Oct. 8, made no mention of Gallagher's role on the President's Commission.
APWU President William Burrus said Gallagher's appointment was bad news for postal workers. "If postal reform is considered by Congress again in 2005 as we expect, Ms. Gallagher's presence on the Board could be an important factor when new legislation is drafted," he said.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -We say "Thanks George!"
[October 6th]Your Voting Rights as an American Citizen
Did you know...?
In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which includes the right to cast a "provisional ballot" if your eligibility to vote is challenged. Even those who have voted before could experience problems casting their ballots.
Did you know...?
The five top risks for eligible voters include registration problems, erroneous purging of names, problems with the new identification requirement, difficulties with voting systems and a failure to count provisional ballots.
Did you know...?
To ensure every vote is counted in the 2004 election, the AFL-CIO, affiliated unions and their allies launched the My Vote, My Right campaign to educate voters about their rights. You can access individual state voter bills of rights to educate other voters about their voting rights and learn about the risks eligible voters face this year when casting their ballots.
Please get out the message that Working Families Vote!
Did you know...?
Big business outspends working families in financial contributions to political campaigns on a 12-1 basis— but guess what?
You can't be outspent on your vote.
Visit the Working Families Vote! website to learn more about your rights as an American voter, to participate in the choices our country makes, and ultimately, to help shape what our country will become for our futures, our livelihoods, and for the futures of our children. Do it today!
[October 6th]USPS Year-to-Date Net Income Over Budget, Mail Volume Up
With one month left to report for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the U.S. Postal Service yesterday announced net income of $2.8 billion, or $656.6 million over budget, for Oct. 1, 2003, to Aug. 31, 2004. USPS fiscal and operating statements showed that revenue totaled $63.1 billion, 0.2 percent less than planned. Expenses of $60.3 billion were 1.3 percent under the planned budget, but up 2.1 percent versus the year-ago period.
Total year-to-date mail volume of 188.3 billion pieces increased 1.7 percent from a year ago. Standard and International mail grew 5.6 percent and 4.0 percent, respectively. But most classes saw declines. Express Mail fell 3.2 percent; Periodicals, 3.1 percent; Priority Mail, 1.8 percent; First-Class, 1.4 percent; and Package Services, 0.8 percent.
[October 5th]Union Election Results Update
Ballots for the APWU election of national officers are being counted by Merkle Direct Marketing, an independent balloting association in Laurel MD. Unofficial results are being posted and will be updated frequently.
Official results will be posted as soon as they are certified by the Election Committee, and will be published in the November/December edition of The American Postal Worker.
Past Issues of the Bulletin Board
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