THE BULLETIN BOARD
October 2010
[October 29th]Winners of the "Get Out the Vote" Raffle for APWU National Elections
- Linda Banas, Clerk, Blawnox
- Ed Blum, Clerk, P & DC
- Melvin Flanigan, Maint. P & DC
- Diane Cimbala, Clerk, P & DC
- John McGuire, Clerk, NDC
- Michael Sweeney, Maint. P & DC
- Gene Williams, MVS, P & DC
- Tim Rhoades, Maint. P & DC
- Ruth Kierig, Clerk, NDC
- Iris Palmer, Clerk, P & DC
The winners will each receive $100.00 simply for voting. Thank you to everyone who exercised his or her right to vote.
[October 25th]Growing Impatient With Pace of Contract Talks
excerpted from Burrus Update #18-2010
More than half-way through the 90-day period established for contract negotiations, the APWU is becoming impatient with the pace of bargaining.
The union negotiating team is well aware that the Postal Service is experiencing serious financial difficulties. For that reason, we anticipated that bargaining would be difficult as we attempt to build on the advances negotiated in past years.
Yet as the Nov. 20 contract expiration approaches, I am increasingly disgusted by management's refusal to get to the heart of the matter: Bargaining began on Sept. 1, and representatives for both sides have been meeting each week to explore issues of agreement. The APWU negotiating team is led by the President and Director of Industrial Relations, and includes the Executive Vice President and the Craft Directors.
As expected, USPS proposals have included efforts to maximize supervisory control of the workplace and reduce costs by removing previously negotiated contractual protections.
However, to date, management has not presented its proposals on the central contractual issues of wages, benefits, protection against layoffs, seniority, and workforce structure. When these proposals are presented, we expect them to be consistent with the propaganda we have heard so frequently in recent months: the falsehood that postal workers' wages and benefits are responsible for the dire financial straits of the Postal Service.
To date, the negotiating meetings have consisted of formal presentations by the union and management, followed by questions regarding the justification for the requested changes. The APWU negotiating team has vigorously challenged management's justifications for its negative proposals and has defended the union's proposals by demonstrating how they would benefit the Postal Service and the employees we represent.
Continue reading the entire article at the APWU.org's Burrus Updates page.
[October 9th]OIG Says USPS Could Recover $142.4 Billion
excerpted from Burrus Update #17-2010
In the summary issued on Sept. 30, the OIG concluded that the USPS is entitled to refunds for past overpayments, as well as relief from future liabilities in the astounding amount of $142.4 billion.
The OIG has reported that these charges have been improperly imposed on the Postal Service. Two well-known auditing firms, the Hay Group and the Segal Company, independently concluded that the Postal Service has overfunded the CSRS pension fund in the amount of $75 billion and $50-$55 billion, respectively.
The report by the Office of Inspector General concludes that the serious financial condition of the Postal Service has been caused by the erroneous interpretation of funding requirements that were imposed on the Postal Service during the period of a severe recession and conversion to electronic communications.
The media dutifully repeats the claim that the Postal Service is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, but neglects to point out that these questionable obligations have nothing to do with USPS operating "expenses," which include employee wages and benefits. The liabilities are a colossal sham, seized upon by postal management and by anti-worker congressmen who wish to erode the gains made by postal employees over 40 years of collective bargaining.
Read the entire article at the APWU.org's Burrus Updates page for details from the OIG report.
[October 2nd]Rough Week for USPS Highlights Importance of Bill to Fix Finances
excerpted from APWU Web News Article 101-2010
The Postal Service suffered two punishing blows this week: The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) rejected a request for a rate increase, and Congress refused to give the USPS relief from the requirement to pay $5.5 billion by Sept. 30 to pre-fund future retiree healthcare obligations.
The Postal Service requested the rate increase under the "exigency" provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), which restricts the Postal Service’s authority to increase postage based on its needs. The mandate to pre-fund retiree healthcare obligations is also a provision of the PAEA.
The Postal Service now finds itself with dangerously low cash reserves, and estimates a $7 billion loss for Fiscal Year 2010, which ended Sept. 30. Most of the agency's deficit is caused by the pre-funding requirement, which no other federal agency or private company is required to make. The pre-funding mandate is a provision of the PAEA, which requires such payments annually for 10 years.
This difficult situation makes it urgent that APWU members encourage legislators to support H.R. 5746, a bill that would restore financial stability to the Postal Service, Burrus said. Two recent studies concluded that— as the result of an improper funding formula— the agency overpaid the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) billions of dollars. A study by the USPS Office of Inspector General, conducted in January 2010, found that the USPS overpaid $75 billion; a study commissioned by the Postal Regulatory Commission concluded in July that the USPS overpaid $50 billion to $55 billion.
Read the entire article at APWU.org and find a direct link to send a message to your Congressional Representative about H.R. 5746.
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