Clint Burelson – Postal Reform

Undermining the Union in the Legislative Arena – More Concessions from APWU President Guffey

August 6, 2013

The Senate and the House are both considering bills that if passed would radically accelerate the dismantling of the Postal Service. APWU President Cliff Guffey recently made concessionary remarks that indicated APWU compliance for Congress to take more away from postal workers and further reduce service to the American public. Therefore, as a union, we will have to work even harder to overcome President Guffey’s damaging remarks in order to defeat these bills. (Note: As this article was about to be published, the four major postal unions wrote a joint letter to Senator Harry Reid objecting to the Senate bill where Democrats have a majority. President Guffey signed the joint letter, which helps to make up for his previous concessions to Congress.)

At the recent hearing, on July 17, 2013, held by the full committee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, President Guffey testified that he thought postage discounts to the large mailers were appropriate and in response to questioning from Republican Darrell Issa (CA), the Chairman of the Committee, President Guffey expressed agreement with the large mailers, the Postmaster General, and Issa, that the least desirable option of all the proposed postal reforms is to raise postage rates. A review of past hearing comments by President Guffey show similar concessions.

President Guffey Thinks Discounts to Large Mailers are Appropriate
During his opening testimony at the July 17th hearing, President Guffey was making the important point that the Postal Service is an effective and relatively inexpensive service compared to other countries. Guffey then stated,
As a matter of fact, I think we looked at England. England is .6 of a pound, so it is a dollar a letter and there are no discounts.
I think […]

Excerpts from House Hearing on July 17, 2013 – “A Path Forward on Postal Reform”

On July 17, The House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Republican Congressman Darrell Issa (CA) held a hearing regarding the Postal Service entitled, “A Path Forward on Postal Reform.” Testifying before Congress were APWU President Cliff Guffey, Postmaster General Pat Donahoe and Quad Graphics CEO Joel Quadracci (testifying on behalf of the mailing industry).

Their written testimony, which is longer and includes items not in their verbal testimony can be viewed here. In their testimony, each of the parties provided the elements of Postal Reform that they supported. The elements cited in each of the written testimonies are as follows:

Donahoe Elements of Postal Reform in Written Testimony
1. Require USPS Health Care Plan
2. Refund FERS Overpayment and Adjust Future FERS Payment Amount
3. Adjust Delivery Frequency (Six-Day Packages/Five-Day Mail)
4. Streamline Governance Model
5. Provide Authority to Expand Products and Services
6. Require Defined Contribution Retirement System for Future Postal Employees
7. Require Arbitrators to Consider Financial Condition of Postal Service
8. Reform Workers’ Compensation
9. Right to Appeal EEOC Class Action Decisions to Federal Court

Quadracci /Large Mailer Elements of Postal Reform in Written Testimony
1. Rightsizing, consolidation, streamlining of facilities
2. Affordable amortization schedule for pre-funding health care
3. Allow USPS access to FERS/CSRS overpayments to do as they wish
4. Allow USPS outside of FEHB to seek cheaper plans
5. No price increases above CPI
6. Change to 5 Day Delivery Schedule
7. Require arbitrators to consider mailer’s interests
8. Allow USPS to retire employees of age on OWCP

Guffey Elements of Postal Reform in Written Testimony
1. Repeal pre-funding requirement
2. Allow USPS access to FERS/CSRS overpayments to do as they wish.
3. Over funding should be calculated on the basis of actual Postal Service costs.
4. Repeal CPI cap
5. We oppose proposals to create a new class of business […]