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02/03/2004 Entry: "Senate Hearing on Postal Reform Postponed - Burrus Update 03-04"

At the request of President Bush, Congress has undertaken the task of drafting legislation for postal “reform.” Committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate have scheduled public hearings, permitting interested parties to express their views on proposed changes. The APWU has been invited to testify before the House Special Panel on Postal Reform and the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The Senate hearing scheduled for Feb. 3, 2004, was postponed, due to the discovery of ricin in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where the hearing was to take place. The hearing will be rescheduled.

The House Special Panel hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2004, in Chicago, and I will be testifying on behalf of APWU. The testimony will be posted on the APWU Web site, and excerpts will appear in the upcoming issue of the American Postal Worker magazine.

The APWU position is clear:

* Any effort at postal reform must safeguard universal service to the American public at uniform rates;
* The right of postal employees to engage in meaningful collective bargaining must be preserved;
* Employee health and retirement benefits must be maintained at current levels;
* We oppose the wholesale closing of small post offices and mail processing facilities with little or no citizen input; and,
* Postal reform must end the practice of granting excessive worksharing discounts to mailers.

We await the opportunity to review a draft of proposed legislation to determine if APWU will support or oppose the congressional effort. We will oppose any bill that is detrimental to the interests of APWU members.

Ironically, some in the mailing community have avoided addressing crucial issues that could relieve the Postal Service of a great financial burden. The Postal Service has been forced to assume financial responsibility for military retirement costs, at a cost of approximately $27 billion; it has been required to “escrow” approximately $10 billion in savings from CSRS legislation that was passed in 2003; and the Office of Personnel Management is proposing that the Postal Service be required to assume approximately $86 billion in federal service retirement costs.

These unfair and unjustified costs – totaling $123 billion – will be paid either by postal customers or through the reduction of employee wages and benefits. A financial liability of this magnitude cannot be ignored, despite the desire of some in the postal community to defer resolution of these issues. The APWU believes that any serious effort at reform must begin with these issues.

William Burrus,
President