NALC: USPS Makes Regressive Proposals; Stalls Serious Contract Negotiations
From the November 1 NALC News Bulletin:
Young Issues Warning to Postal Bargainers
At main table negotiations held October 31 at NALC Headquarters, Postal Service representatives stated they were not prepared to make their economic proposal; did not know when they would be able to make their economic proposal; were not prepared to discuss the substance of their non-economic proposals; refused to withdraw any of their non-economic proposals, including those they acknowledged dealt with other crafts and not letter carriers. Finally, the Service refused to set a date for resumption of negotiations until November 9.
This astonishing performance came on top of their presentation of a series of regressive proposals they made at main table negotiations held on October 26 at NALC Headquarters. There, USPS proposed the elimination of time and one-half pay for work on Christmas Day, and other retrograde holiday premium and scheduling provisions; an increase in the number and usage of low cost non-career employees; elimination of key protective provisions of Article 34 (time and/or work standards); mandatory use of travel credit cards, with individual employee responsibility for payment, for travel on official USPS business.
‘Deep Disappointment’
NALC President William H. Young expressed deep disappointment with the Postal Service’s response to the serious and challenging full set of economic proposals put forth by NALC on October 24. He pointed to the calendar: “21 days to go, what can they be thinking?” On October 24, Young prefaced NALC’s far-reaching proposals by stating that a “dramatic shift in paradigm, to a cooperative relationship” was necessary to the survival of the Service.
USPS Ignores Effort
After the Postal Service’s October 26 and 28 presentations, Young commented:
“Frankly, it is astounding that the Postal Service has simply ignored the extraordinary effort we have made to change the name of the game in contract negotiations — to address honestly and forthrightly the unique challenges, and opportunities, of the current environment.
“Whether the Service is tone deaf, or driven by some ideological agenda, it is
unacceptable — and I measure my words carefully — for the Postal Service to
proceed in these negotiations as though it is business as usual — same old, same old.”
Coming out of the October 31 session, Young issued a warning: “If today’s Postal Service effort is any clue to what they are thinking about in basic economics, and they come to us with a stale and discredited formula of wage freeze, or lump sums or worse; increased letter carrier cost of health insurance; elimination or capping of COLA; elimination of No Lay Off protection — it will be a monumental confession of management failure — and an abdication of responsibility to their employees, to their customers, and to the American public.”
Young added: “Notwithstanding any provocation, NALC will be professional in its response. NALC will be responsible. But mark this well — NALC will not be silent, and letter carriers will not be happy.”
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“Finally, the Service refused to set a date for resumption of negotiations until November 9.” This is a clue. They obviously want to wait and see if the fascists maintain their grip on power.
As a letter carrier I want my fair share, but we should all keep in mind the status of the U.S. auto industry. The horrible shape the auto industry is in is due mainly to union greed. The days of sitting around on our American butts and getting 20 bucks an hour is long gone. We will never be competitive as Americans if we aren’t realistic. Profit margins are slim on any ledger. As a proud american, I am willing to put in an honest days work. We need to push forth, with consideration to fairness on both sides.
Letter Carriers are the foundation of the Postal Service, and yes let us not forget the AUTO INDUSTRY - it was NOT UNION GREED… The union, and I repeat the UNION is there for the members - What do you think the proposals will be for the letter carriers if we did not have a union…
look at the daily B>S> we as letter carriers face when there is no HUMAN FACTOR taken and the mgmt people are driven by a computer that spits out garbage… Rtes are currently overburdened, the job is becoming harder than previous, etc. I guess mgmt fails to realize that without the letter carriers upholding the dignity of our SERVICE to the American Public they themselves would be without a job… Thank You NALC for being there for the Letter Carriers…
Interesting as we look at what the auto union members make. It seems a little strange that a assembly line worker can make 6 figures while the teachers we hire to teach our kids struggle to make 50K. Carriers make close to 50K plus benefits. Yes the mail is important but how much more important is the legacy we leave behind. Really Greg was wrong. He blames the Union. The union is really just representing the union members. We as union members need to make sure thast our priorities are right. Yes we should make a living wage for our work but more that a teahcer. Give me a BREAK
I am sick and tired hearing about teacher salaries. How many jobs do you know where, at least here in New York, you can work approximately 6 months a year for upwards of $100,000? While I commend and respect the teachers craft and union, stop comparing them to other full time workers.
Lets face it, the letter carriers are the only craft that seems to be working these days. Any office you visit you will see clerks and mail handlers along with managers sitting around doing nothing. Ten years ago carriers used to start at 6:00 AM and hit the streets by 9:30 AM. This was when clerks handeled all the mail. Now they handle only approximately 75% of the letter size and we can’t hit the streets until 10:30 or later. Ten years ago carriers had to deal with very few “multiple bundle days”. Here in New York we get multiple bundles every day! Sometimes 3 or 4 on the same day.The carriers are the backbone of the service and should be compensated as such. Let’s not forget that the NALC has attempted to work with the service on a number of initiatives over the years while the other crafts took a pass. The NALC has raised in excess of 225 Million Dollars through Customer Connect. It is time we recieve a larger part of the pie!
comment danny, How dare you compare a letter carrier to a teacher. All holidays off, summers off, are not threaten with being fired if you do not risk life and limb on heavy snow and ice days to be at work, and then if you get in a wreck , it will be your fault and you are in trouble for that. I have two friends that are teachers and in there own words ( we made an extra 30,000 painting houses the last three summers, this comming summer looks even better.) wake up letter carriers are WAY under paid.
Ladies/Gentlemen: It is disconcerting the lack of news of our contract..as we used to say in the Corps..the pride of the service is its carriers without them..there is nothing..privatizing the routes..will just relegate our mail delivery to anyone…letter carriers are like coffee..USPS management is thinking how big their pie is going to be when we go private…Postmastes will own their own cities..VP”s will own their own territories…and we privates will work for less money unless we stick together… I say to the American Public lets fire those incompetent people who desire to fatten their own pockets and not have a first class delivery system that we can be proud of.