APWU Seeks Support for ‘Mail Network Protection Act’

The APWU has written to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives, asking them to co-sponsor and support the Mail Network Protection Act, which would require the Postal Service to bargain with unions before committing to significant subcontracting. The legislation (H.R. 4236) was introduced by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) on Nov. 15.

Winning co-sponsors for H.R. 4236 [must be a priority for APWU activists, APWU President William Burrus said. “It is imperative that union members contact their representatives and let them know that this legislation is important to the future of the Postal Service and to postal workers.”

In a Dec. 18 letter to members of the House of Representatives, Burrus noted that the Postal Service had begun “to travel resolutely down the road of privatization — without authorization from Congress.” However, in testimony before House and Senate committees in April and July, the union president urged legislators to avoid intervening in specific contracting-out initiatives proposed by the Postal Service.

“Instead, I encouraged Congress to require the Postal Service to bargain with the unions that represent the employees who would be affected by such initiatives, prior to making substantial contracting-out decisions,” Burrus wrote in the letter, which was co-signed by APWU Legislative Director Myke Reid.

“In this way, Congress could ensure that USPS contracting-out decisions would be scrutinized by the workers most directly affected.” 

Securing support for the legislation is crucial to the future of the Postal Service and to postal employees, Burrus told union members. “The requirement to bargain will enhance our ability to oppose wasteful, inefficient and detrimental subcontracting.”

In the letter to members of the House of Representatives he wrote, “Too often, contracting out costs the Postal Service more than if the work were performed by postal employees. Frequently, subcontracting is ineffective, and contractors’ service to the public is poor.”

The bill would affect private contracts involving mail processing, mail handling, or surface transportation of mail, provided that over a 12-month period it involved the equivalent of $5 million or 50 work-years. If signed into law, it would require the USPS to bargain with the affected unions before awarding such contracts.

“Although we have been successful in negotiating a requirement that the Postal Service ‘notify and consult’ with the unions when it contemplates subcontracting, we have been unable to achieve real bargaining over whether or not specific activities will be subcontracted,” Burrus told APWU members.

“We have a long road ahead, with a great deal of hard work before us,” Burrus said. “Every union member must take up this challenge. I encourage all APWU members to contact their representative and request that he or she supports H.R. 4236.”