Postal Reform Act Is No Endorsement of Privatization

The passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act in December 2006 did not change the fundamental mission of the Postal Service, an APWU leader testified on Capitol Hill, and should not be perceived as justification for privatizing the nation’s mail system or eliminating its obligation to provide service to all Americans.

Nonetheless, APWU Legislative Director Myke Reid told a congressional panel on May 8, “As we meet here today, there is an active and ongoing effort to dismantle the Postal Service as we know it, to privatize it, and to turn its work over to for-profit companies.”

Reid cited APWU’s concern “about the direction being taken by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which has undertaken, through private contractors, to study the Postal Service’s universal service obligation.” The PRC has selected as its contractors people who favor privatization, Reid testified, adding that these individuals are already on record as hostile to the postal monopoly and uniform rates.

Fueled by Ideology

Ending universal service is a notion “fueled by ideological arguments that are fundamentally hostile to government-provided services,” Reid told the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia.

The passage of the postal reform act was intended by Congress to preserve and protect the Postal Service for the American people, he said in testimony on behalf of the union. “Whether the act will have its intended effect remains in doubt. Much depends on the dedication and commitment of the public servants, from rank-and-file postal workers to the Postmaster General, who are proud to provide the best postal service in the world to this country.”

“The Postal Service needs your support,” he told lawmakers.

“The issue of the Universal Service Obligation is a public policy issue; it cannot and should not be driven solely by economists of any political stripe or of all political stripes,” Reid testified. “The Postal Service belongs to the American people. It is a fundamental service provided to the American people.”

Real-Life Example

The APWU Legislative Director said that the experience in the United Kingdom provides a useful “real-life counterpoint to the pseudo-economic analysis” being offered by those who want to terminate the postal monopoly.”

“A government-sponsored report on the effects of the dismantling of the postal monopoly in the UK will show that, while large commercial enterprises have benefited, there have been no benefits for individuals or small businesses; and changes must be made to maintain the viability of universal service.”

“These are precisely the effects and precisely the problems the APWU has been warning about in its presentations to the presidential commission, to Congress, and to the PRC,” Reid said.

Amended, Not Repealed

“When Congress enacted the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, federal law had required for more than 100 years that letter mail be delivered anywhere in the country at a uniform rate,” Reid said.

The 18-month-old Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) amended but did not repeal the 1970 law, he noted. After much study, Reid told the committee, Congress left in place the fundamental requirement to provide postal services to rural areas, communities, and small towns, even where post offices are not self-sustaining.

The purpose and mission of the Postal Service has not changed, Reid testified, and this includes the concept of universal service. “This policy must not, and will not, be made subject to economic theories that focus on the financial advantage of businesses rather than on the welfare of the people who depend on postal services.”

Reid reminded House members that “there are segments of our population — the less affluent, the less educated, the economically disadvantaged, many among the elderly, and those in rural or inner city urban areas — for whom universal postal services at uniform rates remain critically important. Public policy, not economics, dictates that these people must be served.”

The APWU testimony was delivered at a subcommittee hearing, The USPS, Post PAEA: What’s Next? Also testifying were Postmaster General John E. Potter and other postal officials, as well as postal union officials and management association representatives.