Burrus Tells Congress: Compel USPS to Bargain Over Subcontracting

If Congress wants to limit USPS subcontracting, lawmakers should enact legislation compelling the Postal Service to bargain over the issue, APWU President William Burrus told a House subcommittee on July 19, rather than intervening in specific contracting-out disputes.

Congress should avoid substituting its judgment for the judgment of the parties who are directly involved, Burrus said during testimony before the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia.

“This hearing is convened at the appropriate time, given the events of the past several months,” Burrus said. “Recently, the United States Postal Service made significant changes to its subcontracting initiatives, including some which were vigorously opposed by the National Association of Letter Carriers, who sought congressional intervention.”

“This resulted in legislative proposals by members of Congress and the subsequent announcement that a tentative agreement had been reached within the collective bargaining arena on the subject in dispute.”

The APWU has steadfastly opposed congressional intervention, Burrus said, and he pointed to the tentative contract between the NALC and USPS as proof that “when given the opportunity and appropriate forum, the collective bargaining process works.”

“The question must be asked, ‘Why did the dispute reach the point where bargaining seemed futile and legislative relief appeared necessary?’” The reason, Burrus said, is that no real bargaining on letter carrier contracting out occurred until Congress became involved.

While that specific dispute has been addressed by a tentative collective bargaining agreement, Burrus said, “the fundamental USPS policy that seeks to subcontract postal activities at every opportunity remains, and must be addressed.”

Under current procedures, Burrus testified, the Postal Service refuses to bargain over subcontracting. “We have been successful in negotiating a requirement that the Postal Service notify and consult with the unions when subcontracting is contemplated, but we have been unable to achieve real bargaining over whether or not specific activities will be subcontracted.

“I am certain that the Congress of the United States does not desire to be called upon each time subcontracting is threatened. To prevent the continuous solicitation of your involvement, a clear provision must be enacted requiring the USPS and its labor unions to bargain when subcontracting is proposed. Congress has previously enacted provisions requiring bargaining, so this would not represent a significant departure from its current policy.”

Also testifying at the hearing were the presidents of the other three major postal unions; Postmaster General John Potter; USPS Board of Governors Vice Chairman Alan Kessler; USPS Inspector General David Williams; and Congressman Albio Sires (D- NJ), author of a resolution (H. Res. 282) expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Postal Service should stop contracting out mail delivery services.

In informal remarks to the subcommittee, NALC President Bill Young endorsed Burrus’ message. “Last time we testified before this committee, it seemed we were in total disagreement,” he said. “Today we are in total agreement.” It was the intervention of Congress that helped the NALC secure a tentative contract, he said. Requiring the Postal Service to engage in collective bargaining on subcontracting “is a good approach,” Young concluded.

At a hearing in April there was debate over whether subcontracting was a matter of public policy or collective bargaining, he noted. “It turns out, everyone was right.”

In other testimony, Rep. Sires decried the policy of subcontracting mail delivery, and said subcontracting raises concerns about national security. Sires also informed the panel that the Postal Service has subcontracted the processing of military mail that is destined for U.S. soldiers overseas. That mail, he told lawmakers, would normally be processed at the New Jersey International and Bulk Mail Center in his northern New Jersey district by career postal workers. “To whom is the work going?” he asked. That mail would be better trusted to career postal employees, many of whom are veterans, Sires said.

Potter and Kessler defended USPS outsourcing initiatives, saying they are being forced to cut labor costs because of the “price cap” provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 that limits postage rate increases to the rate of inflation.