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No. 04-04 February
27, 2004 |
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Young
Tells Congress
Postal Reform Should Expand USPS Service
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USPS Drafts Plan
for Catastrophic Biological Attack |
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NALC President William H. Young makes a point during
testimony February 24 before Senate Governmental
Affairs Committee hearing on postal reform.
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In his second appearance before a congressional panel in three
weeks, NALC President William H. Young on February 24 urged
the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee to adopt postal
reform legislation that will maximize the value of universal
service by adding services to replace those migrating to electronic
alternatives.
"Greater commercial freedom
– which involves flexibility over prices and the
ability to strike partnerships to optimize the value of
the network – would allow the USPS to maximize revenues
and control costs while retaining the value of universal
service," he said.
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Senator Susan Collins
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Senator
Tom Carper |
As he did in testimony February 5 before
a House Government Reform panel in Chicago, Young told the
committee the NALC opposes several suggestions by the President's
Commission on the U.S. Postal Service involving collective
bargaining, including ending the current system of binding
arbitration in the event of an impasse in negotiations,
and the creation of a new regulatory authority with power
over the terms of a bargaining agreement.
"Congressional or White
House intervention in the process would be highly destructive,"
Young said. "This would inevitably happen if a politically
appointed regulatory body were injected into the negotiations
process."
Young told Committee Chair Susan
Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE), who have been leading
the Senate battle for postal reform, that now is the time
for "a real chance for progress on postal reform."
"NALC supports the general
principles for reform recently outlined by President Bush
and looks forward to working with leaders of both Houses
of Congress to achieve bipartisan postal reform in 2004,"
Young said.
Young cited the improved labor-management
climate at the Postal Service, saying it occurred because
the parties worked very hard to find common ground and to
seek ways to resolve mutual problems.
"Postmaster General Jack
Potter and his team deserve credit for working with us
to achieve this transformation," he added.
Touching on another suggestion by the
presidential panel, Young suggested leaving the current
method of dealing with pension and health benefits intact,
emphasizing that the cost of such benefits figure very prominently
in postal labor negotiations.
"Although the parties do
not directly negotiate over all aspects of postal benefit
costs, these costs are not ignored and they invariably
affect the results of wage negotiations," he said.
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Ceremony
May 3 ! |
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NALC,
Young Named Recipient
Of Chapin Anti-Hunger Award
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NALC President William H. Young and the
National Association of Letter Carriers, along with Postmaster
General John E. Potter, have been named recipients of one
of the most prestigious honors in the world anti-hunger
movement, the annual World Hunger Year-Harry Chapin Award,
for conducting the annual NALC National Food Drive.
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Deadline
Nears For
Ordering Postcards
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The deadline for ordering Campbell
Soup-Postal Service postcards to promote the NALC
Food Drive is March 2. Branch coordinators should
quickly get the completed forms back to NALC headquarters
to ensure timely delivery of the bulk shipments
to branches.
To date, 1,220 branches
have registered to participate in the May 8 drive.
Branch presidents should check the food drive page
of the NALC website to make sure their branch is
registered. Log on to: www.nalc.org/commun/foodrive.
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The award is given annually by World Hunger
Year (WHY) for exemplary work and dedication on issues of
hunger and poverty on a local, national and worldwide level.
The organization was co-founded in 1975 by the late singer-songwriter
Harry Chapin and radio talk host Bill Ayres to attack the
root causes of hunger and poverty.
President Young has been invited to accept
the honor at the awards dinner May 3 in New York City.
Joining Young and Potter as 2004 Honorees
are famed singer Emmylou Harris, who has often performed
at Second Harvest Food Bank benefits in Nashville; legendary
WCBS-FM (New York) broadcaster Bruce "Cousin Brucie"
Morrow, who has worked with WHY as "Hungerthon"
chairman annually; and Carla Sangar, president of the LA's
Best After School Enrichment Program, which provides a safe
and enriching environment for 19,000 children in at-risk
neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) is serving
as honorary chair of the awards dinner.
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Annual
Publication of COLCPE Donors
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The NALC is instituting a new, special edition of the Postal
Record to thank members of the union who donate to the Committee
on Letter Carriers Political Education (COLCPE). The first
edition, which will include all donations during 2004, will
appear early next year.
As a result, monthly lists of COLCPE donations
in the Postal Record will cease, beginning with the March
2004 issue.
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Tentative
Agreement in Grocery Strike
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United Food and Commercial Workers President
Doug Dority on February 27 announced that a tentative agreement
had been reached in the five-month strike/lockout with three
major grocery chains and subsidiary stores in California.
The NALC had strongly supported
the UFCW in its effort to protect health care and retirement
benefits for some 70,000 workers affected by the strike/lockout
involving Safeway, Kroger and Albertsons grocery chains.
Voting by the UFCW membership on
the contract was to begin immediately.
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© 2001-2005 National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL-CIO |
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