Postal Labor Talks Break Down

The Postal Service failed to reach agreements with its major unions on new labor contracts last week. The National Association of Letter Carriers announced that negotiations had "failed." The sticking point in NALC's case was the union's insistence that the Postal Service not attempt to contract out any work performed by letter carriers in the nation's cities. In a message to NALC members, union president William H. Young wrote, "How postal management expects us to make fundamental changes and to work cooperatively with them to build a positive future for the Postal Service, while at the same time telling us they want to get rid of our jobs, is beyond me." The next stop is likely to be binding arbitration.