Postal workers' union criticizes reform bill provisions

The American Postal Workers Union, a long-time supporter of postal overhaul legislation, is echoing concerns expressed by the Postal Service's Board of Governors, signaling the broad coalition behind the House and Senate bills might be weakening.

Earlier this month, the board sent a letter to the bills' principal sponsors, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, House Government Reform Committee Chairman Tom Davis, R-Va., and Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., that criticized the measures' creation of a regulator to oversee rate hikes and operations.

The governors said the regulator would undermine the board's authority and concluded that if the legislation remained unchanged the agency would be better off under its current system.

APWU President William Burrus echoed that contention in his own letter sent late last week to the same lawmakers, as well as the bills' leading Democratic sponsors in both chambers: Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., House Government Reform ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill.

Burrus wrote that the union shared some of the board's concerns and hoped they would be addressed as the bills move forward.

"I can't understand why they waited so long to articulate their views," Burrus said in a statement. "But several of their concerns are valid. And a bad bill is not worth having."

In a statement on its Web site, the union noted that shifting control over rates to the new regulator and limiting them to the Consumer Price Index could result in wage caps. That might undermine collective bargaining, which the union has pushed hard for.

The House bill passed in July. The Senate measure, which cleared Collins' panel in June, is awaiting floor action.

Danny Davis, a labor champion, said the union and the board both had input into the bills as they were drafted. "Every stakeholder group within the industry has strong thoughts and ideas about what's in the best interest of their group, as one would expect them to," he said. "Our concern is what's in the best interest of the entire system."

A spokeswoman for McHugh said the lawmaker "has said this is not a perfect bill ... But it's been 10 years of thoughtful input from all parties." She noted that the APWU had sent a letter to McHugh in August praising him for his leadership on the legislation.

Other unions, including the National Association of Letter Carriers, said they had similar concerns, but lambasted the board for presenting its criticisms at the last minute and offering no other solutions to the agency's financial woes.