Postal reform act in agreement with the postal union

7/28/2019 Postal reform act in agreement with the postal union

1/7

4 POSTAL RECORD I JANUARY 2007

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

994 1995 19

NALCS LONG ROAD TO

More than a decade of legislative wrangling andpolitical intrigue ended with the stroke of a penDecember 20 at the White House when, with

NALC President William H. Young as a witness,President George Bush signed into law the PostalAccountability and Enhancement Act of 2006.

Congressional leaders in the postal reform cam-paign and other labor and industry officials alsoattended the ceremony, which was the fulfillment ofNALCs top legislative priority.

The measure seeks to provide the U.S. PostalService with the financial and structural flexibility it

needs to compete in the Information Age. With firstclass mail being steadily siphoned away by elec-tronic communication, the USPS needs the free-dom to react to market conditions, develop newproducts and services, and adapt its businessmodel in order to survive and thrive.

Although the NALC objected strenuously to oneprovisionrequiring injured postal employees towait three days before beginning Continuation ofPay benefitsthe union played a crucial role indeveloping many of its most important provisions.

This law is the culmination of years of hard workby many NALC officers, the unions legislative staffand our committed members, Young said.

The NALC was instrumental in creating a coali-tion of postal industry, labor and managementgroups that propelled the process. The coalitionmembers placed the overall good of the postalcommunity and the country above self-serving,parochial considerations, Young said. As a result,the Postal Service can continue top quality six-dayuniversal service to all Americans.

The NALC leader added pointedly, It is time forPostmaster General Potter and the USPS Board of

Governors to rethink their decision during negotia-tions to trash our successful partnership by openingthe door to contracting out city letter carriers jobs.

Final passage occurred in the early morninghours of December 9, shortly before the 109th Con-gress adjournedsine diePresident Young was ableto announce the imminent approval the evening ofDecember 8 during installation ceremonies forNALCs new Executive Council (see page 14).

The law is the first substantive overhaul of thePostal Service since the Postal Reorganization Act of1970. A description of the long road to passage and asummary of provisions of the new law follow.

DONEPOSTAL OVERHAUL BECOMES LAW DEAL

resident Bush signsostal reform into lawn Wednesday, Decem-er 20, 2006. Watchingim are (from l): Sen.om Carper, Rep. Tom

Davis, Sen. SusanCollins and Rep. JohnMcHugh.


2/7

In the darkness before dawn on Saturday, December 9,2006 the U.S. Senate adopted H.R. 6407, the PostalAccountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 by

unanimous consent. The House of Representativeshad approved the bill on a voice vote the eveningbefore. On December 20, President Bush signed itinto law.

The PAEA amends Title 39 of the U.S. Code,which governs the policies and operations of the U.S.Postal Service. It is the most significant postal

reform law since the Postal Reorganization Act of1970. Though not as revolutionary as the PRA, thenew law will profoundly affect the Postal Servicesfinances, the way it sets rates, and how it is governedand regulated. It wont affect the basic structure andmission of the Postal Serviceit remains a govern-ment-owned enterprise with universal, six-day deliv-ery financed by a monopolynor will it change thepay, benefits, working conditions or union rights ofAmericas letter carriers and other postal employees.(See page 9 for a detailed summary of the law.)

Thanks to NALC and a coalition of other unions(the Rural Letter Carriers and the Mail Handlers),

management associations, vendors and mailers, Con-gress rejected almost all the negative recommenda-tions of President Bushs blue-ribbon Commission onthe Postal Service. Instead it crafted a balanced com-promise that emphasized pragmatism over ideology.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Carp-er (D-DE) were instrumental in negotiating the finaldetails with Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the billschief sponsor in the Senate. In an e-Activist messagesent on December 9, NALC President Bill Youngthanked Waxman and Carper for advocating NALCsinterests in the legislation. He also thanked Sens. Joe

Lieberman (D-CT) and Daniel Akaka (D-HI), andReps. Tom Davis (R-VA), Danny Davis (D-IL) andJohn McHugh (R-NY) for their roles over the years.

Modernize, not privatizeAs many countries around the world opt for

more radical plans to privatize their post offices andto open their postal markets to competition, theUnited States has chosen to modernize, retainingits existing postal model. With highly affordable

postage rates and high-quality service, it clearly is asystem that works, thanks to the most productivepostal workers in the world.

Nonetheless, President Young called the enact-ment of postal reform bittersweet. The provisionof the new law that requires injured postal employ-ees to wait three days before qualifying for Continu-ation of Pay is totally unjustifiable, he said. It doesnot apply to other federal workers (see page 7).

Senator Collins maintained that she and theBush administration absolutely had to have theprovision. In his installation speech (see page 14),President Young said he agreed not to oppose thebill at the urging of Waxman and Carper, whowrangled several improvements in the overall billin the final week of Congress.

Despite his reservations, Young noted, the lawpreserves our collective bargaining rights, main-tains universal, six-day delivery and significantlyimproves the Services long-term financial stability.

The bill passed when none of the postal unions(including the APWU, which now claims to opposethe bill) and none of the other major stakeholderssought to prevent its adoption under unanimousconsent rules in the Senate.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS JANUARY 2007 I POSTAL RECORD 5

M APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

1997 1998

POSTAL REFORM

END OF A MARATHONAFTER A DOZEN YEARS, WE HAVE PAEA


3/7

Long road to reformIn 1994, when the Internet and the World Wide

Web were still mysteries to most Americans, NALCalready understood that the information technologyrevolution would dramatically transform the PostalService in the future, just as it would every otheraspect of American life. In January of that year, The

Postal Recordbegan a series entitled The Future ofMail, which looked ahead to the possible impact ofe-mail, the Internet and other technological advanceson the demand for mail and the operations of USPS.That series identified the fundamental challenge:USPSs core first class mail business is stagnating,even shrinking, in the face of electronic diversion,while its universal service costs grow with the relent-

less creation of new daily delivery points.Later in 1994, NALC President Vince Sombrotto

was invited to Germany by the German Postal Work-ers Union. At the time, the German union was fight-ing the privatization of Deutsche Post. Changingtechnology was animating the debate in Germanyand the rest of Europe and driving home the needfor traditional postal services to adapt. Upon hisreturn, Sombrotto wrote a Presidents Messageheadlined Battles abroad can be lesson in strugglefor successful future. In it, he pointed to the chal-

lenges of the future and the need to change at home:For close to 25 years, the Postal ReorganizationAct of 1970 has served this country well. But timeschange, realities change, needs change.... Its timeto do what has to be done to ensure that despitethe emergence of new and exciting technologies,the Postal Service remains strong well into the 21stcentury, fulfilling its historical mission of bindingtogether the disparate peoples of this vast countryand, in the process, preserving and strengtheningAmerican democracy.

Over the next decade, as traditional mail volumegrowth began to slow, more and more actors in the

postal industry reached the same conclusion. Majormailers, postal vendors and management associa-tions all agreed that the PRA was outdated, butthere was little agreement on how to reform it.Over several Congresses, legislation was intro-duced in the House by Rep. John McHugh (R-NY),but a lack of consensus prevented movement.

A coalition approachNALC, becoming a major player in the postal

reform debate, concluded it would take a broad co-alition to protect its members interests. Left to itsown devices, Congress could easily veer off in the

wrong direction. Indeed, conservative ideologuessought to exploit the Postal Services structural prob-lems to push for privatization, down-

6 POSTAL RECORD I JANUARY 2007 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

1999 2000

One major hurdle that stood inthe way of postal reform was theissue of military pension benefitspayable to postal employees whoserved in the Armed Forces beforebeing hired by the Postal Service.Historically, the cost of retirementannuity benefits resulting from CSRScredit attributable to military servicehas been payable by the U.S. Trea-sury. Since everyone benefits fromsuch military service, it is appropri-ate that taxpayers in general pay forthe associated retirement benefits.

In 2003, Congress enacted a pen-sion funding reform law to correctthe over-funding of CSRS benefits bythe USPS called Public Law 108-18.As a condition for moving the bill,which averts more than $105 billionin excess payments to the CSRSFund, President Bush insisted the

Postal Service take on $27 billion inmilitary pension liabilities associatedwith current and past postal employ-ees. P.L. 108-18 transferred theseobligations to the USPS.

NALC and other postal industryinterests vowed to reverse the unfairtransfer. Three years later, the PostalAccountability and Enforcement Actdoes just that, shifting the paymentobligation back to the Treasury.

Present and future CSRS annui-tants who have prior military ser-vice credit are not affected by thechange in the postal reform law atall. They will continue to receive thebenefits they have earned, adminis-tered by the Office of PersonnelManagement. The change in the lawsimply affects financial transfersbetween the Postal Service and theOPMs accounts at the Treasury.

Military pension benefits


4/7


J AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

2001 2002

sizing, deregulation or the elimination ofpostal employees collective bargainingrights. In order to defeat these ideas, the union hadto offer an alternative future for the USPS.

NALC helped organize a broad coalition of unions,mailers, postal industry vendors and interest groupsto pursue progressive reform. Though individualpartners had their own goals, all had a shared inter-est in a healthy and viable Postal Service. Early on,NALC secured commitments from the group thatreform would not adversely affect postal collectivebargaining rights or threaten, in any way, continuedsix-day delivery and universal service. The very firstversion of postal reform, H.R. 22, met these basicconditions, as the NALC worked with Rep. BenGilman (R-NY) to insert language to prevent regula-tors from interfering with collective bargaining. Thatlanguage is found in Section 505 of the new law.

The coalition NALC helped foster held together,more or less, for over a decade. It proved essentialto defeating onerous proposals. For instance,United Parcel Service sought to force the PostalService out of the parcel delivery market by treat-ing single piece parcels as a competitive productand by manipulating the rules for setting parcelprices outlined in the bill. The final bill rebuffedUPS and the Bush administration on all thesematters.

In H.R. 6407 Congress also rejected nearly everyanti-labor recommendation included in the finalreport of the Presidents Commission on the USPSfrom 2003. Among these were: A requirement that the Postal Regulatory

Commission vet postal collective bargaining agree-ments for compliance with Postal Services paycomparability standard. A recommendation that NALC and other

postal unions negotiate with the USPS forpension and health benefits, perhaps forcingletter carriers out of government-

wide programs such FEHBP and FERS. A change in the interest arbitration process

that favored postal management by instructing neu-tral arbitrators to give extra consideration to thePostal Services finances before issuing their awards.

The final bill did include part of one of the Com-missions anti-labor recommendationsthat concern-ing the three-day wait for Continuation of Pay benefitsfor injured workers (see above). But thanks to

NALCs opposition, a Senate proposal to cut workerscompensation benefits, from 67 percent or 75 percentof monthly pay to 50 percent when the recipientreached Social Security retirement age, was dropped.

Your unions broader roleNALC did not restrict itself to purely labor mat-

ters. We worked for years to secure the basic finan-cial components to ensure a viable Postal Service.We demanded the release of the CSRS escrowaccount set up by the 2003 pension funding reform,with some flexibility to use the funds for operations.And we demanded that the Bush administration

reverse its decision to saddle the USPS for $27 bil-lion in military pension benefits earned by postalemployees before they were hired (see story, page 6).

The Bush administration had different ideas. Itsought to complete the heist of the $27 billion and ittried to inflexibly earmark 100 percent of escrowsavings for retiree health benefits.

In both cases, we prevailed over the White House.The new law sets out a 10-year schedule for usingthe escrow and military pension savings to dramati-cally reduce the Postal Services massive unfundedliability for retiree health insurance, while also pro-viding some flexibility for other uses. In so doing, wesecured more than $100 billion for the Postal Service

in the decades to come and protected

The PAEA establishes a three-day waitingperiod for Continuation of Pay benefits,which previously existed only for compensa-tion benefits. The three-day waiting period forCOP is unfair and discriminatory towardpostal employees since the change does notapply to other federal workers. On a positivenote, the law now allows the injured worker touse annual or sick leave, or leave withoutpay, during the three-day wait. Prior to the

change, paid leave could not be used during

the waiting period for compensation benefits.Fortunately, a second provision to

require a reduction in compensation(FECA) benefits at the Social Securityretirement age (age 65-67, depending onthe workers year of birth) was droppedfrom the bill thanks to NALCs relentlesslobbying.

Letter carriers currently receiving COPbenefits or FECA benefits for past injuries,including those with limited duty assign-ments, will not be affected in any way bythe change in the law.

Workers compensation change


5/7


OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

2003 2004

the interests of our current and future retirees,whose health benefits will be fully funded.

NALC also devoted years to improving the legis-lations rate-setting provisions. The new law fea-tures a streamlined process permitting USPS toincrease postage rates in line with increases in theConsumer Price Index. Although postage rates his-torically have generally tracked inflation, majormailers demanded more predictability to encouragecontinued investment in mail-based messaging,marketing and invoicing systems. NALC set out

several conditions for supporting such a systemand worked with members of Congress and themailing industry to achieve them.

First, NALC demanded elimination of a produc-tivity offset in the indexing system, whereby rateswould be held below the rise in the CPI to shareefficiency gains with consumers. Such offsets arecommon in price-indexing systems, but inappropri-ate for postal rate-setting. The CPI embodies aver-age productivity growth in the economy and thePostal Service should not be expected to achieveabove-average efficiency gains. At our request, theHouse dropped its offset provision.

Second, NALC demanded that any price indexingsystem permit the USPS to bank (save for later use)any unused authority to raise rates in any given year.NALC worked with major mailers to reach a compro-mise. As a result, under the laws banking provision,if the USPS chooses not to raise rates by the full CPIamount in any given year, it will be able to tap theunused authority for up to five years afterwards.

Third, NALC demanded flexibility in the priceindexing system, to allow USPS to raise rates bymore than the CPI if events warrant. Over the fierceresistance of the White House, which sought a tightcap, the union brokered a compromise with the

mailers on this issue that will allow the USPS to go tothe Postal Regulatory Commission to request higher

rates (in excess of the CPI increase) if fuel pricesspike or Congress acts to boost USPS costs unexpect-edly or in other so-called exigent circumstances.

In the final rush to passage, Rep. Waxman evenagreed to President Youngs suggestion that theprice indexing system expire after 10 years. Thissunset provision provides a good period of stabili-ty, but gives us a chance to reassess and to changethe rate-setting system in the future if need be.

Living to fight another day

Postal reform finally passed not because every-body was happy with it. Nobodyand certainly notthe NALCwas completely satisfied. But that istrue for any major legislation that affects millions ofpeople and businesses. No, it passed because allthe competing interests in the postal industrymailers, vendors, competitors, unions, and manage-ment associationsjudged that it was the most thatcould be achieved at this time. Indeed, each of theunions (including NALC and APWU) and many ofthe other key stakeholders could have attempted toblock the measure by having just one senator speakup. No senator objected because none of the key

stakeholders in the postal community requested it.A consensus emerged that, with the return of adivided government in 2007, no bill would likelypass in the 110th Congress and that the escrowsavings and the military pension credits would like-ly be lost to deficit reduction if not secured for thePostal Service now. That judgment and bills accept-able treatment of collective bargaining rights andother key matters paved the way for passage.

As President Young said on December 8, It isnot a perfect bill, but it will definitely help the PostalService survive to fight another day.

Of course, the PAEA will not be the last word on

postal reform. It will not by itself save the Postal

Instrumental in gettingthe legislation passedwere Democrats Sen.Tom Carper (l) andRep. Henry Waxman.


6/7


Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006Summary of the major elements

DECEMBER

DECEMBER

2005 2006

Title I: Definitions; Postal Services

Defines postal services; distinguishes market-dominant services (most letter mail,publications and single-piece parcels) from competitive services (Express Mail, Pri-ority Mail, bulk parcel post and international mail). Each will be regulated using differ-

ent rules. Gives the PRC two years to decide if USPS should continue providing any cur-

rent, non-postal service, considering public need and private-sector ability toprovide it.

Title II: Modern Rate Regulation

Spells out rules for regulating rates of market-dominant, competitive and experi-mental products. Specifies annual reporting requirements for USPS and PRC;outlines complaint-making process for mailers and USPS customers.

PRC will have 18 months to write regulations implementing a price indexing sys-tem for market-dominant products that will tie annual postage rate hikes toincreases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). USPS can save and use later anyunused rate-hiking authority (for up to five years) and may seek a waiver of theCPI limit from the PRC in extraordinary or exceptional circumstances in order tomaintain quality services. After 10 years, PRC will review the price indexing sys-tem and make any necessary changes.

Places limits on the use of work-sharing discounts to ensure they do not perma-nently exceed avoided costs.

USPS Board of Governors will set rates of competitive services according toregulations drafted by the PRC to ensure transparency and fairness to cus-tomers and competitors.

USPS granted the right to introduce new services on an experimental basis;PRC granted the power to assign such services to either competitive or market-dominant categories.

PRC is required to report annually on USPS compliance with Title II; USPS isrequired to file financial reports similar to those required of private sector com-panies by the SEC.

Title III: Modern Service Standards

Requires USPS, in consultation with PRC, to establish service standards formarket-dominant products by December 20, 2007.

Requires USPS to submit a plan to meet service standards within six months ofestablishment. The plan must report on any planned changes in mail process-ing, transportation, or delivery networks and describe USPS long-term vision forrationalizing its workforce and infrastructure.

USPS must submit a plan to rationalize and/or consolidate distribution and sort-ing facilities.

Title IV: Provisions Relating to Fair Competition

Requires USPS to create a Competitive Products Fund separate from the PostalService Fund. All revenue from competitive services will be deposited into thisfund; all expenses for such services will be paid from it.

Debt incurred to provide or improve competitive services will be secured by theassets of the Competitive Services Fund; profits earned on competitive productsmust be invested in Treasury securities.

USPS Competitive Products Fund will be charged an assumed federal income

tax rate on any profits earned on competitive services. The amount of theassumed tax will be transferred to the general Postal Service Fund once a year. PRC is directed to issue regulations to prohibit unfair competition by USPS. USPS is to be covered by the federal anti-trust laws and is to be subject to com-

mercial lawsuits (without sovereign immunity protection).

Title V: General Provisions

Governors: Sets out the qualifications for new appointments to the USPS Boardof Governors. New appointees must have experience in public service, law oraccounting or have a demonstrated ability to manage organizations or corpora-tions of substantial size. Four Governors must have experience with managingorganizations or corporations with at least 50,000 employees.Term of office iscut from nine years to seven, with a two-term limit.

Private express statutes: Minimum charge required for private carriage ofaddressed letters (those covered by the postal monopoly) is changed from $3 or

double postage, whichever is greater, to at least six times the rate then currentlycharged for the first ounce of a single-piece First-Class letter. Exemption from thegeneral prohibition on private carriage is automatic for letters weighing at least12.5 ounces and may be extended to other types of letters by USPS regulation.

Non-interference with collective bargaining: Provides for mandatory mediationwhen postal collective bargaining parties fail to reach an agreement on new con-tracts; states that nothing in the Act shall restrict, expand or otherwise affect any ofthe rights, privileges or benefits of either employees, or of labor organizations repre-senting employees, under existing law, including Title 39 of the USC and the Nation-al Labor Relations Act, any labor contract, or any USPS handbook or manual.

Bonus authority: USPS can pay top executives increased bonuses, but totalcompensation can not exceed that of the vice president of the United States.

Title VI: Enhanced Regulatory Commission

Postal Rate Commission is re-designated as Postal Regulatory Commission.The five commissioners are appointed by the president and confirmed by theSenate for six-year terms; must have demonstrated expertise in economics,accounting, law or public administration.

PRC is granted authority to issue subpoenas to USPS officials to carry out itsduties under the law.

Title VII: Evaluations

PRC and other organizations are to conduct a series of regular and one-timeevaluations and assessments and report their findings to Congress.

PRC is to conduct an assessment of the overall system of rate-setting every fiveyears, a one-time study on the cost of universal service within five years, andseveral special studies on publication and cooperative mailing rates.

The Board of Governors is directed to evaluate diversity in its executive work-force and the extent of its contracting with women, minorities and small busi-nesses.

FTC is to study the fairness and application of U.S. laws to competitive products. GAO is directed to assess USPS programs for encouraging use of recycled paper

and to evaluate USPS business model to determine its ability to maintain universalservice.

USPS Inspector General is to study workplace safety and injuries, as well as

fraud in the use of non-profit mailing rates.

Title VIII: Postal Service and Health Benefit Funding

Repeals the requirement that USPS deposit savings from the 2003 CSRS fund-ing reform law into an escrow account; returns to the Treasury responsibility forfunding postal employee CSRS annuity benefits attributable to prior military ser-vice. Savings are to be used in part to pre-fund future retiree health benefits.

A Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund is to be established with the sur-plus resulting from a new actuarial valuation of USPS assets and liabilities relat-ed to CSRS. The new valuation will generate a surplus, since the $27 billioncost of military pension benefits is returned to the Treasury.The law sets out a10-year schedule of additional payments into the new Fund (drawn mainly fromescrow savings but include USPS existing payments for current retiree healthbenefits) that range between $5.4 billion and $5.8 billion annually.

USPS is provided a process to appeal actuarial methods used by OPM under thisstatute (about which there is disagreement) and to seek relief from Congress.

Title IX: Compensation for Work Injuries

Establishes a three-day waiting period for COP benefits, which previously exist-ed only for compensation benefits.The three-day waiting period for COP isunfair and discriminatory toward postal employees, since the change does notapply to other federal workers. However, the change doesallow the injuredworker to use annual or sick leave, or LWOP, during the three-day waiting peri-od. Before the change, paid leave could not be used during the three-day wait-ing period for compensation benefits.

Title X: Miscellaneous

Outlines a series of provisions regarding the employment of postal police offi-cers, purchasing reform, air mail contracts, hazardous materials and other minorprovisions.


7/7

Visit www.nalc.org to findout about contributing toCOLCPE automatically.

Political activism payswe have the

results that prove it. A labor-friendly major-ity is now in power on Capitol Hill. The

long-sought postal reform bill is now law.AndNALC members deserve substantial credit forthese political victoriesespecially those lettercarrier-activists who have been contributing toCOLCPE, the NALCs political action committee.

So, for the third February in a row, nextmonths issue of The Postal Recordwill be domi-

nated by a listing of contributors to the Commit-tee on Letter Carrier Political Education in 2006.

Its our way of publicly recognizing and sayingthank you to each and every man and woman ofthis great union who walks the walk, said NALCPresident William H. Young.These brothers andsisters understand the value of making an invest-ment in the future of their pay and benefits.

The NALC uses COLCPE funds to supportcandidatesregardless of partywho supportprograms and legislation that benefit letter carri-ers. Money from the fund financed NALCs rolein the Labor 2006 get-out-the-vote campaign.

As a result of the special edition, please note:

There will be no Branch Items, State Sum-maries, Retiree Reports or Auxiliary Updatesin next months issue.Correspondents andscribes should hold off until February to sub-mit articles for the March issue.That meansthe next deadline is February 10.

Election Notices and Mutual Exchange ads

willbe printed in February as usual.

Those who give through payroll allotment,annuity deduction, or automatic funds transferwill be listed first, followed by occasional contribu-tors and groups.Donors will be listed alphabeti-cally by name within their branches, and branch-es will be listed by number within each state.

The list will include all donations officially reg-istered in the COLCPE account by the end of2006. Last-minute sign-ups or checks that missthe closing of the accounts will be creditedtoward 2007 and acknowledged in the February2008 issue.

nnualCOLCPECelebration! Paying tribute to contributors

who turned Congress around

Donations to COLCPE are NOT tax-deductible.

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER-

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

5 2006 200


Service, just as the PRA did not ensure the suc-cess of the USPS after 1970. What happens in theU.S. economy, how the postal industry adapts tonew technologies and how the postal unions andpostal management react in turn, will be more

important. Indeed, the world is changing so fastthat NALC and the broader postal community willhave no choice but to constantly revisit the legisla-tion. It will not take three decades to return to thesubject of postal reform. It may not even take a sin-gle decade.

There are changes in the law that NALC maywant to pursue immediately. Reversing the unfairCOP rule is just one of them. For example, thePostal Service is entitled to employer subsidies for

retiree prescription drugs under the new Medicarelaw, but the Bush administration refuses to pay.Similarly, it may require federal legislation to haltmisguided efforts at the state level to control directmail through Do-Not-Mail registries.

As President Young recently remarked, The factis, our legislative and political work will never bedone. Each generation of letter carriers must do itspart to protect the health of the Postal Service andthe security of our jobs. That is why NALC is com-mitted to building its political and legislative pro-gram in the years to come.

We are determined to fight for a brighter futurefor Americas letter carriers. That is the mission ofthe union. That is what we do.

Postal reform act in agreement with the postal union

Documents

Transcript of Postal reform act in agreement with the postal union