My opposition to the new national agreement is well chronicled as I voiced my opinions about the significant changes that would be made to postal employment but the ratification process is now history and focus must be centered on its application and to the issues of the day. Contrary to the opinions of nonunion members, the decisions of the union do make a difference and sticking your head in the sand will not make them go away.
This contract was finalized at a time when forces beyond the collective bargaining arena are shaping the USPS’ future in ways far beyond the contractual restrictions. Negotiated provisions will be inapplicable to the resulting impact on workers and the American public. As I shared in my perspective “Will the Postal Service Survive” it will be the Congress of the United States that will write the final chapter governing postal employment and postal services.
Well intended efforts were undertaken by the union to initiate changes in contractual provisions providing additional protections to employees but they have been overtaken by events. Additional jobs was a worthy contractual goal but the total number of postal employees will be decided in a different forum and when the dust settles on consolidations and 5 day delivery, if enacted or not, there will be at a minimum 50,000 fewer jobs than existed prior to the Watershed agreement. Limits on overtime and excessing, if applied ten or twenty years ago would have been major achievements but this is the Postal Service of 2012 and beyond and those issues will be secondary to the issues of importance in the future. Attacks on the collective bargaining process; consolidations; the unexpected assault on seniority and the bombshell of the 2011 national agreement, reducing wages by up to 60% has yet to be fully appreciated as the hiring of new employees has been sporadic.
Focus is now turned to the hiring of PSEs and the spotty implementation of nontraditional schedules that will be more troublesome when combined with new entry level salaries and result in employees earning 50% or less than existing employees. These issues will pale in comparison to wages when a significant number of new employees are integrated in the work force. The urban centers of New York, Las Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and others where the cost of living is high will be particularly affected. At the point in time when the density of the union is changed to 40% or more of employees whose wages are determined by the new agreement, the dynamics of the 2011 agreement will shift dramatically with a more accurate perspective.
The struggle to progress will be difficult no matter the outcome of the Congressional final solution. The only encouraging fact is that when the dust settles, there will be a United States Postal Service. At the outset of the political struggle it was not absolute that there would not be serious efforts to privatize this government service but now it is clear that on the other side of Congressional interference there will be a United States Postal Service. I am not privy to the constant stream of information and political options, but the limited information available convinces me that the best vehicle with minimum damage is the Obama proposal to include Postal reform in the Super Committee and make the fight for 6 day delivery within that process.
At the very least, the fight will be among friends as opposed to continuing a fight with Issa and Ross who hold all the cards. HR 1531, while a preferable solution, must overcome significant procedural hurdles with the uncertain influence of Senators Carper and Collins over a final package.
Change is constant and should be anticipated when making game changing decisions. The decision to exchange future wages for jobs was the wrong call at the wrong time. In a perfect world, where conditions of the past are repeated in the future the changes made would truly have been revolutionary but stuff happens and in the real world we are victims of our decisions.
Bill Burrus
Burrus Journal
Buried deep in the contract”s mumbo-jumbo is a very important gain we achieved which no one mentions.Each bathroom stall will be equiped with a special paper dispenser which will have a roll of luminous toilet paper in case there is a blackout.
And who says the clerks didn’t do well in our negotiaitions?
Well, since Ray Burris can keep rehashing what would have, could have, & should have happened during the last APWU Negotiating Agreement, at “least” they got an Agreement that (should) hold up when Issa/Ross take it to Federal Court along with Postmaster General, Pat Donahoe and attempt to nullify the Contract. The NALC and the National Postal Mail Handler`s Union may not fare as well. With their negotiations going on currently and the Turkey Vultures circling overhead, would you like to be sitting down at the Negotiating Table at this moment? Like I told all you old Civil Service Fools over 2 years ago that had both the time and age to take your $15K in parting gifts and run out the door, he/she who hesitates, is lost. I burned up almost 6 months worth of S/L and “clicked” my heels! I got “Mines”!
Mr Burrus please ignore the ugly people. You a great job & even if I did not always agree with you, no one needs to be assailed the way you are on this msg forum. Please don’t let the jerks keep you from opining on the latest issues.
Take care
BURRIS, BURRUS, OR WHATEVER. WHY DON’T YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND FADE AWAY TO OBLIVION. YOU WANT T PLAY MONDAY MONRNING QUARTERBACK NOW THAT THE SHIT HAS HIT THE FAN AND DIFFICULT
DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE IN WHICH THERE PROBABLY WEREN’T MANY
OR ANY “GOOD” OPTIONS. IT SEEMS TO ME I REMEMBER YOU INCREASING THE CASUAL ALLOWANCE SEVERAL TIMES UNDER YOUR “LEADERSHIP.”
THIS WOULD EQUAL MORE THAN A 60% PAY DECREASE AS WELL AS A UNION MEMBERSHIP DECREASE BECAUSE THEY WERE CASUALS WITH LOUSY PAY AND NO BENEFITS. FUTHERMORE, IT SEEMS VERY CLEAR TO ME THAT GUFFEY AND THE APWU WENT FOR THIS AGREEMENT BECAUSE THE APWU WAS IN TROUBLE FINANCIALLY AND LOSING MEMBERS AT AN ALARMING RATE BECAUSE OF THE “DOWNSIZING” OF THE POST OFFICE.
THE UNION NEEDED MORE MEMBERS TO SURVIVE INTO THE FUTURE AND I THINK GUFFEY AND COMPANY SAW THAT OPPORTUNITY WITH THE
PSE’s AND SOLD THE DEAL TO THE MEMBERS TO VOTE ON. LET US ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS MEMBERSHIP DROP STARTED ON YOUR WATCH
AND HAS ONLY BEEN GETTING WORSE. I VOTED “NO” ON THE CONTRACT BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT STUNK. HOWEVER, IT PASSED AND I WILL NOT
CRY AND WHINE ABOUT IT FOR YEARS TO COME. THE UNION IS NEEDED AND
WE MUST MORE FORWARD THROUGH THESE DIFFICULT TIMES. SO, SHUT YOUR MOUTH GET LOST!
Bill, Thanks for staying involved. Your well intentioned and extremely diplomatic comments on, what I consider, the worst contract any union, anywhere, signed show me the great respect that you have for unionism and the APWU.
As a letter carrier, I greatly admired how you stood up and challenged both management and the Post Office, as they both seem to want to destroy the Post Office from within.
Seeing how our alleged “leaders” have treated our best and most popular institution makes me sick. Why have we, the people, let our government be bought by anti-American trans-global companies who have no loyalty except to their wallets?
The “Occupy Wall St ” people are right. This is about private corporations destroying our country from within all for green. Then, when they have turned us into a “third world country” they will walk away without a second thought.
Instead of the rest of the wqorld catching up to us in terms of higher standards of living they want to lower OUR standard of living to match theirs. Then all the dukes and lords will have their individual fiefdoms to rule as they see fit. Wait a minute, isn’t that what we have now. Salaries for life, exclusive health plans for them only, unlimited money for voting the way they are paid for?
Bill, we are a different generation. The one for all, all for one is lost on the current generation of postal people that voted for this contract. As much as I appreciate what you are trying to do; you cannot save selfish people from themselves.
LOL, this dude is plugging an ebook for $5.00 with this drivel, with the help of this postal service supposed news blog. Bwahahahaha…..what a slug. I guess you have to buy his ebook to know you are f’d.
As usual the people who do the least amount of work are the ones with the most negative comments. You are called Free loaders because you want something and give nothing in return. Those who are suppose to improve the mail and keep up with the times do nothing more than collect a check and contract out adverstiements and pay double or triple for other peoples’ work who do not work for or contribitue to the viability of the USPS. When it is all said and done we will wait to hear your belly ache about how you miss that USPS money and easy work you did.
After this contract expires it’s OVER! Everything we have now will be gone and double your insurance. If they change delivery standards to 2 to 3 day, they will kill T-1, and most weekend off jobs will be abolished to kill Premium pay. Watch out if you bid 4 day 10 hour non traditional jobs, they sound good but there’s no protection from getting hours or days off changed if they don’t fit into the plan.
Well at least with meager salaries. These jobs will be a dime a dozen and there will be nothing now to keep carriers, mail handlers and clerks from giving themselves their own perks, nothing to keep them from finally speaking to management the way they deserve. Remember the regulators of days of old and how they dealt with those that messed with their livelihoods. Hit google and let’s find us some home addresses.
What the frig are you trying to say u long winded idiot, I use to like what you wrote but you must of been drunk when you wrote that long winded for nothing letter
GO GREEN! It’s the only way
burrass you never cared about locality pay for the cities before, you played city against rural for years you fraud. don’t cry for me Argentina with your crocidile tears. workroom floor is still like a nazi concentration camp due to your lack of leadership. legend in your own mind.
1% raises for us- for you big house, armani suits, jaguar car, trips to Vegas, 2 hour lunches on K Street……go away you cry baby your 15 minutes of fame is over…….and you were not that good.
the post office is done….put a fork in it. internet/E bill pay is the future. you should just slither away.