Postal Farmouts A Safety Risk, U.S. Rep Says

By ARI PAUL

A Federal lawmaker has put forth legislation that would bar the U.S. Postal Service from outsourcing certain services without the approval of the relevant union.

WILLIAM BURRUS: Bill strengthens unions' hand.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, in a letter to other members of Congress urging support for his proposal, said that the contracting-out of postal work weakened the national mail network.

Lack Safety Training

"Privately-contracted employees possess significantly less training and experience than career postal employees and are not subject to the same hiring standards and procedures used by the Postal Service," he said. "More specifically, they do not possess the training or experience necessary to safeguard the mail, fellow employees and the public against biohazards, mailed explosives and other dangers that may impact the U.S. mail network."

Under Congressman Lynch's bill, the Postal Service would have to notify and possibly bargain "with labor representatives of postal employees that would be impacted by the decision."

The bill targets the outsourcing of mail-handling, transport and mail-processing.

"The requirement to bargain will enhance the union's ability to oppose wasteful, inefficient and detrimental subcontracting," American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus said in a statement. "Although we have been successful in negotiating a requirement that the Postal Service 'notify and consult' with the unions when it contemplates subcontracting, we have been unable to achieve real bargaining over whether or not specific activities will be subcontracted."

He continued, "I encourage all union members to contact their representatives and urge them to support this vital legislation."

Outsourcing has been a primary concern for postal unions. A wage pact reached with the National Association of Letter Carriers this summer imposed a six-month moratorium on any outsourcing of urban delivery services and established a joint labor-management task force to study the issue of contracting-out private labor and make recommendations to the Postal Service.

At the time of that settlement, Postal Service spokesman Gerald McKiernan defended the practice of outsourcing, saying, "With the price of gasoline and the number of vehicles we have in every neighborhood in America, costs are considerable. We have to look at a whole variety of cost-saving measures."