HUFFINGTON
07.22.12
GOINGPOSTAL
says Cliff Guffey, president of
the American Postal Workers
Union, which represents many
of the workers who aren’t carriers. “There’s a sanctity of the mail
that’s important to a lot of people
in this country. But there are people who want to dismantle it.”
When it comes to postal reform,
Tad DeHaven, a budget analyst
at the libertarian Cato Institute,
argues that lawmakers cater too
much to the postal unions, as well
as to their own constituents. Even
self-avowed small-government
types have a way of losing their
convictions when it’s their own
post offices on the chopping block.
“It’s supposed to run like a business, but ultimately it answers to
535 people in Congress,” DeHaven
says. “They make decisions on the
basis of parochial concerns.”
The unions seem to fear Rep.
Darrell Issa the most. As chairman of the House Oversight and
Government Reform Committee,
Issa holds the key to postal reform on the House side. Unions
say his attempt to bar no-layoff
clauses in labor contracts as part
of the postal reform bill would
effectively gut their bargaining
power. Issa has warned against a
government bailout for the agen-
“IT’S SUPPOSED
TO RUN LIKE A
BUSINESS, BUT
ULTIMATELY
IT ANSWERS
TO 535 PEOPLE
IN CONGRESS.”
cy, arguing that taxpayers would
be on the hook for billions due to
labor contracts.
“If USPS is prevented from
cutting costs, 400,000 USPS
jobs will be put in jeopardy and
Americans could face an across
the board postal rate hike of 25%
— this could affect rates charged
by companies like FedEx and UPS
as well,” Issa said in a statement
to The Huffington Post. “Eighty
percent of USPS operating expenses are labor related. Continuing no-layoff protections that do
not exist for the rest of the federal
workforce will prevent USPS from
returning to solvency and meeting
its obligations to employees, retirees, and the American people.”
Postal unions had hoped they’d
find an ally in Issa. The California
lawmaker had actually been one of
the biggest beneficiaries of cam-