Unions Making Postal Service Unsustainable, GAO Says
“Limitations on the workforce mix of full-time and part-time postal employees and workforce flexibility rules contained in contracts with USPS’s unions are key detriments of how postal work is organized and, thus, of its cost,” the GAO report said.
By Fred Lucas at CNSNews.com
The U.S. Postal Service’s business model is not sustainable, and union-backed generous employee benefits along with collective bargaining contracts are a big part of the problem, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.
As mail volume has plummeted by 17 percent – or by 36 billion pieces – in the past three years, collective bargaining contracts have forced the Postal Service to keep full-time employees with full health and retirement benefits and preclude outsourcing of services.
“Limitations on the workforce mix of full-time and part-time postal employees and workforce flexibility rules contained in contracts with USPS’s unions are key detriments of how postal work is organized and, thus, of its cost,” the GAO report said.
“USPS officials told us that as mail volume declines, it would be more efficient to have a much higher proportion of part-time workers than is currently available under existing agreements,” the report continued.
About 85 percent of USPS employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and “78 percent USPS employees are full-time and receive salary increases and cost of living adjustments based on predetermined levels,” the report said.
Other factors in the USPS’s problems are excess number of post offices, the GAO said, but “closing facilities has been limited by political, employees, union and community opposition to potential job losses.” (See Full Report)
The 553,732 USPS employees under collective bargaining contracts are represented by four different unions.
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