National Association of Letter Carriers President Bill Young will join his Nevada members in a demonstration at the Reno main post office, 2000 Vassar Street, from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. today.
The picketing is part of a national series of protests of the subcontracting of new city routes to private companies, thus compromising the security of the mail. It also jeopardizes support of U.S. service personnel.
"The new subcontracting policy eliminates any preference for returning war veterans, something which the United States Postal Service has offered for decades," stated Nevada Assn. of Letter Carriers President Mickey Grizzle.
Union leaders support S. 1457, a bill by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, to curb postal subcontracting. Support for S. 1457 has grown to 31 senate co-sponsors.
House Resolution 282, which also opposes the subcontracting policy, currently has more than 220 co-sponsors, including southern Nevada Representatives Shelly Berkley, D, and Jon Porter, R.
Northern Nevada Rep. Dean Heller, R, has not signed on, Grizzle noted. Other aspects of the subcontracting program criticized by the workers and their union:
- The normal recruitment and hiring process has been bypassed, subverting the proper screening of personnel.
- Using contractors undermines accountability by putting mail in the hands of unknown workers. (The U.S. Mail is not pizza delivery, with all due respect to pie purveyors.)
- The process lacks transparency. Wage levels of contract workers are reportedly less than half of those of career letter carriers. Other payments and fees paid to subcontractors for such catch-alls as vehicle expenses and overhead costs wipe out any labor cost savings. The details of contract delivery services are subject to little or no scrutiny.
- Outsourcing threatens the sanctity and security of the mails. Recruited with minimal screenings, contractors and subcontractors become vulnerable to identity thieves, convicted felons and other unqualified workers who may gain access to Americans' mail and their mail boxes.
For more information:
http://www.nalc.org
http://www.postalreporter.com/
