News

US Unions fight against the 5 Day week proposal



UNI Post & Logistics US affiliates are fighting against a USPS proposal to cut delivery days down to 5. The three UNI affiliates all recently appeared before a special hearing at the US Congress and told the representatives that a 5 day delivery week is a bad idea. The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) President Fred Rolando in his testimony said; "We think this would be a blunder of the first order—saving very little money and risking the loss of much more revenue over time." American Postal Workers Union (APWU) President Bill Burrus told the Congressional hearing; that slashing service will not solve the Postal Service’s current financial difficulties. The APWU “believes the USPS can and must expand the services it offers,” he said. “No service-oriented business can grow by reducing service.” And the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHUI) testimony said that if implemented 5 day delivery would lead to the demise of the postal services and would cripple the small businesses that rely on the universal postal service, such as local businesses like the local hardware store the community newspaper or small local restaurants.



The Unions have developed fact sheets for their members and the US public to explain the folly of the US Postal Service proposals and what needs to be done to revitalise the postal service so badly hit by the Global Financial Crisis.



Attached are two of the fact sheets and more information can be found on the unions web pages at;





APWU web page on 5 day week; http://apwu.org/issues-five_day/index.htm



NALC web page on 5 day week; http://www.nalc.org/postal/reform/index.html



NPMHU web page on 5 day week; http://www.npmhu.org/Pubs/UPDATE/2010/up100603.asp