Postal Service In Desperate Need Of Flexibility, Says Chief

While addressing an audience at the National Press Club on Monday, Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe was interrupted by social activists demanding that the Postal Service not be privatized.

“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donahoe has got to go,” demonstrators chanted in the middle of Donhoe’s speech. As they demanded that postal workers maintain their jobs and benefits, they continued to chant, “We are the 99 percent.”

“Well the good thing is they’ve definitely been paying attention to this situation,” Donahoe commented as the demonstrators were escorted out of the room by security guards. He then continued with his speech and advocated for the passage of new legislation to enable more postal service flexibility.

“While we have the mandate to operate like a business, the reality is that we don’t have the flexibility under current law to function like a business,” Donahoe remarked.

While the U.S Postal Service is a government institution, it receives no funding from the government and generates its revenue solely from the sale of postal products and services. The postal service must compete for its customers in the marketplace but cannot make decisions without government regulations.

“We’re in a deep financial crisis today because we have a business model that is tied to the past,” Donahoe related. “Most businesses make product and pricing decisions quickly based on market demand. We still have to go through a cumbersome process to price our products. Our competition can make these changes on a moment’s notice.”

“Most companies don’t pre-fund retiree health benefits,” Donahoe continued. “Not only does the postal service require to pre-fund, [but] we’re required by law to fully fund an entire 40 year obligation in 10 years.”

The Postal Service ended its 2011 fiscal year with a $5.1 billion net loss. According to Donahoe, the loss would have been around $10.6 billion if not for the passage of legislation that postponed a congressionally mandated payment of $5.5 billion to pre-fund retiree health benefits.

Currently, a pair of bipartsan Postal Service reform bills are curently awaiting votes in both the House and Senate. If the bills are passed, the Postal Service’s operations and network would be structurally remodeled, resulting in workforce, benefit and service cuts. Donahoe, however, said that neither bill contains the type of reforms he would support.

“Both bills have elements that delay tough decisions and impose greater constraints on our business model,” he said. “Taken as they are, they do not come close to enabling the cost reductions.”

Donahoe later called on Congress to pass “comprehensive legislation to provide us with a more flexible business model so we can respond better to a changing marketplace.”

Dems, Labor Groups Team To Reject Trade Deals

By Lisa Kellman

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) called for “Main street not Wall street” at an AFL-CIO rally today to oppose three new free trade agreements (FTAs) Congress is set to vote on.

Union members and leaders joined federal lawmakers to criticize the trio of agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama sent by the Obama administration yesterday to Congress.

Tom Buffenbarger, President of IAM, argued that 159,000 Americans will lose their jobs to South Korea and that all three countries lacked proper human rights and labor provisions.

Former President George W Bush negotiated these agreements, which were initially opposed by President Obama. Despite changes made to the agreements, Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) claimed that they mirror the NAFTA accord reached years ago, which he called dangerous.

Congress may believe that the agreements will help businesses by “export(ing) more products overseas, but the only thing that they are going to be exporting is American jobs,” Michaud said.

While free trade agreements like NAFTA have been created for better relations with other nations and with the promise of more American jobs, better business projections and higher standards of living, “NAFTA failed style agreements” Buffenbarger said “cost our nation millions of jobs.” 

Buffenbarger and Michaud were joined by United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, and Democrats Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Jan Schakowky (D-Ill.) who all called for attendees to talk to their representatives about voting no on the free trade agreements.

“Congress is run by Wall Street, K Street, and by money but there is one thing that congress pays attention to and that is the voters in their district,” said Michaud.

Unemployment high in March, Officials say

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

A day after President Barack Obama's budget was passed by a Congress boiling with partisanship, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report showing unemployment at its highest since 1983. There are now 13.2 million Americans out of work.

The pouring rain in Washington mirrored the sobered mood in the room, as the Joint Economic Committee heard the testimony of Keith Hall, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

March was one of the worst Months on record for unemployment, and when asked outright, Hall told the committee that there were no "bright spots" in the report.

National unemployment climbed to 8.5 percent in March, rising from the level of 8.1 percent in February and 7.6 percent in January.

Hall said that two-thirds of the job loss has happened in the past 5 months. Every state is in recession for the first time in 30 years, according to Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).

Official unemployment numbers do not encompass underemployed Americans or those who have officially left the workforce. It is reported that 16 percent of the country is out of work or underemployed. One in four of those unemployed have been out of work for more than six months, and of those, half have been looking for work for over a year, Hall said.

Maloney highlighted that last month, 8,000 jobs were lost in the news publishing industry. Those losses total 70,000 job cuts since Dec. 2007, Hall said, adding that most job losses have been see in the manufacturing, construction, and temporary services industries. The only area to see any growth in March was the Healthcare industry, Hall said.

Ranking Committee member Senator Sam Brownback (R-KA) noted that the impact of the ongoing recession was not severe for almost a year after it began in December 2007. Brownback attributed recent dramatic jumps in job losses over the past five months to the lockup in the credit markets and the government bailouts that followed.

The Federal Reserve believes that unemployment will peak at 8.8 percent this year, but Ranking House Committee Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) said that the unemployment rate is already higher than what the administration anticipated for 2009. Brady said that the Obama Administration's "optimistic assumptions" would not get the country out of its current mess.

President Obama’s Economic Stimulus package was passed by Congress earlier this year, and saw an unprecedented amount of money placed into public works meant to put people back to work. Obama has pledged the legislation will save or create three to four million jobs over the next two years.

Read the report here: Bureau of Labor Statistics Report

Was there nothing worth fighting for?

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service
At an event to unveil the "Faces of the Employee Free Choice Act" campaign, actor Bradley Whitford said that, as the fight for the Employee Free Choice Act enters the legislative, the ugly legislative process, we must never forget the workers. This issue boils down to a simple fact. It is a fundamental right in this country for workers to be able to join unions and to bargain collectively,” said Whitford.

Addressing those who believe the act denies workers their right to a secret ballot, Whitford stated that “The Employee Free Choice Act does nothing of the kind.”

Whitford said that “without the protections provided by the Employee Free Choice Act, workers looking to join unions are subject to harassment, disinformation, and dismissal, because of a system that is exploited by, and stacked in favor of management.” He went on to say that we must not allow lawmakers to put their own job protection ahead of the protection of their working constituents.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) stated that “we’re losing the middle class, and when we lose the middle class, we lose America.” The facts are on our side and “if you want to save the middle class, if you want a prosperous America, then you should support the Employee Free Choice Act,” said Boxer.

Congressman Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) said that the difference now is that when a majority of employees sign up for a union, the employer gets to veto that choice. “We are saying the choice belongs not to the employer but to the employee.”

Actor Martin Sheen said that the Employee Free Choice Act will give American workers a fair and direct path to form unions through majority sign up. “It’s no secret that all too often workers are poorly treated when they try to gain a voice in the work place.”

Sheen told a story about a man who was asked to show his scars at the gates of heaven. Unable to reveal any, the man was asked, “was there nothing worth fighting for”? “That’s what this is all about,” said Sheen.

Biden burns down the house with Fire Fighters Union

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service

While speaking before an eager crowd at the International Association of Fire Fighters Union Conference, Vice President Joe Biden said that the Obama Administration is committed to helping public safety officials do their jobs more safely. Biden says that he understands that an inherently dangerous profession such as fire fighting can never be made completely safe, but we can make it “safer than it is today.” Biden quoted a study from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, saying “the lack of staffing is the key cause of fire fighter fatality” and that to help make the first responder’s jobs easier and safer, they must be provided with better equipment, more fire fighters, and better training.

The Vice President said to rousing applause that The Public Safety Employee Cooperation Act, which was “blocked” by former President George W. Bush, will be signed into law by President Obama, and will “institutionalize that respect” which the public holds for them. He said that it is in “our nation’s own naked self interest” to take care of those that defend us and that when the fire fighting community is stronger, the rest of the community is safer.