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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 2020)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | August 21, 2020 | PAGE 7 ...Unions say newly appointed postmaster is deliberately slowing mail From Page 1 the Republican party. Meanwhile, CNN reports that DeJoy continues to hold at least $30 million and as much as $75 million stake in his former com- pany XPO Logistics, a United States Postal Service contractor. DeJoy’s appointment follows the resignation of two members of the Postal board of governors earlier this year, at least in part to protest efforts by Trump aides to control USPS finances and operations. NALC’s grievance comes just after 84 lawmakers from both parties wrote to DeJoy de- nouncing the shutdowns and overtime ban. A group of Senate Democ- rats, led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, including Ron Wyden of Oregon has asked the USPS inspector gen- eral to investigate the policy changes DeJoy imposed and to examine whether DeJoy “met all ethics requirements” regard- ing his personal finances and XPO stake. DeJoy’s changes were pre- sented as a delivery initiative test called “Expedited Street/Af- ternoon Sortation (ESAS).” But an internal USPS docu- ments shows that USPS brass knew when it imposed the changes that the result may be “mail left behind and mail left on the workroom floor or in docks” because Letter Carriers would be banned from using overtime and/or making extra trips to deliver it. DeJoy notified the union on July 16 the ESAS test was scheduled to start at 400 sites nine days later. “These changes directly im- pact terms and conditions of employment of city letter carri- ers” and violate the USPS con- tract with the 200,000-member union, said NALC President Fredric Rolando. Retired transit union lawyer publishes new historical detective novel Susan Stoner, retired staff attor- ney at Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, has published the ninth in a series of historical mystery novels set in the Port- land of 1900-1920. The series, under her pen name S.L. Stoner, follows a fictional trade union spy named Sage Adair as he delves into real-life scenarios The delays could not only af- fect delivery of vital items, such as food and medicines, but also cost consumers money by de- laying bills so long that people would have to pay finance charges. Other objectors, includ- ing Mark Dimondstein, presi- dent of the American Postal Workers Union, the other big postal union, said delays could also prevent people from suc- cessfully voting this fall. Nonpartisan analysts estimate three-fourths of American adults are eligible to vote by mail on or before the Nov. 3 election. In its delayed primary on August 8, Hawaii became the seventh state to switch to totally vote by mail. But voting by mail assumes USPS delivers ballots to voters on time and it postmarks re- turned ballots on or before Elec- tion Day. DeJoy also later de- cided to override past practice and ordered no priority for han- dling ballots. DeJoy justifies his moves with the same explanation prior GOP-named Postmasters Gen- eral used: The need to cut costs due to the Postal Service’s flood of red ink. He did not mention the real reason for the ongoing yearly deficits, but Rolando fre- quently does: The annual $5 bil- lion the USPS must fork over to prepay future health care bene- fits for current and future work- ers. That mandate, which Con- gress imposed in 2006, sent the USPS deep into the red ever since and kept it there. The cur- rent coronavirus-caused depres- sion and resulting closures have only made matters worse, lead- ing the USPS board to approach Congress for a $25 billion grant as part of the next pandemic economic stimulus package. The House approved it, but Sen- ate Majority Leader Mitch Mc- Connell, R-Ky., opposes it. So does Trump. He threatens to veto any legislation with it. taken from the history of the time. Unseen, the latest install- ment, takes place at an Indian boarding school and reservation, where Adair investigates the murder of an Indian Service in- spector. The meticulously re- searched settings have earned Stoner a fan base of history buffs. Normally she gives read- ings and discusses the books at Powell’s. None are scheduled due to the pandemic however. Unions are campaigning for it. “While these changes in a normal year would be drastic, in a presidential election year when many states are relying heavily on absentee mail-in bal- lots, increases in mail delivery timing would impair the ability of ballots to be received and counted in a timely manner—an unacceptable outcome for a free and fair election.” Lawmakers also want to know why DeJoy instituted this “experiment” before unveiling a long-term solvency plan for the USPS. Responding to a prior letter from House Oversight Commit- tee Chair Carolyn Maloney, D- N.Y., on the DeJoy changes, USPS said July 22 that “these changes did not originate from Postal Service headquarters.” The House Oversight Commit- tee will call DeJoy to testify on Sept. 17 on his moves. That’s Constitution Day. The post of- fice is in the Constitution. From all of us at Local 290 Happy Labor Day! Happy 120th Anniversary NW Labor Press Lou A. Christian, B USINESS M ANAGER Joe Neely, A SST . B USINESS M ANAGER Bob Porter, P RESIDENT John Foote, V ICE P RESIDENT Denny Tynan, E XECUTIVE B OARD Robert Taylor, E XECUTIVE B OARD Dominic DePiero, E XECUTIVE B OARD Brad Archuleta, E XECUTIVE B OARD Justin Turner, R ECORDING S ECRETARY Josh Rudzik, I NSIDE G UARD Dave Hauth, F INANCE B OARD Robert Smithline, F INANCE B OARD Chris McNicholas, F INANCE B OARD UNITED ASSOCIATION LOCAL 290 FOR MORE INFORMATION & NEWS HEAD TO OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.UA290.ORG
