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Unions cool to Senate postal bill, but give to its backers
Postal unions have given heavily this campaign season to Democrats who voted this spring for a Senate bill that labor groups have found lacking.
The American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) both contributed thousands of dollars to more than a dozen Democratic senators in the 2012 cycle, while giving nothing to any GOP Senate candidates.
But of those incumbent Democrats, all but a few voted for a bill that could allow the U.S. Postal Service to scrap Saturday delivery in the coming years, as well as other provisions that led NALC’s president to dub the measure “flawed.”
The postal unions’ contributions suggests that the back-and-forth on Capitol Hill over how to overhaul the cash-strapped Postal Service, which is looking to cut $22.5 billion in annual expenses by 2016, is not being fought on turf favorable to labor.
Influential lawmakers in both chambers and both parties are hopeful that Congress can enact a postal reform bill in the upcoming lame-duck session, though most of Washington will be focused on avoiding the "fiscal cliff."
Unions have sounded lukewarm about the Senate postal bill, a bipartisan measure passed in April that also would make required prepayments for retiree healthcare more manageable and allow USPS new revenue opportunities.
Postal unions have said the Senate bill does not do enough to ease the sting of the healthcare prepayment, which caused USPS to default on roughly $11 billion worth of scheduled payments this year.
And labor is against any attempt to roll back six-day delivery and has said that the Senate bill could do more to allow USPS to grow new revenue streams.
But at the same time, labor strongly opposes a Republican-sponsored bill in the House, and APWU has said the Senate bill is “far better.” The House bill would allow USPS to move more quickly to five day-delivery and opens the door for a control board to take over for postal management, if necessary.
The House has yet to consider the GOP bill, from Reps. Darrell Issa (Calif.) and Dennis Ross (Fla.), with some in the party acknowledging that party leadership did not want to force its rank and file to cast a tough vote on the measure before Tuesday’s elections.
Fredric Rolando, NALC’s president, acknowledged to The Hill that the union was disappointed that most of the senators it contributed to voted for the chamber's postal bill.
But Rolando said that NALC backed candidates for a variety of reasons, including their support for collective bargaining and efforts to protect federal pensions and entitlement programs.
“We never treat one vote as disqualifying,” Rolando told The Hill in a statement.
A spokeswoman for APWU did not respond to a request for comment on the union’s political contributions. Cliff Guffey, APWU’s president, has said that the Senate bill, while in need of improvements, should be the starting point for postal reform negotiations.
In all, APWU and NALC have given $1 million or more to lawmakers or candidates for federal office this cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Democrats have received more than 95 percent of the unions' contributions, and most of the donations went to candidates who were on the ballot this election cycle.
APWU gave $80,000 to members of the Senate Democratic caucus who voted for the chamber’s postal bill, a figure that includes a $10,000 donation to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). The union gave $2,000 to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), one of the four Democrats who voted against the postal bill.
NALC, meanwhile, gave more than $70,000 to senators who voted for the postal bill, which includes a contribution to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), who is not running for reelection. NALC gave to Menendez and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who voted against the Senate postal bill as well.
Neither union gave to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the chairman of the Homeland Security subcommittee that oversees USPS and a sponsor of the Senate bill.
The National Postal Mail Handlers Union and National Rural Letter Carriers Association also have given to candidates this cycle, though not nearly as much as APWU and NALC.
As Rolando noted, postal unions have given to candidates who helped change the Senate bill for the better, at least in labor’s view.
NALC gave to senators who pushed for changes on delivery standards, and to give USPS opportunities to expand its business model. Ross and Issa have suggested that union leaders have stood in the way of the sort of changes they want.
“The members we supported voted for amendments that are in the Postal Service’s best interests and are strong advocates for the Postal Service,” Rolando said. “We hope they will succeed in crafting better legislation next year.”
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