US Postal Service plans to contract out letter carrier jobs

Can you believe this? The US Postal Service, under the careful control of the Bush White House, aims to contract out hundreds if not thousands of new routes to independent contractors, replacing solid union letter carriers with unaccountable, unqualified contractors with no benefits and no background checks.

Sound scary? That's because it is. I'm working to get this program stopped through a new online organization of postal workers, Postal Workers United Against Tyranny. This group was created originally to fight the proposed plan by the President to open mail without a warrant. So far, we've got a resolution passed at my local union branch, NALC Branch 130, as well as the Pierce County Central Labor Council and the Washington Association of Letter Carriers. At our website, we've posted the language of the resolutions and have a link to a petition folks can sign that we'll send to members of Congress. Please come on by and join in this effort, since the contracting out of letter carrier jobs could have a direct effect on the security and sanctity of the US Mail.

Senator Tom Harkin has taken the lead on this, putting forward Senate Bill 1457, which would block all further privatization of letter carrier jobs. Check out the story at postalreporter.com.

Al Gore, in his brilliant new book, The Assault on Reason, even mentions the President's stated intention to open mail without a warrant. Yet another reason why you should buy this book. Pick it up at Buzzflash for a $30 donation, or buy it at Powell's (a union shop) or Amazon (non-union). Support Al Gore and thank him for keeping the President's violations of the Constitution on the front-burner. We all need to work together if we're gonna have a shot at taking back the Constitution of this great nation. The House version of this bill is called H.R. 282, and it needs more co-sponsors if it's going to pass. Please contact your member of Congress and let them know this is important to you.

Here's Gore's quote:

"The United States Congress, while it was under Republican control, passed a law that clarified the procedures that must be followed by the executive branch to protect privacy of letters delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. But the president issued a written statement at the time he signed the law emphasizing his own independent authority to order, without a warrant, that mail be opened for inspection."

Please, if you care about the sanctity and security of the US Mail, pick up the phone and call Congress today! The toll-free number for Congress is 1-800-862-5530. If that doesn't work, call 202-225-3121 and ask for your member of Congress and your two Senators. If we're lucky, we could just nip this craziness in the bud before it gets any worse.

And for more information, come to www.postalworkersunited.blogspot.com