Postal Worker Dispute Sent Into Arbitration

WASHINGTON —  A dispute over wages and job security for 660,000 unionized Postal Service workers was sent into binding arbitration early today after negotiators failed to meet a midnight contract deadline and called off further talks.

Union leaders accused Postal Service officials of refusing to bargain with them, while Postmaster General Anthony M. Frank said the unions’ demands would have “priced the Postal Service out of business.”

No disruption in mail service is expected because federal law prohibits postal workers from striking.

“It was a charade. We waited untold hours by the telephone for their phone calls,” Vincent Sombrotto, president of the 234,000-member National Letter Carriers Union, said at a midnight news conference at the hotel where the Postal Service had held talks with its four largest unions.

Frank, holding his own news conference minutes later, said workers’ demands for a $50-billion pay increase package are an “off-the-wall” proposal that has derailed the collective bargaining process.

“At a time that thousands of American workers are facing layoffs or real wage and benefit reductions, the unions have insisted on unrealistic pay increases,” Frank said. “Continuation of these talks at this time would not be productive.”

Under federal law, a fact-finding commission will be established, under the direction of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, to review the dispute. It will report back to both sides within 45 days. If management and labor still can’t reach agreement, an arbitration panel will settle the dispute.

The arbitration process could take more than three months.

However, both sides could agree to go back to bargaining at any time and settle the dispute on their own.

Key issues in the talks that started nearly three months ago involved pay increases and how many part-time workers the Postal Service should be allowed to hire to help it shift to automation.

The Postal Service had offered workers automatic cash bonuses of $950 over two years and additional performance-based bonuses of up to $1,100 a year if certain customer satisfaction and budget goals were met.

Unions, seeking a three-year contract, asked for 8% pay increases the first year and 7% raises the next two years. Letter carriers and clerks now make between $24,000 and $31,500 a year, plus an additional $8,500 in benefits.

Another key issue was the Postal Service’s efforts to increase its part-time work force.

Unions complained that the Postal Service would no longer have career-oriented jobs that provided sound benefits.