APWU President Cliff Guffey will testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Sept. 19. The hearing will address “reforming and renewing the Postal Service” and a bill proposed by Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Republican Tom Coburn (R-OK).

The APWU declared that the Carper-Coburn bill (S. 1486) was “fatally flawed” when it was introduced in early August, just before Congress adjourned for a five-week recess. The bill “punishes the working men and women of the United States Postal Service; slashes service to the American people, and fails to protect the USPS from the impending financial disaster Congress set in motion in 2006 with the passage of the PAEA,” Guffey said.

Guffey will testify about the urgent need to enact postal legislation that addresses the cause of the manufactured USPS financial crisis; stops the dismantling of the mail processing and retail network, and protects the rights and benefits of postal employees.

In a joint letter to Senate Majority Harry Reid on Aug. 5 [PDF] the four postal unions expressed “utter dismay” at the introduction of S. 1486. The bill continues the disastrous policy of mandating massive pre-funding of retiree health benefits and provides for major downsizing measures to pay for it, the letter notes.

The Carper-Coburn bill threatens postal employees’ federal pension and health benefits by making them subject to interest arbitration, a move the APWU and other postal unions vehemently oppose.

S. 1486 also would facilitate the dismantling of the Postal Service’s mail processing, retail and delivery networks, and would seriously harm the 7.5 million Americans who work in private companies that rely on the USPS, the union presidents wrote.

The Sept. 19 hearing is the first of two the committee intends to hold in the coming weeks, and “will focus on postal services, including delivery schedules, delivery standards, and post office services; possible changes in the postal ratemaking system; and innovation at the Postal Service, including the potential offering of new and innovative products and services,” according to the letter inviting Guffey to testify.

The hearing is expected to be webcast, but the committee has not announced plans to do so yet. The hearing is set for 10 a.m.