Letter carriers picket Bond's offices

CLAYTON, Mo. -- Angry that Sen. Kit Bond has put a hold on legislation related to postal rates, letter carriers held informational picketing outside of the Republican's Missouri offices on Tuesday.

About two dozen members of the National Association of Letter Carriers walked in front of Bond's office in the St. Louis suburb of Clayton, carrying signs like, "Bond: Give Us an Up or Down Vote."

The AFL-CIO association, with about 220,000 city letter carriers as active members, said the proposed legislation would give the U.S. Postal Service greater flexibility to manage its operations and set prices.

"It's totally unfair for one senator out of 100 to hold up this vote," said Arthur Buck, a national business agent with the association, which also picketed outside Bond's offices in Kansas City, Jefferson City and Springfield.

Bond's position is that the current Senate version of the bill is "just a sham disguised as reform," said his spokesman, Rob Ostrander.

A bill to overhaul the Postal Service passed the House by a 410-20 vote in July. Bond wants language that was in the House version to be included in the Senate bill before it moves forward, language allowing mailers to challenge prices for mail if they feel the rates are not "fair and equitable."

Bond has said that language -- backed by Kansas City, Mo.-based Hallmark Cards Inc. and other companies that rely on first-class mail -- would keep consumers from being hit with higher postage rates to subsidize discounts for large bulk mailers.

"Sen. Bond is always going to take into account how federal policies affect jobs in his state as well as the American public at large and this bill hurts everybody except the junk mailers," Ostrander said.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, whose constituents include the outdoor retailer and mail-order business L.L. Bean -- has argued the language would reduce the flexibility of the Postal Service to set its own rates.

Postal rate changes are approved by the Postal Rate Commission, and under current law, if someone believes it unfairly benefits one type of mailer, they can challenge it.

Collins has said the current rate-setting system is "long, litigious and expensive."

She proposed a bill allowing the Postal Service to raise its rates annually, with a cap tied to the Consumer Price Index. The letter carriers' association supports her measure. "We believe this is probably the fairest and most equitable way to do it," Buck said.

Opponents are concerned that the Postal Service could increase rates unevenly, with consumers facing higher card and letter rates to subsidize discounts for bulk mailers.

Spokespeople for both Hallmark and L.L. Bean said the postal reform is about much more than their companies.

Hallmark spokeswoman Linda Odell said individuals sending first-class mail could face higher costs, if a "fair and equitable" standard isn't included. "You should be concerned that catalogs you receive could be financed by a higher rate for a first-class letter. That's what we don't want to see here."

L.L. Bean spokesman John Oliver said the postal reform has broad bipartisan support and is long overdue. "The status quo is not sustainable," he said. He said the changes could "firm up the revenue base of the Postal Service," and he saw that as having potential benefits both for individual and bulk mailers.

Letter carriers also said in the age of the Internet, postal reform is necessary. Keith Pulliam of St. Louis, a letter carrier for 21 years, called Bond's office to express his views.

"Mr. Bond, you may want to reconsider what you're doing here," he recalled saying. He believes the changes would make for a healthier postal system in the future, and that, he said, sounds like job security to a letter carrier.