DALLAS—Jon Morris heads the Texas Reform Caucus in the National American Letter Carriers (NALC) union. Contract negotiations with Post Office management are underway, and Morris’ group has a lot of ideas for helping. Before his March 8 interview with People’s World he had been speaking with other reform chairpersons across the country.
They are pushing for participation in May Day events if no acceptable contract settlement has been reached. On May 22, they foresee nationwide informational pickets.
The reform movement hopes to go beyond the union membership and motivate many other groups and individuals to help the 295,000 active and retired Letter Carriers in the United States and its territories. They especially hope to work closely with other postal employees, such as the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA). Retirees and the general public are included in their plans. Morris believes that people with the same bosses, who benefit or lose from each other’s successes and failures, have been divided for too long.
The reform movement wants more than pay increases. Among other things, they want to end the churn for new employees. Morris estimates that an estimated 54% of new hires don’t finish out their first year. The problem is how they are paid and how they are treated. During their first two years, they are treated like interns or temporary help, according to Morris.
As always in contract negotiations, Post Office management claims poverty. But Morris thinks that management is the problem. He said that the post office is “bloated with management, and they are trying to make the letter carriers pay for it, but it is their mismanagement causing their financial problems.”
Morris noted that the Reform Caucus originated the idea of the February 22 national day of action before the union leadership picked it up. In his own area of North Texas, there were three separate rallies. The Dallas rally drew support from the President of the Texas AFL-CIO and top letter carrier leaders.
As always, when Dallas labor holds events, the Young Active Labor Leaders (YALL) and the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans joined in support. Undoubtedly, the largest single solidarity group came from the seniors’ organization.
The event drew reporters from the commercial print and TV media. The theme, “Fight Like Hell,” resonated well in the coverage. Those who study labor history can remember 1970, when letter carriers went on a wildcat strike in direct opposition to restrictive laws. The saying, “the only illegal strike is the one that didn’t win,” held true, and Letter Carriers established themselves as one of the most militant and progressive unions of that time.
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