Burrus Responds: Not Giving Up on 6-Day Delivery

Long-time postal union leader William Burrus objected today to a Dead Tree Edition article that indicated he might be giving up on trying to preserve Saturday delivery.

Burrus' blog post, Pick Your Fight, was clearly a response to my article Sunday called Throwing in the Towel on 5-Day Delivery?. In the interest of fairness, Dead Tree Edition is republishing his entire commentary below, along with some comments [in brackets].

One of the web sites that focuses on postal issues [that would be Dead Tree Edition] recently suggests that I favor "throwing in the towel" on 5 day delivery by supporting the Obama plan for postal reform. [The "throwing in the towel" phrase was in a rhetorical question, not a statement.] This analysis misinterprets my suggested course for addressing the USPS’ dilemma. The choices offered in this political struggle are:

1. Issa/Ross - Carper/McCain

a. A Republican controlled House and

b. A Democratic Chairman in the Senate who accepts the GAO report [which says the federal government didn't overcharge the U.S. Postal Service for pensions, contrary to most expert views]

2. Obama proposal that includes 5 day delivery

3. HR 1351 which has major obstacles in the House and Senate. The path to passage would require a miracle and even then you would be only half way there, requiring Senate confirmation

Each of these options is unacceptable in their present form but the Obama fight is much more targeted and would be among friends

I do not suggest "throwing in the towel on 5 day delivery” but settling on a specific target and directing all the guns in one direction. It gives you a better chance of hitting something you want to eat. [I think he's saying that the Obama plan, though flawed, is the best hope for stopping the Issa/Ross "FEATPO" (Fire Everyone at the Post Office) plan; stopping five-day delivery is a future battle.]

And to the blogger [not I] who continues to write about the timing of my retirement, I suggest that when he reaches 53 years of service at the age of 75 he will be qualified to question my decision. [That may refer to an anonymous commenter on the "throwing in the towel" article who said, "I loved that Burris (sic) retires before the most critical time in APWU history since 1970" and added, "He knew it was crunch time and he got off the ship first like a rat or cowardly captain of the ship." My question to Anonymous: If Burrus was supposed to wait until APWU and USPS were not in crisis, how old would he be upon retirement?]