Grants certain qualified postmasters' organizations the right to participate in program planning and development pertaining to pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefits.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 177 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 177
To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code, relating to
the manner in which pay policies and schedules and fringe benefit
programs for postmasters are established.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 25, 2001
Mr. Akaka (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Inouye, Mr.
Cleland, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Baucus,
Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Kennedy, Mr.
Edwards, Mr. Reed, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Daschle)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code, relating to
the manner in which pay policies and schedules and fringe benefit
programs for postmasters are established.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Postmasters Fairness and Rights
Act''.
SEC. 2. POSTMASTERS TO BE COVERED BY AGREEMENTS RELATING TO PAY
POLICIES AND SCHEDULES AND FRINGE BENEFIT PROGRAMS.
Section 1004 of title 39, United States Code, is amended by
redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as subsections (i) and (j),
respectively, and by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
``(g)(1) Within 45 days after each date on which an agreement is
reached on a collective bargaining agreement between the Postal Service
and the bargaining representative recognized under section 1203 which
represents the largest number of employees, the Postal Service shall
make a proposal for any changes in pay policies and schedules and
fringe benefit programs for postmasters which are to be in effect
during the same period as covered by such agreement.
``(2) The Postal Service and the postmasters' organization (or, if
more than 1, all postmasters' organizations) shall strive to resolve
any differences concerning the proposal described in paragraph (1).
``(3) If, within 60 days following the submission of the proposal,
the Postal Service and the postmasters' organization (or organizations)
are unable to reach agreement, either the Postal Service or the
postmasters' organization (or organizations jointly) shall have the
right to refer the dispute to an arbitration board established under
paragraph (4).
``(4) An arbitration board shall be established to consider and
decide a dispute arising under paragraph (3) and shall consist of 3
members, 1 of whom shall be selected by the Postal Service, 1 by the
postmasters' organization (or organizations jointly), and the third by
the 2 members thus selected. If either the Postal Service or the
postmasters' organization (or organizations) fail to select a member
within 30 days after the dispute is referred to an arbitration board
under this subsection, or if the members chosen fail to agree on the
third person within 5 days after their first meeting, the selection
shall be made by the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service.
``(5) The arbitration board shall give the parties a full and fair
hearing, including an opportunity for each party to present evidence in
support of its claims and an opportunity to present its case in person,
by counsel, or by such other representative as such party may elect.
Decisions by the arbitration board shall be conclusive and binding upon
the parties. The arbitration board shall render its decision within 45
days after its appointment.
``(6) Costs of the arbitration board shall be shared equally by the
Postal Service and the postmasters' organization (or organizations),
with the Postal Service to be responsible for one-half of those costs
and the postmasters' organization (or organizations) to be responsible
for the remainder.
``(7) Nothing in this subsection shall be considered to affect the
application of section 1005.''.
SEC. 3. RIGHT OF POSTMASTERS' ORGANIZATIONS TO PARTICIPATE IN PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS.
The second sentence of section 1004(b) of title 39, United States
Code, is amended by striking ``or that a managerial organization (other
than an organization representing supervisors) represents a substantial
percentage of managerial employees,'' and inserting ``or that a
managerial organization (other than an organization representing
supervisors or postmasters) represents a substantial percentage of
managerial employees, or that an organization qualifies as a
postmasters' organization,''.
SEC. 4. POSTMASTERS AND POSTMASTERS' ORGANIZATION DEFINED.
Subsection (i) of section 1004 of title 39, United States Code, as
redesignated by section 2, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (2) by striking the period at the end and
inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) `postmaster' means an individual who manages, with or
without the assistance of subordinate managers or supervisors,
the operations of a post office; and
``(4) `postmasters' organization' means, with respect to a
year, any organization of postmasters whose membership as of
June 30th of the preceding year included not less than 20
percent of all individuals employed as postmasters as of that
date.''.
SEC. 5. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Section 1001(e) of title 39, United States Code, is amended (in
the matter before paragraph (1)) by inserting ``agreements under
section 1004(g),'' after ``regulations,''.
(b) Section 1003(a) of title 39, United States Code, is amended in
the first sentence by inserting ``section 1004(g) of this title,''
before ``section 8G''.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect after the end of
the 90-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
Committee on Governmental Affairs referred to Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation and Federal Services.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line