I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 250
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 30, 2001
Mrs. MORELLA (for herself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. EHRLICH,
Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CARDIN,
Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. THOMAS M. DAVIS of Vir-
ginia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. RUSH, Mr.
MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. FROST, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. SKEEN, Mr.
ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. HOLDEN, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. CAL-
VERT, Mrs. CAPPS, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. SKELTON, Ms.
HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KING, Mr. BERRY,
Mr. WOLF, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. RIVERS,
Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. SESSIONS,
Mr. EVANS, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BROWN of
Ohio, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. LUTHER, Mr.
KLECZKA, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. GORDON, Mr. RAHALL, Mr.
COYNE, Mr. GANSKE, Mr. PETRI, Mr. FILNER, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mrs.
EMERSON, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.
LOBIONDO, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr.
ACKERMAN, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. SAXTON, Mr.
MOORE, Mr. RILEY, Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, and Ms. BALDWIN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Govern-
ment Reform
A BILL
To amend the provisions of title 39, United States Code,
relating to the manner in which pay policies and sched-
ules and fringe benefit programs for postmasters are
established.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. POSTMASTERS TO BE COVERED BY AGREEMENTS
RELATING TO PAY POLICIES AND SCHED-
ULES AND FRINGE BENEFIT PROGRAMS.
Section 1004 of title 39, United States Code, is
amended by redesignating subsections (g) and (h) as sub-
sections (i) and (j), respectively, and by inserting after
subsection (f) the following:
‘‘(g)(1) The Postal Service shall, within 45 days of
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, 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’ organi-
zation (or, if more than 1, all postmasters’ organizations)
shall strive to resolve any differences concerning the pro-
posal described in paragraph (1).
‘‘(3) If, within 60 days following the submission of
the proposal, the Postal Service and the postmasters’ or-
ganization (or organizations) are unable to reach agree-
ment, either the Postal Service or the postmasters’ organi-
zation (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 con-
sider and decide a dispute arising under paragraph (3)
and shall consist of 3 members, 1 of whom shall be se-
lected by the Postal Service, 1 by the postmasters’ organi-
zation (or organizations jointly), and the third by the 2
thus selected. If either the Postal Service or the post-
masters’ 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 mem-
bers 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. De-
cisions 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’ organi-
zation (or organizations), with the Postal Service to be re-
sponsible 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 PAR-
TICIPATE 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 rep-
resenting supervisors) represents a substantial percentage
of managerial employees,’’ and inserting ‘‘or that a mana-
gerial organization (other than an organization rep-
resenting supervisors or postmasters) represents a sub-
stantial 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 so redesignated by section 2, is amended
by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (1), by striking
the period at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting a
semicolon, and by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) ‘postmaster’ means an individual who
manages, with or without the assistance of subordi-
nate managers or supervisors, the operations of a
post office; and
‘‘(4) ‘postmasters’ organization’ means, with re-
spect 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 individ-
uals 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 insert-
ing ‘‘agreements under section 1004(g),’’ after ‘‘regula-
tions,’’.
(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.
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