[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>