The Postal Service can’t afford unions

American Postal Workers Union chief William Burrus doesn’t think it’s absurd. In fact, he recently called the idea that arbitrators should consider the USPS’s financial position “antidemocratic.”

The APWU is currently in contract negotiations with the USPS. When asked about the possibility of union concessions in light of the USPS’s financial woes, Burrus called a pay increase for his members an “entitlement” and stated that his union wants “more control over activities at work, more money, better benefits — we want more.”

The sad reality is that having watched the unionized workforces at GM and Chrysler receive preferential treatment from the federal government, there’s little incentive for Burrus and the postal unions to not ask for more. The postal unions are likely betting that in a worst case financial scenario for the USPS, policymakers will tap taxpayers for a bailout. Unfortunately, if recent history is a guide, they’re probably correct.

Tad DeHaven is a budget analyst at the Cato Institute and co-editor of www.downsizinggovernment.org.