If Congress wants to limit USPS subcontracting, lawmakers should enact legislation compelling the Postal Service to bargain over the issue, APWU President William Burrus told a House subcommittee on July 19, rather than intervening in specific contracting-out disputes. 

In informal remarks to the subcommittee, NALC President Bill Young endorsed Burrus’ message. “Last time we testified before this committee, it seemed we were in total disagreement,” he said. “Today we are in total agreement.” It was the intervention of Congress that helped the NALC secure a tentative contract, he said. Requiring the Postal Service to engage in collective bargaining on subcontracting “is a good approach,” Young concluded.

At a hearing in April there was debate over whether subcontracting was a matter of public policy or collective bargaining, he noted. “It turns out, everyone was right.”
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Related links: 

Outsourcing Hearing Generates Sparks – But No Fire
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) questioned Vice Chairman Alan Kessler about the Board of Governors’ deliberations in evaluating outsourcing postal functions. In response, in addition to fiscal considerations, the Vice-Chair implied that the contracting-out discussions could have been colored by the composition of the Board of Governors – 5 Republican members and 4 Democratic members. (eNAPUS Legislative & Political Bulletin)

Union seeks mandatory bargaining over mail delivery contracting (Govexec.com)