Nelson condemns USPS Oshkosh union-busting coverup revealed at Congressional hearing
Appleton, Wis. – Outagamie County Executive and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Nelson on Tuesday condemned the coverup of the union-busting intent of Oshkosh Defense as it announced plans to move production of a new fleet of U.S. Postal Service vehicles to South Carolina from Wisconsin. U.S. Postal Service had initially claimed in its awarding of the contract that, “Oshkosh Defense is evaluating which of their several U.S. manufacturing locations is best suited to potentially increase the production rate of the NGDV.” At a House Oversight Committee hearing today, the Postal Service admitted Oshkosh Defense had told them they planned to build the vehicles in South Carolina before the official public announcement.
The bombshell revelation came under questioning from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Victoria Stephens, the Executive Director of the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle. Nelson called for the entire contract to be renegotiated. Said Nelson:
“Based on the information that was revealed today, it looks very much like the union-loathing leadership of the Postal Service was working with Oshkosh Defense to bust the union by moving jobs to a facility that, unlike the Wisconsin facility, had never done this type of production before.
They knew what they were doing – and they lied.
This is a betrayal of workers everywhere, but especially those at Oshkosh Defense, who, through no fault of their own, were stabbed in the back by political leaders like Louis DeJoy while also being abandoned by their hometown Senator Ron Johnson. It was the excellent reputation of UAW Local 578 that earned Oshkosh Defense the contract.
I agree with members of the House Oversight Committee who have said that this contract needs to be torn up and renegotiated since it was entered into in bad faith. It’s what’s right for workers. It’s what’s right for the environment. And it’s what’s right for Wisconsin.
Tear up this deal.”