(CNSNews.com) - The head of the letter carriers' union is warning the U.S. Postal Service not to outsource mail delivery to private contractors -- because doing so would weaken the nation's defense against terrorist attacks.

"The threat to the quality and security of the mail posed by low-wage contract workers cannot be overstated," said William H. Young in an address to the National Association of Letter Carriers' convention in Las Vegas.

"In the midst of a global war on terror, now is not the time to open a hole in the nation's defenses by giving unscreened, contingent workers access to the mail stream."

The Postal Service recently announced that it may contract out work at postal Air Mail centers -- and according to an NALC press release, that "could lead postal management into a right-wing temptation to contract out letter carrier work.

"The Postal Service, as an institution, would make a tragic mistake if it is led astray by these extreme attitudes and views," Young said.

The NALC said it will "rally the public, the mailers and our members to resist" if the Postal Service "chooses back-door privatization" by "flirting with contracting-out."

"There is already one Wal-Mart in America. We don't need a second one," Young said.

In his keynote address, Young also discussed the upcoming contract negotiations with the Postal Service, which begin on August 28 in Washington.

The union is seeking pay increases "that reward carriers for their contributions to the success of USPS." The union also wants a "better system of adjusting postal routes."

According to the U.S. Postal Service's "Strategic Transformation Plan" for 2006-2010, the USPS "will become even more streamlined and efficient."

The plan commits the USPS to "continue taking $1 billion out of its cost base each year through 2010 while employing equally aggressive measures to grow the business."

The USPS notes that mail delivery services are its "largest and most challenging cost area," accounting for 43 percent of all expenses.

"Over the next five years, the Postal Service will draw on its outsourcing experience to explore additional opportunities for outsourcing services," the Strategic Transformation Plan says.

Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-Brief.

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.