Air Courier Conference of America v. American Postal Workers Union, Afl-Cio

Summary

Chief Justice Rehnquist's opinion of the Court held that postal employees fall outside the zone of interests protected by the Private Express Statutes and therefore cannot challenge the Postal Service's suspension of those statutes for international remailing. The statutes protect postal revenues to ensure nationwide service, not postal employment, and their inclusion in the Postal Reorganization Act does not connect them sufficiently to that Act's labor protections. The Court also concluded that an exemption from APA review is a waivable, nonjurisdictional defense and declined to decide whether the Postal Service was exempt. It reversed without reaching the regulation's validity. Justice Stevens, joined by Justices Marshall and Blackmun, concurred in the judgment, reasoning instead that 39 U.S.C. § 410(a) excludes APA review and makes the zone-of-interests question unnecessary.