PTO and patent examiner union should focus on goal of patent quality and timeliness

The Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) is the union representing patent examiners at the patent office.  The POPA newsletter is certainly a propaganda piece, but it always reflects some semblance of truth and provides a gauge of the PTO esprit de corps.  In the most recent issue (February-March 2005) POPA discusses its contract negotiations with the PTO:

While boosting fees to the patent-user community, the USPTO hopes to slash examiner award pay and workplace benefits. If it succeeds, the agency's next step likely could be upping the already-high examiner work goals. The USPTO proposals undervalue the examiners' job, reduce quality by increasing speed-at-all-costs, and impede the government's ability to attract top-notch recruits to the USPTO ranks.

My hope is that the PTO and the examiner’s union can come to an agreement that makes the examiners happy by reward them for high-quality and timely work.