[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl92Exgh9yI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
5 thoughts on “The Postal Service’s real problem? An accounting glitch?”
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl92Exgh9yI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
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Interesting video. This can be fixed without gutting the union. Aside from accounting issues, other steps can save the Postal Service. Like any other government agency, the place is crawling with way too much management. Like any other government agency, these managers mismanage, all in and effort to somehow cook the books and show how they, and they alone were responsible for mail volume increases, and on time delivery. Right now for every four carriers, clerks, and mailhanders, there is one part-time, ZERO benefits, $13 an hour postal worker, who at the end of a one year stint is shown the door. And the door continues to revolve in that fashion. Work em into the ground with false promises of permanent employment for a year, then turn em over, while management cuts themselves a very generous yearly bonus.
That’s how it works for one in five postal workers. If the republican party has it’s way, that’s how it will work for ALL the craft employees. Think about it. If this is enacted, this will take away over 300 middle-class incomes. 300 more people who will not be using an “Event” Center.
It’s not simply “the internet” – it’s the convenient, online bill-paying that didn’t catch on until around ’06. All credit card companies, insurers, and utility services began actively pushing “paperless” billing since then. Printed catalogs, news media and advertising had already started to die a slow death by then as well.
What’s actually “gutting” things like the PO and auto industry are the Union-negotiated pensions and benefits. Gov. bail outs are simply allowing present jobs to be temporarily kept – so more money is handed over to those on pensions and sick leave.
Sam is right the PO problem has resulted from the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. (that would be the Bush years) The biggest mistake to come from that bill is requiring the USPS to prefund its future retiree health benefits. This is costing the Post Office many billions of dollars every year, it is funded for 70 years from what a union leader said on Ed Schultz’s radio and TV show. It has nothing to do with people sending emails and paying their bills on the internetS.
The Post Office can not be privatized, for anyone thinking that is the solution. Do you think that FedEx or UPS will deliver a letter to Dad, Wyoming or Puckwana, South Dakota, or any little town in the United States for the price of a first class stamp, 44 cents? The answer is NO.
And in terms that every one can understand, Cong. Issa is an asshole. And in years gone by the Sioux Falls PO has had a history of being very nasty to union workers.
I knew the PO was in trouble when they started selling Reagan stamps.
They have a lot of problems and it is going to take a lot of restructuring to keep them afloat. Just look at some of the small towns who have post offices for 40 or 50 people. That is idiotic, and no private company would ever find it efficient to operate in that manner.
They need to close locations and consolidate. Then they should drop residential Saturday delivery unless a premium is paid. They should also expand the “last mile” delivery services for FedEx and UPS etc to earn more revenue.
They need to bring in customer service efficiency experts that will train them to not all go to lunch when there are 18 people in line, and they need to take a long look at their long term pensions to see if they still make sense. Do they need to fund them at current levels, or can they make adjustments? Do the current pay structures and benefits align with other government jobs or are they still considered top tier? Do they have too many chiefs and not enough indians or are they well balanced?
There is a reason there are about 100 applicants for every open postal position… and it has nothing to do with people just liking to wear shorts in the summer. It is still a great gig to get – especially for retired military with 20 years service. If they work for the USPS for another 20, they can retire with two pensions… that is a pretty sweet deal for the few who can manage to make it work.
That said, they should really change the laws so licensed companies like UPS and FedEx (and whoever else wants to pay the fee) could start using your mail box for deliveries. The USPS should not have a monopoly on mailbox delivery just because they happen to be the government.