What They Had to Say

In the past few days several major news publications have printed articles or editorials about the plight of the USPS.  All three agreed that major changes need to be made in order for the Agency to survive.

The Federal Times reported on PMG Potter's visit with Congress and his requests they allow five-day delivery, a large rate hike in 2011, post office closures, staffing cuts, and changing the way retiree health care benefits are financed.  The Times doesn't feel Congress will give these measures much chance because big mailers are against the rate hike, legislators don't like closing post offices or shortening the delivery week, and unions balk at staffing cuts. 

In an editorial for the March 10th edition of The Washington Post, they speculated that Congress is running out of time to save the Postal Service.  Approaching the limits of its federal credit line, the USPS must change drastically or go bust.  The article stated...."To really transform the Postal Service needs congressional action.  Some 26,000 of the Service's 32,000 post offices lose money.  Many of them should be closed and converted to kiosks or merged with big-box retail stores.  But federal law forbids closing post offices just because they operate at a deficit.  That needs to change.  So does the rule mandating service six days a week, though the USPS will have to find creative ways to serve those mailers for whom Saturday delivery is still a must."

Finally, The Post  addressed the issue of labor/management relations by saying..."Management and labor must aggressively tackle uncompetitive wages, benefits and work rules - including no-layoff clauses that cover most personnel.  Here to, Congress can help, by ordering labor arbitrators to take the Postal Service's financial health into account during the collective-bargaining process that begins later this year."

For the March 9th issue of The New York Times it was stated that in order to survive, Congress must allow the USPS to cut some services, close some post offices, and make other sensible changes.  Congress should retain oversight to ensure that all Americans still have reliable mail delivery.... Post offices in rural areas and other hard-to-reach places should not be closed and the Service must also work with other government agencies to ensure that people who receive crucial mail - such as Social Security checks - on Saturday, receive them on Friday rather than Monday.  The Times said the annual contribution to the fund to pay for future retiree health care beneftis should be reduced.  Also, they said that all Americans should not have to rely solely on private businesses for anything as fundamental as mail delivery.  That means Congress has a choice:  It can give the Postal Service some more flexibility to run like a business or it can start subsidizing it to the tune of $10 billion-plus a year.  The paper votes for flexibility.