35,000 Postal Service jobs on the chopping block

[csziggy]

I've been waiting for this. I predicted this 15 yrs ago that they had better restructure because of the internet. Poor management, imo. I use to buy online and dreaded if the only shipment option was by USPS, because the pkgs would arrive bashed in and many of the glass objects were broken. UPS or FED-X is the best ....and cheaper. It's a shame.

The Post Office is managed just fine. They would have had a profit last year except for a pesky requirement passed by Congress in 2006:
In 2006, the GOP Congress passed a bill that required the Postal Service to fully fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years and to accomplish this within a 10-year period. Republicans are always insisting that the USPS be run like a good capitalist enterprise, but few, if any, private businesses could bear the burden of funding three-quarters of a century of retired employees’ medical costs over just one decade.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-postal-service-20130206,0,1078490.story

BBM

Not even the US Government has prefunded retiree health benefits 75 years in advance. Not one private corporation has done so either. It wasn't just the GOP - Democrats voted for this insane requirement.

Why does Congress want the Post Office to pay for retirement benefits for workers that haven't even been BORN yet? :banghead:

Oh - if you want to avoid the USPS delivery of your packages, you'd better pay a premium shipping rate. Both UPS and FedEx use the USPS for the "final mile" delivery on their cheapest rates in many area.

 

[nosysw]

I don't mind no mail delivery on Saturdays...it's mostly junk mail on Fridays and Saturdays anyway. I was surprised at some of the USPS bashing above. I love the service. It is cheaper, faster and more reliable than the other services, in my experience. I guess I'm lucky to live in a small town. The people in my PO are wonderful. And so is my mailman. I was sad when the one we had since I was a child retired, but the guy we've had for the past several years is great, too. I, too, have noted they are out longer and later than in the past. And don't forget they are out in ALL weather.

Now, when I lived in NY...that was a different animal. A mail carrier lived in my building. She would come home at two...hang out...and then go back for overtime. That is where the fat is. Like most bureaucracies, there are too many people taking advantage of the system (just like in the school system I work in).