The U.S. Postal Service is slashing its administrative ranks by 15 percent and cutting 1,400 mail processing supervisors and management positions at 400 facilities across the country, the economically imperiled organization announced today. In addition, the Postal Service is closing six of its 80 district offices, a move that will eliminate another 500 positions. USPS is also offering early retirement opportunity to 150,000 postal employees nationwide. The actions are expected to save the Postal Service more than $100 million a year. Affected employees will have four months to find work elsewhere in the Postal Service, at an equal or lower pay…
Browsing: Postal Service
Facing a $3 billion deficit, the U.S. Postal Service is cutting work hours, raising postal rates and asking Congress for permission to reduce its six-day delivery schedule and alter how it pays for retirees’ health benefits. So why then is it purchasing million-dollar homes from its employees? According to an eye-opening CNN report, the Postal Service purchased 1,022 homes during the past two years from employees who were ordered to relocate. The average cost of those homes was nearly $258,000, but the agency bought 14 homes at between $1 million and $2.8 million. Just last month, the Postal Service bought…
Should the CEO of a company posting billions in annual losses receive a 50 percent raise and a six-figure bonus? And I’m not talking about the banks, or the crumbling auto companies. I’m talking about the U.S. Postal Service. ABC News reported last night that the postmaster general, John Potter, received almost an $80,000 raise last year — his base salary is now $263,575 — along with a $135,041 “incentive bonus.” This in a year when the Postal Service posted a $2.8 billion loss. Throw in retirement benefits and other perks, and his annual salary comes to more than $850,000. I don’t…
The House of Representatives may soon send a message to the United States Postal Service — you’d better deliver the mail six days a week. Facing falling revenues, the USPS has suggested a series of cutbacks, including eliminating Saturday mail service. That didn’t set well with four representatives, who introduced HRes 173 Friday: “A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States Postal Service should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-day mail delivery service.” The resolution, sent to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is sponsored by Reps. Samuel…
We’ve been writing a lot lately about the Postal Service’s financial woes, and I thought a few graphics might illustrate why it’s in such a tough position. First, mail volume since 2000. You’ll notice that First-Class and Express mail volumes have dropped significantly; Standard Mail has increased modestly: Standard Mail dipped a bit last year. That’s probably temporary: Once the economy turns around, the numbers will stabilize. But the declines in First-Class and Express Mail? Those are probably permanent.
We reported last week that Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., introduced an amendment to the stimulus bill that would allow the Postal Service to pay its current retiree health benefits out of the trust fund earmarked for future retiree benefits. That change would help the Postal Service plug its budget deficit, expected to top $3 billion this year. Well, Carper introduced the amendment four times — but it doesn’t seem to be part of the final stimulus bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday. The bil doesn’t mention the Postal Service at all. Obviously, Congress can still pass separate legislation; H.R. 22,…
The Postal Service just announced its financial results from the first quarter of 2009, and they were pretty bleak. Bear in mind — the first quarter is usually the Postal Service’s busiest, because it encompasses the holiday season (it runs Oct. 1 – Dec. 31). Mail volume declined by 5.2 billion pieces, compared to 2008 — more than a 9 percent decline. The biggest decline was in Standard Mail, which dropped about 11 percent. That’s probably because of the recession; the housing and financial sectors are big mailers, so when they hit a downturn, so does Standard Mail. But First-Class…
You’ll still have to check the mailbox six days a week for the foreseeable future. I sat down yesterday with Dan Blair, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission, to talk about the Postal Service’s request to switch to 5-day delivery. Blair said it would be “months, at the quickest” before the change could be implemented. Congress would have to approve it; the PRC would have to review it; the Postal Service would have to work out logistics. We’re looking at well into fiscal 2010, if not 2011, but it’s really hard to speculate. There’s also some debate over how much…
A subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee is holding a hearing on the financial crisis and the Postal Service. (You can watch it live here.)Â Steve Losey is at the hearing, and he’ll have a longer story later, but I wanted to post a few important quotes; first, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said this in his opening statement: We may well be faced with a situation later this year where the Postal Service asks Congress to raise its borrowing limit or provide direct financial assistance. Those are steps I don’t think we should take. Put another way:…
Back in November, Gregg wrote about the potential for a bailout of the Postal Service, which had a $2.8 billion shortfall last year. Well someone has finally taken notice. And that someone is Lewis Black of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Federal Times does not endorse the views of Lewis Black, but we are a little excited about the screen time on the Daily Show. Â Back in Black – Bailouts Barack Obama Interview John McCain Interview Sarah Palin Video Funny Election Video The Daily Show With Jon StewartM – Th 11p / 10c