tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15832687.post1862276932779293806..comments2023-10-03T06:16:00.300-07:00Comments on Chas' Compilation: Coming Soon: No More Saturday Mail DeliveryChashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18165615466886851925noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15832687.post-30096445465929133842009-08-27T10:13:44.532-07:002009-08-27T10:13:44.532-07:00My husband is a TE for the PO. When he started out...My husband is a TE for the PO. When he started out they maid it sound like it was the best job ever and he would get ot and make good money. He gets 20.94 an hour. Here is what makes us mad! Because of craft carriers he can't start until 10am and he can't work past 5pm. They take out a half hour for lunch even if he does not take it. They told him he would have one day off a week plus Sunday. He does not know from one day to the next if they will need him or even if he has to go to another PO to work. We don't have benefits he gets no paid holidays. They have people working that should have been forced to retire along time ago! They sit and get paid to do nothing! <br /><br />They have way too many people that want to act like they are the boss! Like most of the government we have way too many people that are getting paid top dollar to sit and do nothing. Maybe we need to cut the cord. <br /><br />My husband has been working long enough to find sweet and kind people on the routes he does do. He has gotten drinks and cold towels and cookies while on the route. <br /><br />He was told if layoffs come he will be one of the first to go. He does the same job the same work in HALF the time craft carriers do and he gets pushed out! At Least he pays those union dues!!! To bad they can't do anything for him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15832687.post-15160227332288665512009-08-22T11:38:18.362-07:002009-08-22T11:38:18.362-07:00Is the post office subsidized? Technically, no. [....<i>Is the post office subsidized? Technically, no. [...]</i><br />I've had some people try to tell me that the post office is already privatized, but it's not true. There have been moves to make it more independent, but they still benefit from a government protected monopoly, and have access to U.S. Treasury loans to cover their shortfalls, and more, as explained in the links I posted. It may not be subsidized directly, but still is indirectly in many ways.<br /><br />Thanks for the information about the pensions and other changes. The USPS is still in transition. Many countries around the world are privatizing their postal services to various degrees, and I think our own service will to continue to go through many changes, for reasons you've mentioned.<br /><br />There are lots of factors involved, and lots to consider. I doubt we will ever see it 100% privatized, but hopefully it can be reformed more towards privatization, and eventually run more efficiently without ballooning debts and massive loans from taxpayers.Chashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18165615466886851925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15832687.post-74187092044023751632009-08-22T04:56:00.820-07:002009-08-22T04:56:00.820-07:00Fact check from a postal worker.
Is the post offi...Fact check from a postal worker.<br /><br />Is the post office subsidized? Technically, no. They do not pay the federal excise tax on oil and gasoline, but in exchange they inherit the pension burdens of veterans who are given hiring preferences and perform certain free tasks for government, including free mail for congress and the president and free mailings for the blind. I don't know if they make or lose money on this deal, but I think it makes sense to unmuddy the books by reversing this.<br /><br />Should the post office stop deliveries on Sat? I think so. But they MUST keep the offices open to accept parcels from the public or they will lose a bundle, and they should probably deliver express and priority parcels on Saturday as well. They could do so with a skeleton crew and keep from having their business completely cannibalized by UPS/FedEX.<br /><br />Fat pensions? The post offices pensions have been a joke since the 80's. Virtually all of the people who are grandfathered into the civil service pensions are gone and have been replaced by lousy 401ks which are all in the toilet. One reason the post office is losing money hand over fist right now is that their most expensive employees refuse to retire because they can't afford to thanks to the new retirement plan. And these new changes won't force them out either. They will force out the lowest paid employees that receive no benefits at all more than anyone else. Fully 1/4 of postal employees today work upwards of 9-10 years as Rural Carrier Associates (waiting for a full time position to open up for which they are senior and can bid for it). During this time, these people receive no benefits and are not working towards any retirement at all. Which means the average rural carrier today will have to work 39 years to be able to afford any kind of retirement... if their 401k (TSP account) holds up.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, the post office is mismanaged like nothing I have ever seen. And there are lots of gold-brickers as you point out. I think we will see Saturday delivery disappear very soon. And in the next 10 years, they will probably start delivering on alternating days, because this downward trend on mail volume is going to continue even when the recession is over. But, the postal service still delivered 175 Billion pieces of mail last year, so I think there is still some demand left. <br /><br />As for privitizing the USPS, who would want us?<br /><br />Personally, I would like to see graphs with overlays showing mail volume and stamp price increases. It is my personal opinion that the post office has blindly increased stamp prices beyond the thresholds that advertisers (read junk mail manufacturers) consider cost effective because in the past they have always been able to solve their budget short falls by raising stamp prices, but when we raise our prices 10% in the electronic age, advertisers are even more prone to shift their budgets to more targeted delivery systems, like the internet or the increasingly targeted advertising on television with 700 channels to choose from.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com