Posted on 04/11/2020 2:31:53 AM PDT by Libloather
The U.S. Postal Service will run out of operational funds by the end of September unless Congress intervenes, Postmaster General Megan Brennan told members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in a Thursday video conference.
Mail volume has dramatically slowed during the coronavirus crisis due to widespread business closures, and the USPS is bracing for a steep drop in revenue. But its postal workers remain on the front lines of the crisis, handling prescription drug shipments, lab test materials and medical supplies that are crucial to efforts to contain the virus. Mail-in voting has also allowed the democratic process to survive in the era of social distancing.
The Postal Service, which employs 650,000 people, is asking for $75 billion in aid from the government, and, according to The New York Times, another $14 billion to pay off debt related to a retirement benefits program - a whopping $89 billion total.
Yet because the Postal Service technically operates under the executive branch, and President Donald Trump has displayed a bizarre hostility to it since taking office, it seems likely that the agency will receive some pushback.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.huffpost.com ...
A guy I know is a union rep / negotiator. The stories he tells me are incredible, about the childish pissing matches the employees get in with each other, and with their management, and how some of the employees are always blatantly in disregard of the rules.
I just mentioned to Mr. GG2 that when my Mom’s generation passes the P.O will be obsolete. Most people pay bills online and send email. Fed Ex and UPS could take over the Post office business. The last time I used the mail was Christmas cards.
They need to start charging more for junk mail.
Yesterday I received an Easter card from my aunt who is 94. I think 90% of our first class mail is from various Republican entities wanting money.
However, I receive at least one fundraising text per day.
The only thing we get is junk mail and bills.
The key to this whole thing is the $19 billion pension save.
No more public pensions!
I purchased an item off of Ebay. According to the tracking number, it was to be delivered to me today (I live in a southern state) having shipped from Wisconsin. Tracking shows it is now in Pittsburg, PA. Very common for USPS to takes 2-4 weeks for what should have been delivered in a few days.
I have on occasion gone to USPS’ website and filled the form out for missing mail. Even after the item finally gets delivered to me, I still get emails 2-3 months later informing me they are still looking for it. So filling out the “missing mail” form is a waste of time.
One thing I have found out is unionized public workers don’t care.
Yep. I ran a mail route OTR and found these laggards to be the most inefficient. Union rules be damned.
There is nothing the USPS can do that the private shippers cannot do better. Let it fail.
I bought 6 packs of “forever” stamps 5 years ago as a hedge against future cost increases.
These days, I use 1 stamp a month. ONE stamp. That is it. Everything else is electronic or automatic pay. For the very few bills I mail in such as utilities, I tend to write a check covering 6 months of bills, so I only have to make 2 payments a year. At 0.9% interest rates, I am really not worried about losing the interest over 6 months, which amount to almost nothing.
1 stamp a month. LOL.
95% of my mail is simply junk mail. I would really welcome USPS insolvency and dismantling if it meant no more junk mail.
Does anybody else remember life 30 years ago when there was almost no junk mail at all, or Infomercials, or reality TV, press 1 for English, etc.
Life is not getting better. Technology is, but life isn’t.
Completely defund USPS and keep one office open in Washington DC to meet the Constitutional mandate. Problem solved.
Employees get an unpaid half hour lunch during their regular tour of duty. You going to tell them they cant take a nap at an approved lunch stop if they so desire?
I don’t see a Constitutional mandate for a US post office.
My reading of the Constitution says that “ Congress shall have the power to establish Post Offices and post roads.”
That Congress has such power does not mean Congress has to weild it. They are free to dismantle it as they see fit.
I recently shipped a small, bulky item.
I went to the post office where the clerk said I could not have a flexible bubbly envelopebo fit the small, bulky item but had to use a stiff cardboard envelope. She handd me a Sharpie and told me to write the shipping address and return address.
I left.
I then went to FedEx where the very polite clerk had the exact flexible envelope I asked for, and created printed labels for the the shipping and return address, and labeled the envelop. Done quckly and more cheaply than USPS.
F USPS. Let them burn.
Sweeping generalization and untrue on my part. I see many customers every day on my 700+ stop route. I have formed great relationships with people during my 26 career and feel very disappointed when I dont have either the heart pills Mrs. Johnson is waiting for or the viagara Mr. Smith is anxiously awaiting.
Thank you. But those numbers don’t make any sense. 496,934 in 2019 and 650,000 one year later?
GREAT POST ALERT... GREAT POST ALERT
I wonder if every generation remembers theirs as being better.
But I think in stats there is truth.
And if happiness were measured, I think that unfortunately we’d crush today’s generation.
And I wish it wasn’t so.
Ciao FRiend
You're right. USPS employment is now closer to 350,000.
Imagine that. Fake news.
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