Posted on 11/10/2008 6:36:36 PM PST by mbj
SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) - "We lost 2 billion dollars and like any other business we have to stay afloat." And to keep from sinking, the United States Postal Service is considering cutting thousands of jobs nationwide. Lavelle Pepper with the post office in Shreveport says they too are feeling the affects of the same disease hitting the country... a struggling economy. "We employ about 685,000 people. If we do layoffs it would include clerks, carriers, mail handlers across all crafts."
Pepper says the postal service is looking to eliminate 40,000 jobs nationwide.
(continued at http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=9247633)
(Excerpt) Read more at ksla.com ...
It is amazing to me that amount of surliness that is encountered at the post office. There is one guy who has long hair who is always friendly..maybe he is a wannabe hippie even though he is too young..but mostly I encounter surliness from postal clerks.
“I could tell you some stuff that would make your hair curl”
I had a relative that worked there when she was in college. She said that if workers saw Fragile on a package they would try extra hard to damage it and say..should have bought insurance.
Unusual move for them. Usually they just jack up the rate of a stamp. They could probably cut the 40,000 positions through attrition without much difficulty. I suspect there is a lot of fat at the post office, and I don’t mean on the desk clerks.
I guess if you are a postal worker it is.
It's also a good indicator of how the economy is slowing down.
Isn't *that* common anywhere else in the business world? Non-union jobs, in a unionized organization, aren't covered under a contract, as union jobs are. There are very few permanent non-union jobs in the USPS. Most non-union jobs are TE (Temporary Employee) or PTF (Part Time Flex). They are hired, and laid off, as needed, and always have been...
the infowarrior
Subscribe to anything and everything that is free and sent through the mail. Then, buy a wood stove and use all that wonderful free carbon as a fuel to heat your home. The supply is endless! You'll save thousands of dollars on energy and the USPS is required by law to deliver it right to your house!
Hey, I'm doing MY part to save da ert!
CRAFTS??? you GOT to be kiddin me... next thing you know, they will want to be called mail room engineers or something.
Yea, but most of the time when the Post office announces “lay-offs”, Nobody actually looses a job. They do most of their cutting back by attrition and route restructuring, which always seems to end up with less full time routes, more part time routes and more part time staff, and the union in a tizzy filing grievances.
We also have the very best postal delivery system in the world. I have shipped thousands and thousands of packages within the US and have only had one go missing. Actually, I think the man was lying through his teeth.
Mail to Europe is a crap shoot. Mail in Italy? Forget it. One of the all time most screwed up mail systems in the world. Mail to South America, Central America? Never know if it is going to arrive. Jamaica? I have a client there who has everything delivered to an address in Florida. He then flies to Florida to pick it up as he’d never get a package sent to his home.
I’ve been shipping goods for years. I’ve no complaint about the USPO.
- -
Also heard from friends of mine at the USPO that the post office system in general is top heavy with redundant middle management who receive rather large bonuses each year. Your opinion?
Ummm... No... The early retirement push I spoke of earlier is going on right now, today, not a year, six months from now. The non-union cuts will be following in about 90 days or so. From there, who knows?
the infowarrior
Hey, junk mail is my friend! I cut out my address from each piece of junk mail and use it as a return address for packages.
Nope. Junk mail and bulk mail is what keeps first class mail alive. If carriers delivered nothing but first class mail, the post office would be bankrupt.
I volunteer at a state park, and from what I’ve seen, the jobs exist as long as people are employed in those spots, but during hard times, if people leave, they lose those “hours” from their “budget” and those positions are eliminated. Also, they either close the park or close for one day a week (mine is looking at closing on Mondays, for example).
Or, just tell the letter carrier that he can dump all the junk mail he doesn't feel like delivering in a bin you set up for him/her. Better than them tossing it into the river.
actually junk mail subsidizes first class mail. Do you really think it only costs 42 cents to get a letter from Miami to Anchorage?
actually junk mail subsidizes first class mail. Do you really think it only costs 42 cents to get a letter from Miami to Anchorage?
Personally speaking....I have shipped thousands of packages by the USPS...and have had EXTREMELY great service.
I think they a do a great job.....overall.
sigh, welcome to the age of obama
Less "fat" than you might think. My section (Tour 3 Maintenance, which means that I repair mail processing machines during the hours where the incoming mail is received for processing) has been continually understaffed for the last 4 years. Its so bad now, that I am usually, the only electronics technician on the floor during those hours on Saturday and Sunday, with almost half a dozen Preventive Maintenance routes to perform, while still fielding breakdown calls...
the infowarrior
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.