Posted on 12/22/2012 3:42:05 PM PST by traumer
Despite most of Congress leaving town for the holidays, postal workers are continuing a hunger strike protesting legislation to save the United States Postal Service (USPS) through budget cuts.
The hunger strike began Tuesday and is expected to end late Saturday, according to The Washington Post.
Six former and current postal workers, part of a group called Communities and Postal Workers United, are calling the strike six days starving to save six-day delivery. Their goal is to stop Congress from reducing postal delivery to five days a week. We have to be on guard, to raise awareness and pressure the decision-makers as they wrangle back-room deals, group spokesman Jamie Partridge, a retired letter carrier from Portland, said in a statement.
The same small, grassroots group staged a hunger strike in June to protest legislation proposed to overhaul the service.
The agency lost $16 billion in fiscal year 2012, and needs to cut around $22.5 billion from its annual budget by 2016.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
/johnny
What’s this idiots e-mail address?
Why not raise the price of postage to $10 per letter? That should bring in plenty of money for six, or even seven day service.
Another one requiring a double take as it seems to be from The Onion or similar. Amazing.
Canada post dropped Saturday delivery decades ago when it was still called Royal Mail. We somehow managed to survive.
>> Their goal is to stop Congress from reducing postal delivery to five days a week.
Congress’ treatment of USPS is appalling. But not surprising given USPS revenue is tied to counter sales, not taxation.
USPS must make the tough decisions any corporation is required to make in tough economic times. Hope it arrives at a commercially successful point. I wish USPS well.
Jamie Partridge? Was he the drummer?
96 hours?
Weak.
They need to go for 96 days.
Dittos
USPS claims they suffer because of Email and the digital age. BS, BS, BS!!!! What about Ebay, Amazon and all the online retailer business generated by the Internet? They dare not mention their FAT CAT PENSION liabilities, oh no!!
I wish them well too, I may be one of the few here that thinks that sending a letter across country for 45¢ is a bargain.
They really haven't had to make those "tough decisions" you speak of, in the past. They are a government agency after all.
“What third-world country is this happening in?” I wondered...
I sent a package priority mail from Seattle to Los Angeles on Monday. According to tracking it didn’t leave Seattle until Wednesday. It has yet to be delivered. And you can’t get a refund.
E-mail address? How dare you! :)
I do too. I think USPS's core problem is that they can't make critical business decisions without government approval so everything becomes a patronage issue.
Speaking of email address, whatever happened to the USPS’ plan to give everyone in the United States an email address and require them to use it?
>> They are a government agency after all.
True, but its different from the other agencies in that its revenue is not based on taxation, but through commercial sales.
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.