President William H. Young has released a statement in response to media reports that Postmaster General Jack Potter is seeking to curtail the Postal Service to five-day delivery. “The continued appearance of letter carriers delivering the mail to the doorstep of every home and business and bank and credit card company six days a week is absolutely essential to economic recovery.” In his statement, Young makes the case for an alternative economic solution: H.R. 22.
On January 29, 2009, NALC President William H. Young urged letter carriers across the country to remain steadfast in the face of media speculation that the U.S. Postal Service plans to eliminate one day of delivery service. He issued the following statement:
There are no plans to eliminate six-day delivery. NALC is working with the Postal Service and other postal organizations on a common-sense approach to overcoming the economic crisis. Neither the American public, nor the postal industry, nor the key leaders of Congress, nor the NALC support any reduction in service.
Making the reduction of days of delivery THE answer is a red herring that the media has misleadingly laid at the doorstep of Jack Potter, the postmaster general. While Potter asked Congress for the flexibility to temporarily and selectively reduce the frequency of delivery if conditions worsen dramatically, he made it absolutely clear that eliminating a day of delivery was the last thing he wants to do. As NALC has done, Potter called on Congress to enact sensible financial reforms to
correct the schedule for pre-funding retiree health benefits. That would protect retiree benefits while freeing up current funds to help the Postal Service overcome the devastating effects the financial meltdown has had on the U.S. economy.
The United States Postal Service is a critical part of the country’s financial infrastructure. In a time of national financial crisis – with tens of millions of citizens under distress, millions of jobs disappearing, millions of homes being foreclosed, retail enterprises shutting their doors, factories closing – the very last thing this nation needs is to fracture the service that binds the nation together. The continued appearance of letter carriers delivering the mail to the doorstep of every
home and business and bank and credit card company six days a week is absolutely essential to economic recovery.
Existing law requires USPS to do something no other agency of the federal government, no state or municipal government, and no private company in the Fortune 500 (or as far as we know, anywhere) is required to do: to pre-fund its retiree health obligations. Not only that, it requires that it pre-fund 80 percent of these costs over the next eight years – even though the very few companies that voluntarily pre-fund these benefits amortize them over 30, 40 or 50 years. While it certainly makes sense to gradually pre-fund such long-term obligations, it makes no sense to maintain
such an onerous schedule.
In 2006, Congress mandated pre-funding to the tune of $5.5 billion to $5.7 billion per year over the next 10 years. It has already paid $32.6 billion into a special fund for this purpose. On top of this, USPS pays about $2 billion per year for its share of current retiree health premiums. To avoid unnecessary service cuts, Congress should enact H.R. 22, a bipartisan bill that will allow USPS to pay for its current retirees’ health premiums out of the existing retiree health fund. Such a
change would save USPS $2 billion a year while it continues to build up its retiree health fund for the future. Indeed, if H.R. 22 were enacted, USPS would still be pre-funding its future retiree health obligations at a greater rate than any company in America.
NALC will vigorously resist any legislative attempt to slash the number of days of delivery. NALC members should consult upcoming Bulletins and future issues of The Postal Record for the latest information on this important issue.
Sho Nuff says:
5 day or even 4 day delivery would be the best and right now is the only solution to the USPS crisis. Mail volume is low, way to low to sustain all the wages that have to be paid. None of the unions want to lose members through attrition or layoffs, but in order to safe the USPS, this must be done to benefit long-time employees. Most businesses across the country are laying off people, and the USPS should not be an exception to this. The USPS cannot afford to pay out in wages, more than it takes in for postage.
January 29, 2009, 3:18 pmRe: Sho Nuff says:
Why don’t we just close up shop? It isn’t the only solution. Do you pay your bills online? Do you send cards to your friends and family? Do you mail packages or buy on the internet? Do you subscribe to any magazines or newspapers? If not, you, yourself, are doing the Postal Service a disservice. You have to be the bigger cheerleader for the place where you work.
January 29, 2009, 3:57 pmfishy says:
what?
January 29, 2009, 5:48 pmPostalworker says:
Potter needs to resign. He can no longer steer the postal service anymore.
January 29, 2009, 6:50 pmmike says:
go to five days delivery, eliminating saturday delivery, not tuesday which even though a light mail day (by usps design) is still in the middle of the business week. even ups and fedex are off on saturdays
January 30, 2009, 12:17 amCapt. Dunsel says:
Isn’t there someone somewhere that can fire this A&&HOLE? Potter needs to go. And so do his 78 vice presidents.
January 30, 2009, 4:37 amSho Nuff says:
We will close up shop if we continue to bleed $5 billion a year, as predicted for this year. Tough decisions have to be made, and cutting out Saturday delivery is the best option. UPS and Fedex don’t deliver on Saturdays and people don’t mind that. I’m sure that piece or two of mail can wait until Monday to get delivered anyway. The NALC opposes this because they will lose members. Too bad! The USPS is going to have to make sacrifces that are going to affect junior employees is a big way. It has to be done. You can’t spend more money to operate than you are bringing in. Any other business would have closed already with this kind of red ink. They could save money by eliminating managment positions. There are WAY too many supervisors nationwide that are not needed and another huge financial burden on the USPS. Get rid of them too.
January 30, 2009, 5:10 amWILBUR517 says:
Maybe if the craft employees were allowed to do their own work and managment would keep their hands off it, the usps wouldn’t be bleeding millions of dollars payed out in grievances.Wasn’t it 18 mil. paid in just one grievance to the apwu because management wouldn’t let them do their own work? If they lived by the contract they could save a bundle.
January 30, 2009, 6:35 amLike that will EVER happen.If mgt. has time to do craft work they must not have enough of their own work. Good, get rid of the useless dead weight save more $$. Thank God our most highly paid mgt. has enough work spying on our carriers as we load our vehicles. Don,t talk to each other and For GOD sake don,t step out of your f ing vehicle with the engine running while you are trying to clear the ice on a sub zero day in the freezing sleet/snow storm. the brake might let go and the gearshift might move and the truck would go flyiung across the parking lot through the snow. If a truck would do that it shouln’t bo on the road. Get real postal managers. You don’t do anything else significant why bust our balls?
dry1 says:
Potter has lost the sight and the vision of the USPS for the 21st century. Before eliminating one delivery day try reducing the vps in L’Enfant Plaza, basically all of Potter’s cronies. My former office could have used “some” help; managing 91 delivery employees (city and rural) is no easy task. Unless, of course, your unit scathes it’s way via 204Bs.
January 30, 2009, 6:43 amDisgruntled says:
In Lancaster NY, we get out mail in the dark every day. If they go to 5 day delivery, we will get our mail at midnight. Just like Motel 6, we’ll leave the light on for you.
January 30, 2009, 9:55 amClyon Steve says:
How cutting out managements bonuses.That would probally save a billion bucks and they would no longer breath down the backs of carriers or clerks.
January 30, 2009, 11:53 amSA says:
Urge the aboys to give up the raises for the next 2 years.There is no more COLA coming in this contract. We are 87 cents per hour under which is about which is not going to increase in the next 2 years.Agree to more route cuts you useless piece of garbage.
January 30, 2009, 1:45 pmStation Manager says:
I think we could save the PO by doing two things:
First, cut all the bloated, exectutive overhead.
January 30, 2009, 2:52 pmSecond, allow the employees who handle the mail to do their jobs. They can do more, but won’t untill all the higher ups with a sense of entitlement are sacrificed. It’s really that simple. The craft will never buy into this sense of urgency facing the PO unless all the dead weight is lifted first. It’s a credibility issue in the eyes of the craft employees. They believe we’re in trouble, but are not willing to sacrifice while the fat cats keep making the big money for not contributing to the cause. I realize I’m shooting my own foot here, but I’ve got a couple years and then retire. I’m really concered my retirement won’t be there when the time comes if we don’t do something drastic.
marie says:
Why don’t they just deliver mail monday-friday. Most businesses are off anyway. Only people with no life is waiting for mail on saturdays. What you get saturday can surely wait until monday.
January 30, 2009, 3:23 pmKungfumailman says:
The Post office will save 84 million yearly in fuel costs by eliminating one delivery day. Saturday is the only day that makes sense with the real business world. First class mail will decrease to almost nothing in the next decade. We must make this move and many others to survive in the future. If we eliminate a weekday instead of saturday it will be disastrous!
January 30, 2009, 4:39 pmpostal employee 2009 says:
As an employee of the postal service I can tell you for the last ten years Saturdays have been a waste.Ask if Jack Potter works on Saturday?By getting rid of Saturday deliver we would now have mail to deliver Monday thru Friday without having to deliver one piece of junk mail to a house who throws it away before we leave the porch.Wake up Potter or move along so someone else can make 200 grand with yearly bonus of 300 grand knows what there doing.Also think about the money saved on gas by not delivering on Saturday.Also to Bill Young the union prez. 97% of your members want to do away with Sat deliver should’nt you be supporting that. Remember who pays your salary.Or maybe you and Potter can follow the gov of Illinois. Just a thought. Saturdays a big waste of money take it from the people who our out there everyday. Not the suits who are home with their familys on Saturdays.Follow Mr Obama lead change is what we need right now.Maybe we can do some community work in our communitys spend some time with our kids on the weekends.
January 30, 2009, 5:01 pmOutsider says:
Yes I pay bills online (No more lost or late payments), make phone calls instead of sending cards (much more appreciated), and choose UPS and FEDEX over usps for all online orders. Why: these choices are reliable and the usps is not, period! I believe the problems are systemic and I am not opposed to shutting the doors and completely starting over. The result can’t be any worse than my current experience. The old woman next door says we already have five day delivery but she doesn’t know which day nondelivery will occur. Makes no difference to me as I only change the bird cage paper once every three days.
January 30, 2009, 5:40 pmHe's No Outsider says:
Why would an “outsider” visit this site? Ex-employee? Disgruntled employee? Could one imagine 685,000 carrier employees out of work if the Postal Service folds in the future. It was once the largest single employer, now it is second only to Walmart.
January 30, 2009, 7:34 pmNon Scab says:
“outsider” is a former scab that got fired.
January 31, 2009, 5:23 amdry run says:
Eliminating any delivery day will be the end of the USPS. Fed Ex will take it, they are already marketing Saturday delivery. When UPS went on strike did the USPS even want the business back…I think not. Potter has another agenda and it’s not eliminating a delivery day.
January 31, 2009, 6:09 amSho Nuff says:
If you wanted Fedex to deliver a letter on a Saturday, it would cost you $25, a far cry from the 42 cents the USPS charges. Fedex and UPS don’t deliver regularly on Saturday either, so why should we?
January 31, 2009, 6:43 amAllen says:
Sure there needs to be change if we are to stay in business, I am on the overtime list and I know it will effect me to go to a five day work week and I will be glad to give that up to keep my job. Mr Young has to look at the big picture, what other choices do we have? I rather have Saturday off because it makes more sense to me. We need to go to four ten hour days with the floaters working the fifth day, that way we would’nt lose jobs. Like kungfumailman said just sitting our vehicles one day would save millions.
January 31, 2009, 5:03 pmdry run says:
You give up Saturday delivery…adios amigos.
January 31, 2009, 5:31 pmRazor says:
After reading the above comments, I can see most were in favor of eliminating Sat. delivery. It seems upper management was to blame for wasting money and resources. Congress needs to take a serious look into how management works throughout the USPS from postmaster general to 204B. I think they (Congress) would be surprised to find that not many of these people (management) were really qualified to do the work that is required of them. I also agree on eliminating Sat. because businesses are closed and PO branches close early anyway. Not much revenue generated that day. As far as “light” Tuesday goes, the PO can control what day is light. They can hold the bulk from Monday and let it go Tuesday.
February 1, 2009, 7:55 amAmerican Taxpayer says:
The only way the postal service should even propose ending six day delivery weeks is if, and only if, it can permanently define the day as Saturday and Sunday. There is no reason things can’t be changed in our processes so Monday through Friday will work. It would boost morale in an already overburdened workforce due to ongoing aggressive attrition. It only makes sense to have special delivery with a axillary crew on weekends because the nation functions most business midweek, the days it is actually targeting. The unions should balk until management restructures and downsizes the main problem– too much unnecessary management. There are so many supervisors and postmasters that most are virtually useless. I am clueless why USPS ignores the core problem. Please voice and relay this idea as loud as you can for the service to be saved the right way!
February 1, 2009, 2:38 pmdry1 says:
Unnecessary mangagement…only in DC; not at the local level in these parts.
February 1, 2009, 5:28 pmhardankle1 says:
I think that Tuesday off for mail delivery will be extremely bad after all the Monday holidays that we have. A lot of business is closed on Saturday which means that they get no mail Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Four days on not getting any mail????
February 1, 2009, 7:22 pmretmgr says:
shift more responsibilities to the craft and take away some management duties.
February 2, 2009, 11:26 amAs it is first line supervisors are already burdened with increasing duties with programs and overseeing how craft works.
Give more autonomy to those who know how to do things safely and correctly. Supervise those that demonstrate that THEY need more guideance. Take a more common sense approach. The task is simple but over supervised.
Thinker says:
Welcome to Pottersville, Its A Wonderful Life. Why don’t you offer Fers employees incentive to leave. We cant touch our thrift, without penality, because most of us are under the age of 56, we cant get a Social Security supplement for the same reason. You are offering us 1000 a month average. Lets do some deductions, tax, health care, surviveship bennifits, that should leave us with a total of 350 to 400 a month to pay bills and live on, wait thats this year, with expected rise in health care cost next year might be 250-300 a month, wait what about the following year 150-200, lets look 5 years down the line, oh I get it we will be paying the Postal service 200 a month to cover health care, total five years from now -200. Of course we all can refiance our homes with CountryWide and since we work for you, Mr. Potter, perhaps we can get some points shaved off the loan, you would put in the good word for us won’t you? P.S.: Have u ever told Senate, Congress or the American People while it is true that mail volume is decreasing, more then a great part of our upcoming 6 billion dollar loss is equipment purchases, DPS Flat Sorters and service contracts.
February 3, 2009, 10:51 amtex says:
Think about the number of call ins we would have on Mondays if we were off sunday and tuesday? If there is to be a 5 day work week than saturday is the only day that makes sense. Moral would definately improve along with attendance in my opinion. And I thought that a 4 day ten hr a day work week was considered years back and the NALC wanted to keep penalty overtime, and that of course wouldnt work.
February 3, 2009, 3:29 pmtex says:
And another thing on the carrier side. I know its in the contract but regular carriers should be required to be able to work up to 9 hrs a day before giving up time to an odl regular or ptf or te. Think about all of the 30 min splits that are taken off carriers everyday. By the time you sort through DPS, parcels, Flats, accountables, throw in travel time to and from that 30 mins turns into an hr real quick. Thats just something that has always bothered me.
February 3, 2009, 3:36 pmchad says:
i would love to have a 5 day work week but that is strictly a political decision, so i already know the answer. dont forget that the usps is not losing all of this money because of day to day operations. it’s being lost on the prepayments. it just has taken to long for potter to bitch about it.
February 4, 2009, 6:03 pmsteve11215 says:
They may s well cut out 2 days of delivery per week. I dont get mail 2 days a week then get everything other 4 days. Oh yes, Im a former postal worker .
February 14, 2009, 1:01 pmmailmanswife says:
how come no one is paying any attention to the fact that your organization is paying out the rear to prefund retirees, the ONLY federal organization required to do so? also the ONLY organization required to do so in one-third of the time usually alotted? I think the prefund is a great idea, just cut back on some its funding. its already worth $32 billion. the usps has already laid off 120,000, with plans to reduce its work force by another 15%. there are families that depend on these jobs. mine is one of them
February 17, 2009, 3:32 pmWE THE UNION says:
Six days a week. That is what separates us from the others. Why don’t all of you Man Up and understand that we are in a financial crisis not because of our own making. This situation has been placed upon us from good old American greed and some knuckle head politicians. We need to keep our cool and call our local Congressman and urge them to pass HR.22. This will stop some of the financial bleeding we are experiencing. We also need to pick up our bootstraps and do a little extra at the work place. This will also help us in the long run. Across the Country, we have reduced our overtime, saving a massive amount of capital. If we continue to make these small but needed changes, we will surely make it through this dark and troubled times.
May 12, 2009, 6:33 pmCOMP WE THE UNION says:
WE WILL SURVIVE!!!!!!!!!!
May 12, 2009, 6:36 pmrizngfenix says:
Here! Here! Pass HR.22. Get rid of the broke dicks- you know who you are, investigate fraudulent injury claims, buy not rent your mail vans, offer early out. Keep those that actually wan to work.
July 11, 2009, 4:29 am