Comments on: Who Is Kidding Who On the Cost of Labor At USPS?

By: Phil Terrana

Phil Terrana — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:27:17 +0000

I recently retired from the Postal Service but when I was still there, the only explanation I had for the stuff coming down was that the Postal Service was being sabotaged from within. That is how stupid and costly some of the actions by management were.
Why would we sabotage ourselves? My suspicion is that many at the top (including some on the Board of Governors) would like to see the Postal Service fail so that privatization becomes a viable solution. My guess is that a privatized Postal Service would employ many in upper management at much larger private company salaries (including bonuses and stock options). Many, if not most workers would also be retained at much lower wages.
All Congress has to do is ask one simple question. What do all these higher-level people do? We have the trucks and the buildings, and the PMG has already approved all the mailboxes, and the carriers and clerks and mail handlers are in place to do the work. So what are these people doing?

By: Phil Terrana

Phil Terrana — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:25:22 +0000

I recently retired from the Postal Service but when I was still there, the only explanation I had for the stuff coming down was that the Postal Service was being sabotaged from within. That is how stupid and costly some of the actions by management were.
Why would we sabotage ourselves? My suspicion is that many at the top (including some on the Board of Governors) would like to see the Postal Service so that privatization becomes a viable solution. My guess is that a privatized Postal Service would employ many in upper management at much larger private company salaries (including bonuses and stock options). Many, if not most workers would also be retained at much lower wages.
All Congress has to do is ask one simple question. What do all these higher-level people do? We have the trucks and the buildings, and the PMG has already approved all the mailboxes, and the carriers and clerks and mail handlers are in place to do the work. So what are these people doing?

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:10:02 +0000

The trouble with this information is your figures need to be supported with the proper data. Take my building for starters (the Detroit NDC) there are way too many supervisors in Maint. we have 1 manager, 3 Manger Mait. operations, 12 Supervisor Maint. operation, we have cut out staff as the following, 9 ET’s, stayed the same, 70 Mpe09 reduced to 34, 50 MM07′s reduced to 8, Cust no staffing package has been completed, However we are allowed 49 they are going to cut our staff to 37, most of the bread and butter of out staff has been cut 50% yet they still keep the same amout of management staff. Is that a sane way to run a bussiness??? What they are trying to do is get rid of all the regular employee’s and replace them with Flex, and casuals. They are attempting fulfill the own stupid prophecy by distroying the Postal Service regardless of how hard we work or make their stupid plans function. Ask your neighbors how their mail is getting to them. If you have a lair watching another lair How can the truth come out????

By: jethro tull

jethro tull — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:08:43 +0000

Barack please read the comments and listen to the workers. remove Postmaster Potter before its to late. the people will vote you out if you cause the USPS to go under.

By: CharlySoBe

CharlySoBe — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:37:02 +0000

Wow! Thats some good stuff, good information. These are the same Headquarter big wigs whom get paid hugh moving expenses, get their houses bought for above the going market price (as seen on National Media), receive hefty bonuses on our sweat and tears. We should all write our President Obama and ask him to can the man!

By: g-money

g-money — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:39:24 +0000

I’m a 22 year carrier, we have too many supervisors at my station. I think carriers could run most stations by themselves. And use light duty to do the computer input. The supers don’t even do street supervision which is part of there duty right. Where the honest day pay they preach too us…..

By: New Blood

New Blood — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:05:54 +0000

This table depicts nothing but raw changes in staffing.

The size of labor forces do not matter. The cost of labor matters.

Please provide a table enumerating the change in total compensation between the two time periods highlighted for all four subgroups presented.

Also, please break the “Headquarters w/OIG” category into district components.

All in all, this article is awfully simplistic and ignores fundamental measurements that are far more indicative of the burden, or lack thereof, labor is having on the variable costs of the Postal Service’s balance sheet.

By: Mark Comerford

Mark Comerford — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:16:39 +0000

Let’s see now, the Postal Service has 39 Vice-Presidents (at last count), A manger to employee ratio of one manager to every eight employees ( private industry is one to twenty-five), and the headquaters staff has increased by over 30%. These are all people who do NOT touch the mail. United Parcel recently laid off 1800 managers and staff .
Former Postmaster General Marvin Runyan said when he took over the job that ” anyone that doesn’t touch the mail is overhead; yet Postmaster General Potter has managed to increase the overhead while insisting that the labor force must be cut. Does any other business operate this way ? Is it any winder that the Postal Service is in financial trouble.
TRhe Postal Service needs a managerial redirection and a change in managerial philosophy.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:49:49 +0000

More HQ management needed.

By: Mystery Carrier

Mystery Carrier — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:00:19 +0000

Offer me an early retirement of any kind, and i’ll take it.