U.S. Letter Carriers Fight Cutting Saturday Mail Delivery

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/node/14009

Submitted by Doug Cunningham on August 11, 2010 - 3:31pm
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Members of one of the largest letter carriers' unions are urging lawmakers to defeat plans by the US Postal Service to eliminate Saturday service, as a way to fill a widening budget gap.

The 295,000-strong National Association of Letter Carriers says the cuts in delivery will not only hurt customers but will have lasting effects on the nation’s mail service as well.

Leilani Albano has more on the story.

The US Postal Service introduced the plan to cut Saturday service as a way to address the agency’s staggering deficit, which is projected at $238 billion over 10 years. But at this week’s gathering of the National Association of Letter Carriers in Anaheim, California…the proposal is getting push back from the union’s 8,000 members who attended the annual event.

: “It’s an awful idea because the American people count on us six days a week.”

That was postal carrier, Lori Saller of Torrance, California.
The Postal Service blames its financial woes on a myriad of problems. The agency fell into financial straits after it overpaid into its pension contributions by $75 billion. In addition, the postal service is required to pre-fund future retiree health benefits at a cost of $5.5 billion a year. NALC member, Diana Lyon, of Torrance by cutting back on deliveries, customers will lose out on the extra services that many postal carriers provide, such as checking on elderly and sick customers to see if they’re alright.

: "If we’re not there on Saturday, that’s one more day that we’re not there to be protecting our community and serving our community."

For more details on this visit laborradio.org.

[EC]

1. I wouldn't mind not having Sat. delivery

I can do without one more day of bills arriving at my doorstep...


Do they get more pay like time & 1/2 for Sat. or something? Why on earth would the union be upset with this?

[Omaha Steve]

4. It's not overtime

Carriers are scheduled for five days a week. Think of it as some work M-F, while others work Tue-Sat in simple terms.

[Abq_Sarah]

9. It eliminates jobs

About 40K through early retirement and laying off junior employees.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Losing Saturday service also can have a negative impact on paying bills.

A bill for arriving on Monday instead of Saturday puts you almost a half week behind for paying it on time, thereby more likely you'll incur a late fee. Same thing if you mail the bill and it arrives on Monday, not Saturday when it's due.

[Travis_0004]

3. I don't want to see layoffs, but they are loosing billions. Something needs to be done.

Don't fire anybody, don't lay anybody off, but as people quit or retire don't replace them, that way nobody gets fired.

Also, I wonder why its always Saturday delivery they want to cut. Why not cut a day in the middle of the week, like Wednesday, that way there is never 2 days in a row without mail delivery.

[w4rma]

6. So what? The U.S. postal service doesn't have to pay for itself.

It never has paid for itself. Ever. It is a service that our government has provided through our taxes to help us all as a nation. The benefits of the U.S. postal service are greater than any potential direct "profit" it might bring the government.

[Travis_0004]

8. Don't you think we have a small problem with the national debt?

We need to cut the national debt. I think most people would agree with that. Yes, ending the wars, ending the Bush tax cuts will go a long way towards achieving this, but there is still more work to do, and not loosing billions from the post office will certainly help.

Also, under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 the post office is supposed to be revenue neutral.

[w4rma]

10. Soak the wealthy to pay it back. They have all of our money, now. (nt)

[notesdev]

5. face->palm

This union just looks stupid trying to portray one day's mail delivery as a life-and-death necessity. It's not like people die from lack of mail delivery on Sunday, why the hell should not getting mail on Saturday make a difference?

[maryf]

7. K&R

we gotta keep the postal mentality alive!! stamp out more unemployment! ... ;) really, this is nuts, keep em working...