4/12/2018 WASHINGTON (AP) – After weeks of railing against online shopping giant Amazon, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday creating a task force to study the United States Postal System.
In the surprise move, Trump said that USPS is on “an unsustainable financial path” and “must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout.”
The task force will be assigned to study factors including USPS’s pricing in the package delivery market and will have 120 days to submit a report with recommendations.
The order does not specifically mention Amazon or it owner, Jeff Bezos. But Trump has been criticizing the company for months, accusing it of not paying its fair share of taxes, harming the postal service, and putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business. Trump has also gone after Bezos personally and accused The Washington Post, which he owns, of being Amazon’s “chief lobbyist.”
“Only fools, or worse, are saying that our money losing Post Office makes money with Amazon. THEY LOSE A FORTUNE,” he tweeted earlier this month, declaring: “this will be changed.”
The U.S. Postal Service has indeed lost money for years, but package delivery has actually been a bright spot for the service.
Boosted by e-commerce, the Postal Service has enjoyed double-digit revenue increases from delivering packages. That just hasn’t been enough to offset pension and health care costs as well as declines in first-class letters and marketing mail, which together make up more than two-thirds of postal revenue.
Still, Trump’s claim the service could be charging more may not be entirely far-fetched. A 2017 analysis by Citigroup concluded that the Postal Service, which does not use taxpayer money for its operations, was charging below market rates as a whole on parcels. Still, federal regulators have reviewed the Amazon contract with the Postal Service each year, and deemed it to be profitable.
From the New York Times:
WASHINGTON — President Trump abruptly issued an executive order on Thursday demanding an evaluation of the Postal Service’s finances, asserting the power of his office weeks after accusing Amazon, the online retail giant, of not paying its fair share in postage.In the executive order, issued just before 9 p.m., Mr. Trump created a task force to examine the service’s “unsustainable financial path” and directed the new panel to “conduct a thorough evaluation of the operations and finances of the U.S.P.S.
”The president does not mention Amazon in the order, but it is clear that he intends for the panel to substantiate his repeated claim that the financial arrangement between the Postal Service and Amazon, its biggest shipper of packages, is a money loser.
Source: Trump, Having Denounced Amazon’s Shipping Deal, Orders Review of Postal Service – The New York Times
From the Washington Post:
Trump issued an executive order forming an administration task force, to be chaired by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and directed it to evaluate the Postal Service’s finances and operations. The order also directs the task force to issue a report outlining proposed changes within 120 days.
The order states that the Postal Service has incurred $65 billion of cumulative losses since the Great Recession ended in 2009 and that it must make changes so that it operates under “a sustainable business model.”
Trump’s order stipulates that “the steep decline in First-Class Mail volume, coupled with legal mandates that compel the USPS to incur substantial and inflexible costs, have resulted in a structural deficit where revenues are no longer sufficient to fund the pension liabilities and retiree health obligations owed to current employees.”
Source: Trump orders review of Postal Service’s business model
From Reuters:
The order’s language will likely encourage the task force to see if USPS can charge companies like Amazon more for parcel delivery, a person who previously worked at the Postal Regulatory Commission said on condition of anonymity.
Source: Trump orders review of U.S. Postal Service following criticism of Amazon
Here is the text of President Trump’s Executive Order:
“Amid ongoing public targeting of Amazon’s use of the U.S. Postal Service, President Trump orders an evaluation of the USPS in executive order: “The USPS is on an unsustainable financial path and must be restructured to prevent a taxpayer-funded bailout.” via @NBCNews
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Hello and good-day- let’s review: the 3 unions and upper(Mismanagement) collude together. 2. We have 2 retirement systems bumping heads! 3. You have a bonus(payforunderserved performance award) which causes a huge divide between mismanagement and the rank and file! 4. Endless cases of Mismanagement that harass and manipulate numbers to achieve their awards. Let’s look at possible solutions: probably nothing will ever happen with the first problem. Number 2 – do a buyout to the civil service postal employees who can and want to retire-thus eliminating one of the retirement systems. 3 Abolish this crazy idea that not only causes more problems with everyone/ grievances-contract would save millions! You would have less EAS people to deal with because they would leave in mass! Number4-retrain Mismanagement in how to deal with customers and employee’s instead of provoking with threats and discipline. These Mismanager’s raise their voices everyday when they want to sent a message that they are the boss and that you will do what they say no matter what you think is right or wrong! Nothing ever is done to get rid of these vindictive and retaliatory Mismanagers! Why? Because the area or districts give these kind of ass holes a green light and tell them they are doing a great job! REALLY To conclude: Same shit is going to keep happening because there is no incentive to do a good job/ Mismangement has taken that and more from the very people that hold this organization in place: The Employee’s! Good-day
Get a life anonymous plus. Nobody cares about your civil service Golden parachute dreams. Retire on your over bloated pension and learn to play monopoly.
I notice that someone stated that we shouldn’t read CNN news because it’s “fake news”. No wrong, we shouldn’t listen to a fake President! And the same person said the great leader went to the Wharton Business school and he is a billionaire. Big deal. Honest businessman did file for bankruptcy six times. How many workers and businessmen were cheated from their funds? How much did Trump University have to pay out after the lawsuit from ex students? Read nice story in Washington Post. The UMWU supported the great leader. Turns out twenty seven coal miners died since the great leader took over. The President won’t enforce the mine safety laws, and wants to end the Black Lung laws. Now the UMWU is upset. Why could that be ? They got what they wanted. Just support the leader, and he will take care of you! And if he disappoints you, tough live with it.
get rid of most supervisors, install robots like Wal-Mart that go up and down the rows and count product and reorder on the spot. same at stations, let the robot go from case to case and give out assignments.
The President Dump supporters won’t care if the Postal Service is carved up, won’t bother them a bit. Look at the UMWU they endorsed their hero who won’t enforce the mine safety laws. And remember Don Blankenship? He was convicted and sent to Federal prison after a mine collapse at a Massey Energy mine. Now Mr. Blankenship is running for the US Senate from the state of W. V. Now the Coal miners plan to vote for Mr. Blankenship. Don’t the miners have any self respect?
any USPS employee that voted for dolt45,GETS WHAT THEY DESERVE
the donhole is a complete udder moron,and that’s on a good day
the donhole is the swamp
for all you Trump haters………President Trump has authorized the OPM Government Agency to raise the US Postal Circus “BUY OUT” payout from 25K to 40K………it is Postal Circus Bureaucratic morons and the 3 Postal Circus Company Unions who have stood in the way of us getting out of this cesspool. PRESIDENT TRUMP SET US FREE WITH A 40K BUY OUT…………MISMANGEMENT/COMPANY UNIONS scatter them to the wind!
Gee, the financial difficulty couldn’t POSSIBLY have anything to do with the $72 billion theft by Congress, when they ordered $55 billion dollars, and then wouldn’t turn over the overpayment, followed by saying the USPS had to keep paying $5.5 billion dollars a year for the next 5 years. Nah.
fear the Trump you low IQ scummer Postal Circus Bureaucrats…….you can run but you can not hide……..about time the Postal Circus was investigated from top to bottom. my guess is your scam PFP bonus scam is going out the window. you have been running a criminal enterprise for way to long. Go Trump-He gets it! feel the pain!
Hopefully Trump will fire all of management. We as members of the NALC we will vote Fred Rolando and all incumbents in 2018 this only way fix the USPS. Because our union NALC has enabled management by running the post office to the ground, by creating the worst working conditions in the history of the Post Office. Remember your saying Fred to us about management they are allowed to be wrong , they have the right to mismanage and they are allowed to be wrong.
Why is there no news stories about the Sandra McConnell v. USPS decision ? Have not seen anything on the TV news. his case shows abuse of employees by USPS and it is costing USPS MILLIONS!!!!!!
Trump says …”Why is the USPS pre-funding healthcare for 75 years in advance on future employees?”
Trump says…”That’s dumb, get rid of it.”
Then USPS returns to the “Black” almost instantly.
We wouldn’t be in this position if Mcgoofy would not have sold the farm years ago. Also nothing is going to change. The mgmt that sank the ship before is still in command, big problem. Trump needs to drain the swamp. 20 f@$!#& years and still can’t get weekends off.
its called delegating you goof……….don’t listen to CNN’s fake news about Trump……..He went to Wharton School of Business and is a Billionaire……..IOD Muffin Meaghan Brennen is a clueless toad appointed by bath house barry who couldn’t carry the mail for 6 months……….top to bottom clean sweep of this stage 4 cancer- ridden govt agency………diversity for the sake of diversity instead of making money………….loss of over $130 Billion since 2007 and you clowns think it will go on forever…….even your great communist utopian dream USSR went bankrupt due to piss poor mismanagement. cradle to the grave socialism always ends in a bad way! it happens when you run out of other peoples money.
The losses USPS show are due only because of the mandate the clown for a president- Bush put on the postal service to pre-fund employee retirement for the next 75 years costing the USPS $5.5 BILLION or more per year. Eliminate that and the losses go away. Parcel delivery service is the only thing that is showing revenue growth. The only thing! R know first class evermore had been declining for years because of the internet. That’s a given. Parcel delivery is the future of the pay office, and will continue to grow, again because of online shopping.
Wow, how does he do it, with the world watching and Trump telling all that he will “make Assad really really pay” for the chemical weapons attack in Syria he finds the time to fix the Post Office, I guess he is just Super Trump, and don’t tell me this has anything to do with Amazon and the Washington Post and its owner Bezos, nahhh!
First, fear the Trump. He doesn’t know shit about anything but his own ego and properties. Having Steve Mnuchin coming anywhere near the USPS is bad, because this asshole, who you may remember was the jerk who kicked an old lady out of her home over a 98 cent discrepancy in her house payment, will side with the money. That means he will not take a second look at management, their criminal activities or incompetence. There will be “favors” granted to him that will insulate Brennan and the other top USPS officials. That’s how rich bastards roll.
If Trump is after amazon.com, maybe he will do no more than raise rates for package delivery and bulk mail. But I doubt he could resist hurting the work force.
We shouldn’t get too worried yet, because this magnum idiot has lots more to worry about than us. If he fires Robert Mueller, he’s cooked. Word is that the Republicans in the House and Senate are furious with this jerk, and are out for blood revenge. Many are facing defeat in November and they are blaming Trump for a lot of it, although they get zero sympathy from me because they supported him in the general election. Be careful what you wish for. We may see a midterm catastrophe for the GOP, especially with their horrifying dealing with the gun control issue and treating victims terribly, and encouraging their NRA buddies to condemn this kids who are holding adults accountable for what has happened in Vegas, Orlando, Parkdale, Stony Brook and Charleston, S.C. If this issue stays hot, the Republicans are really going to be in trouble. So I think the USPS is low on their radars right now.
what a dolt……they have not made even so much as a 10 cents payment since 2009, they defaulted on all payments……yet you go on and on like some pse slug who ditches the junk mail in a garbage dumpster. they need to investigate this criminal enterprise from top to bottom……..and give older workers a BUYOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO TRUMPSTER GO! bring it on man, bring it all down man! Postal Circus needs to be brought to heal!
Our leader says that he doesn’t want the tax payer to pay for a “tax payer bailout”. Very strange that the tax payer giver many rich people and business their wealthfare, or tax payer bailouts. Of course the rich and business needs to suck off the tax payer, they can’t be expected to be self reliant! And the Postal employees that are happy of President dump’s idea If the Postal service has big cuts or is privatized, they won’t care at all. They won’t mind working for as little as possible. The thought of ending the health prefunding would never enter their pin heads. For some reason the Postal service, and only the postal Service must prepay health care costs 75 years in advance. Remember ex President Forrest Gump though it was a great plan. He was the same President that started a war over his Weapons Of Mass deception.
The Donald was eventually going to get to the bottom of why the USPS is being run into the ground and in need of a taxpayer bailout.
The deck chairs are being shuffled at Elephant Plaza and the District offices….but the gravy train is about to be over.
Trump doesn’t respect IOD Queen Megan and her fake online degree…..her head is going to be handed to her on a platter….along with CFO Joseph Corbett.
This is going to be the biggest RIF ever….it’s going to make Ronny’s PATCO firings look like a Boy Scout jamboree.
So as Carvin Marvin used to say….If you don’t touch the mail then your useless overhead….
This may be true, but if you think craft employees will be unscathed you are very mistaken. Look at Trump’s budget proposals for all federal employees, and at his proposals for USPS from a few weeks ago. And I wouldn’t bet on all the management assholes getting canned, either. The ones who stick their noses up his ass will probably be OK – look at the raises his butt-monkey at EPA handed out to his loyal minions. Trump and many Republicans in Congress hate federal employees, especially unionized ones (except for maybe the Border Patrol, and they kiss his ass). And Mnuchin and Mulvaney, who are supposed to head this commission, are evil subhuman filth. I’m very glad I retired a year ago and I’d advise anyone who can to get out now.
Never stated craft would not be affected….but the bloated management ranks will be the main target….Bezo’s just laid off a 1000 managers….that’s how it’s done in the real world…and that’s how it’s going to be done once Trump gets done with this review.
I can see lots of finger pointing once the colossal mismanagement is uncovered. It’s going to get ugly.
Well said truthbetold. I too feel it will get ugly by later this summer.
FYI, the moratorium on Area Mail Processing plant closures aka AMPing expired in April 2017. Look out, it’s going to get awful crazy fast with this latest executive order mandating a task force to issue a report outlining proposed changes within 120 days or August 12th, the APWU heading into contract negotiations before this current contract expires on September 20th, the USPS fiscal year ending on September 30th, and the current contract with Amazon expiring on October 17th.
THE END IS NEAR. GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN.
Good bye Ruby Tuesday!
The answer is pretty simple…abolish PAEA law/ prefunding and the problem goes away!!
I actually agree with this move. Marketing mail is a waste. I just throw it away. Christmas and Birthdays are the only times I get real mail.
Hello again-I left out an important segment that also needs addressing from above: GET RID OF MICRO-MANAGEMENT! It’s nothing but a disaster for any organization that uses it! Give the managers a chance to do their jobs-they have better insight at the location to make a better determination of what’s going on instead of groping thru a huge pile of steaming paperwork to put numbers out that does nothing but cause problems! Then they are blowing up the phones to see if the carriers are back yet in the evenings : asking: are they back yet, are they in the geo fence yet. What nonsense. They Mismanagement go into work everyday eating a box of stupid pills and trying to re-invent the wheel in hopes that the number will align with the stars to get their underserved bonus(performance awards). Good-day
The Return of Carvin Marvin…Your Fired!
Good-day-I would hope that since we are on the subject that the Pres. will look at how god-awful bad the Management structure is and how many vice presidents they have at elephant plaza! While you are at it – go ahead and offer the rest of the civil service (carriers, clerks, etc) who are able to retire and just have one retirement system in place instead of two! Instead of being so penile to the lower ranks-send RIF’S to all the supervisors that aren’t touching the mail-they are nothing but dead weight. The postal service is suppose to be a universal and flexible organization to service the needs of the American people-not the greedy mismanagement of the upper mismanagement! Millions of dollars are wasted everyday with no incentives for people to improve the quality of service- except Mismanagement-where they give performance awards to undeserving managers who purposely corrupt the numbers to obtain their gifts or rewards for such theft! They do anything to get these awards that the PO hand out because they are nothing but underserved bonuses! Had to be renamed after the fiasco that AIG went thru! Prefunding is a joke-why? Ask that question or riddle me this- prefund for people who are 50 or 60 years into the future! Wow- how many people are going to really buy into that without scratching their heads and saying: WHY? thank-you for your time-have a good-day.