The U.S. Postal Service wants Congress to help it make significant cuts to employee benefits as part of a plan to balance the agency’s books, according to a draft business plan HuffPost obtained.
The proposal would save an estimated $18 billion on employee compensation over a decade by shaving paid leave, raising workers’ share of pension contributions, and shifting new employees into less secure 401(k)-style retirement plans.
The change to pension contributions would amount to a cut in take-home pay for hundreds of thousands of workers, while saving the agency nearly $7 billion. And while excluding new employees from a pension plan is common practice for private corporations these days, it would mark a significant shift for a federal-sector job long seen as a steppingstone to the middle class.
The change in employee leave policy would combine vacation with sick days, likely resulting in fewer overall days off for workers. That element is estimated to save the agency more than $5 billion.
Here’s an idea, make the clerk craft a $12 an hour position which is what they are worth. Contract out the janitorial positions to $10 an hr Mexicans. Leave the carriers alone and let the good ones do their job. The fact that clerks make maybe a dollar less an hr than carriers is a total joke. Even clerks and mail handlers know in their hearts that their pay is WAY too high for what they do. Same goes for janitors. Most mailmen are worth at least double what clerks and handlers make. Bunch of bums. I don’t even mention the useless middle management in this post. That’s another story. Go carriers. Screw the rest of you postal working thieves.
Time for contract negotiations so again we hear the same crap….. Been hearing this for 20 years. Nothing has changed nor will it.
Lest we forget that Patrick Donohoe walked away with a golden parachute retirement package of $4 million dollars.
I think their is plenty of blame to go around. It is too easy to make anyone the target
of facts we don’t like. Leaders should lead by positive example, but that doesn’t let anyone off the hook . I have worked for leaders who only used good help for their
friends advantage . My boss’s friend went to Florida while the full time worker’s did without any sub. We all account for what we hold in our hearts, and actions toward them that we serve. knowing fellow workers that always where outstanding , and others that you were always sorry that you even met!. The public’s tired of those only with extended hands asking what is in this for me?.
To The Truth, Yes I blame Ratpublicans and our “great lost leader” for conditions going down the drain! Which party hates unions, places blocks on voting rights, wants to kill health care, tries to end abortion because of the right to life while desiring every American to cuddle guns?
USPS is already in danger loosing billions every year not because of Trump because of Congress and postal management And every prez before Trump could of helped USPS with its problems but have done nothing
That sounds about right, Clayton. I will be glad to retire soon. I might leave by the end of this year.
The new PSE’s are already from the local jails and work release programs. Thug like mentality, no respect for supervisors or senior employees and no interest in the mail. Just concerned with pop culture, their cellphones and doing as little as possible. No decent people in our area even apply for the the pse-mha jobs. USPS will be dead in a few years.
I’m retired after 38 years with the Postal Service. I’ve interviewed many employee candidates over those years and in later years the quality of candidates diminished dramatically, pay and benefits being a contributing factor. If this proposal passes, the Postal Service will be lucky to get candidates from work-release programs. Additionally, the quality of management will further degrade, all combining to cripple the service as a whole.
In a way, isn’t that what a certain political party wants so as to have the excuse to privatize? It’s important to view such proposals as another step towards privatization. To the unknowing public, that may not seem like a terrible thing, but they need to realize privatization would be the worse thing. There’s no way a profit driven entity can provide the same service and protection as a public non-profit.
First, mail protection would cease. Currently, federal law protects the mail and there are two law enforcement agencies tasked with that responsibility. Second, days of delivery would reduce. Third, points of delivery would reduce. That is, many localities could be forced to use only such things as post office boxes. Lastly, rates would go up dramatically and employee benefits reduced as the new owner would be obligated to provide returns to investors.
There are likely many more risks that I’m sure I’ve not mentioned.
If Congress wants to genuinely help the Postal Service, they need to stop draining it of funds and restricting it so much. Ease up on the leash and let them do their job as they see fit. In my years of service, I had the privilege of working with and for a lot of talented, intelligent, and dedicated employees who were driven to providing the highest standards of service to the public. Problems began when a certain political party began “tweaking” it, thinking they knew better than those who actually do the work.
Who pays for the mistakes and stupidity of management. Craft employees. Flat Sequencing Sorters cost 6 billion dollars and are a total failure. Closing down facilities, slowing down the mail and finding out after the fact that the savings are almost non existent in many cases. What is happening to the rocket scientists that made these decisions?
Why don’t they close the spa in DC and save billions in
salaries for the deadbeats that don’t contribute anything
but gas to the PO. Stop the muffin and donut deliveries.
Fire all the toolbags that are running the PO into the
crapper. Stop the waste and force accountability on the
toolbags. Stop the lying, cheating, immorality of these
so called management toolbags. The craft employees
do all the work but get the shaft even though the mismanagers
and stupidvisors cause all the problems. Fire them toolbags.
Save the PO while there is still a chance.
Part of management’s proposal of needed changes is the desire to add to the ranks of management. The Postal Service must increase discipline of the bargaining unit employees. They must be viewed very carefully to extract as much as we can get out of them. Also we need someone to take care of the coffee and donuts. The easy days are over!
Didn’t take long for one of you Liberal DemocRATS to blame President Trump. What a shock.
Orange clown funny
Always the same idea, just have the low life useless employees donate their time and labor for free! Sounds like what came from Das Fuhrer. So now the Postal Service likes the idea. Why not just bring back slavery. Have every employee work for nothing? Only executive and government officials would receive pay. So every Das Fuhrer voter should be more than happy!
There have been Billionaires who have tried to find ways to privatize the post office for years , and get their hands on the USPS retirement fund. Luckily, we have had our Unions stand up to them so far. But now, with another wannabe Union Buster in our White House, the USPS might be in serious danger.
not likely with a divided Congress
It happened in Germany decades ago.