Why You Should Be Outraged By What Is Being Done to Our Postal Service

Thank you, OP, for sharing an important article I think everyone should read.

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Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
reply to post by FyreByrd

 

So we are supposed to feel bad for the poor postal worker making $30 an hour to start? Good for them, right?? Yeah I don't care either until I have to pay almost an effing dollar to send a freaking birthday card......It wouldn't be that high if they didn't pay their employees so much money to SORT MAIL!!!

Their job is one of the easiest jobs on the planet, you could literally hire a trained monkey to do it, yet the pay is rediculous...

First of all, mail sorters do not make that much money.

Second of all, that kind of pay rate is closer to truly fair. It is the pay of most other companies / industries which are insane (too low.)

Third, are you really complaining because you had to pay a dollar to mail a birthday card?

If that's the case, it must have been a particularly heavy card. Last I checked, most postage for letters was far under a dollar.

Fourth, if you think that's bad why don't you try sending that same card UPS or FEDEX? How much do you think that would cost you? If they fully privatize the postal service (like UPS or FEDEX) do you think the rates are going to get cheaper (even as they pay their employees less...like, oh, say for example, UPS OR FEDEX?) No... the rates would go up, even as they pillaged profit from their workers' pockets. I can send a package across the country in two days for a rate of about five dollars with the postal service. Many small businesses rely on this cheap shipping to function. What do you think that same level of service costs from UPS or FEDEX? (hint, it's way more).

I don't know what you have against good service at a lower price than the competition and a fair wage for many many people who work hard.... but your post and the points therein make no sense.

I like the USPS. I find them extremely timely and efficient. Sure, i have had a letter or two get lost over the years, but i find them reliable and timely. One day delivery local/state, two day neighboring state, and i have even seen as little as 3 days from NY to GA.

When sending packages, depending on the needs, i try to go the USPS route. They're generally cheaper than, say UPS or Fedex--even international they are generally a couple of HUNDRED dollars less. Domestically, a package i can send via USPS for $5 or so costs $11 UPS ground. Same weight, same size.

True, i dislike the price of stamps going up, but i attribute this not to employee pay, etc, but the gutting of the USPS by the government, and the USPS trying to stay alive.

It is an institution that needs to be preserved.

Privatizing it, as others have stated, would be disastrous.

The USPS is a vital service that links the entire country in a not-for-profit web of communication, and this no more Saturday delivery beginning in August has me quite sad.

Where's Kevin Costner when you need him?

Originally posted by SnakeShot
Its was almost comical when I saw the postmaster on Fox News several days ago say- we have to stop Saturday delivery so that we don't have to raise rates.
This right after they DOUBLED the price for international shipping! It now costs me over $6 to send a
tiny 1 ounce almost flat bubble mailer package internationally! Go up a couple ounces, its $8.88.
Its almost like they Don't want us exporting more product!

Also, I never understood the arguement that they have less revenue since the internet.
Because of the internet, WAY more packages then ever are being shipped. If anything, I would think
they would be doing better.

You're right about packages. More businesses exist now, which require shipping packages, that wouldn't have before, because of the internet. However, prior to the internet, some of these same companies (the ones which existed) would have done business via catalog which were often mailed out. So there were still mail order companies... just that the catalogs were mailed, instead of browsable online. Some of the orders would have been sent in via mail as well. (Though I suspect many over the phone.)

However, the advent of email probably cut back on first class letters by at least 50% if not even higher, like 75%. Those are, of course, guesstimates pulled from my posterior. But I suspect they're close.

Though I agree... one might think the increase of packages would offset the money lost via letter mail.....

Id like to feel bad but I really don't. They have been treating their customers like crap for the past twenty or so years with each passing year their treatment to their customers became increasingly worse.

They bend your things break them, throw them and if you didn't insure it well "too bad". Customer service meant something to them long ago, they treated your mail like they would want theirs to be treated. They wanted satisfied customers and they had them.....then.

Years ago my grandmother was a postal lady she and most others at that time took her job seriously, customer service was important to them then. What happened USPS???

Too bad, so sad good riddance!

This OP is full of lies. They are not efficient at all. I worked there for years before I quit. There is a reason why they kill each other every once in a while. They hire lazy women that can't lift a mere 75 pounds & also stupid people from the ghettos. The p.o. isnt the same as it was even 20 years ago,itmore resembles white castle now with all the tards they hire.

The day I quit was the day I watched, for the third time, 3 "workers" just dump tons of letters into a trash bin, then they just laughed. I bet you can all figure out what those people looked like...the same type who throw boxesin the trucks as well. They don't care about their job, and neither do I.

I'm glad the p.o. is going down. In fact, I have been helping its demise for years by using UPS/Fedex for all my business needs.

said I am sure you can see what the problem is in the PO. The union has ruined the work ethic of an institution that was once an American icon.

She lost the job for reasons that I will reserve for the Rant forum but consider this. Her starting pay was $20.48 per hour. Anything over 8 hours in one day was time and a half. Anything over 40 in a single week was double time. She worked 6 days a week over various facilities so you do the math. Those carriers are getting paid big bucks and still loafing when they can because the union pressures them into doing so.

I will post this again as my first was screwed up for some reason. I have first hand knowledge of this as my x worked for the PO and I am still friends with mutual friends we had there.

My x was a carrier and filled in for others on their days off as they are only allowed to work 5 days a week so she worked 5 to 6 days a week. She started out trying to do a good job and bust her butt but was told by the other carriers that she was making them look bad because she finished their routes earlier than they did. She was then informed of certain places that she could go to hide when she was done so she would not clock out before 3 pm. So at that point she would "hide" when done with her route early and text, sleep or whatever she wanted until 3 when she would go back to the home location and finish her day. Bottom line is the union bullies the carriers into following their program and it becomes not the habit of a few but the norm. They lose money because of this if anything the PO should stay but the union should go. She started at $20.48/hr. Anything over 8 in one day was OT pay. Anything over 48 in one week was double time. You do the math. It is obvious why they are losing money.

Ask the right questions. They are right. What has the mailman been delivering? There is a special tree. In South America. It leaks a chemical that causes infertility in mites. Are USPS cardboards made from this pulp? Chemtrails and mail. Population control. A Mathusian Catastrophe. Who is your friend? Think about it.

I am amazed at the tenor of some of the responses to this post.

I've used the USPS for years, personally and professionally and yes I've had problems from time to time. I've used UPS and FedEx as well, mostly with good outcomes but at much greater expense.

As to busted up packages - my experience is that it is usually do to poor packaging and I've had busted up packages with every carrier I've used. I learned how to pack things better and it was the mail carriers or the PO staff that taught me how - FedEx and UPS didn't give a hoot.

I'm sorry that some of you don't make the money you think you deserve, or that you or a loved one has been treated unfairly by the Post Office or another union shop. Why do you think it will help to take down the whole system - do you really think a private for-profit company will treat you any better? Stop deluding yourself.

The post office serves us all and I pity those that can't or won't see that.

How is USPS "the most effecient postal system in the world" ?

Last month I ordered some electronic stuffs from US and Taiwan to Canada.
My Taiwan package cost me $1.50 yes, ONE dollar and 50 cents, and only took a week to get here, while my US package, which was smaller and only 1 item, cost me 8 dollars and took almost 2 and a half weeks.
To me it sounds like the USPS could use some improvements.

Also around the same time, I ordered some stuff from Quebec to Ontario, and it got to me in lees than 24 hours. Now that's efficient delivery, the fastest standard delivery I've ever had and I only choose cheap shipping options unless it's something really important

Originally posted by FyreByrd
The post office serves us all and I pity those that can't or won't see that.

As far as the "Post Office" that isn't Federally or Constitutionally mandated; it is created via legislation. I would recommend educating yourself on how the "USPS" operates. The majority of the argument is leviyed against first class and regular mail (with access to the "mail box"; which is legislated as a monopoly for the USPS).

Originally posted by Liquesence
Privatizing it, as others have stated, would be disastrous.

Why? It is a simple question that requires some critical thinking, but why would it be disastrous?

The USPS is a vital service that links the entire country in a not-for-profit web of communication, and this no more Saturday delivery beginning in August has me quite sad.

You do know that the USPS is a quasi-corporate governmental entity right? It exists and functions on the basis of profit of its sales.

Where's Kevin Costner when you need him?

You mean where is the private contracted company and/or person that was willing to deliver the mail? You do know that the postal service (mail being delivered) up to the late 1800s was contracted and private right? I mean, this place is supposed to deny ignorance.....

Originally posted by ownbestenemy

Originally posted by Liquesence
Privatizing it, as others have stated, would be disastrous.

Why? It is a simple question that requires some critical thinking, but why would it be disastrous?

The USPS is a vital service that links the entire country in a not-for-profit web of communication, and this no more Saturday delivery beginning in August has me quite sad.

You do know that the USPS is a quasi-corporate governmental entity right? It exists and functions on the basis of profit of its sales.

Where's Kevin Costner when you need him?

You mean where is the private contracted company and/or person that was willing to deliver the mail? You do know that the postal service (mail being delivered) up to the late 1800s was contracted and private right? I mean, this place is supposed to deny ignorance.....

Yeah, it does require critical thinking skills. To see how it would be disastrous and how it is currently necessary and beneficial.

Do you know how many people use the USPS every day and how many people it employs? Do you know what it would do not having this one centralized means of communication and the jobs they provide? Do you know how much information (not junk) travels through the USPS each day? Or how long it would take a private institution to create such a network? Wrap your head around that, if you're able.

Even though the USPS is an independent agency, it is still a government agency, not a private agency, regardless if it operates like a corporation.

It was started as a low-cost means to communicate—nationally. While we now have telephones, email, etc (unlike when the USPS was created), it still provides a low cost means to send information and goods to various places around the country. Its network is extremely large, one of the largest in the country.

If UPS/Fedex or another private entity had to push the volume of letters around the country as the USPS, prices would increase to accommodate (at least until the structure grows to meet the service demand). Why: because they do not have the centers and hubs. When they don't have such a center, office, or hub, the price goes up. An example of this is seen when shipping (via UPS/Fedex) internationally: the price skyrockets because the service structure is not there. That's not to say that over time the service structure wouldn't grow, but in the short term it would be disastrous.

And while oftentimes private corporations *can* and do provide low cost services, they must must have the means. The USPS already has the means: hubs and mail centers all over the US. It's efficient. If this was gone, for a private institution to take on that load and maintain such an efficient network of delivery would likely transfer its cost-burden to the people, at least until established, which who knows how long that would take.

Since the USPS has the means, the structure, the centers, and system that has been in place long enough to offer low cost service in a large scale, and since it is vital to so many people and services, it is quite necessary—until something better is able to replace it. And i do not see a private institution offering that at the moment.

You do know that the USPS is a quasi-corporate governmental entity right? It exists and functions on the basis of profit of its sales.

Um, i think you mistake "profit" for operational costs.

Critical thinking is wondrous, isn't it?

The Costner comment was a joke. Stuffy, much?

Originally posted by Liquesence
The USPS is a vital service that links the entire country in a not-for-profit web of communication, and this no more Saturday delivery beginning in August has me quite sad.

Public broadcasting and basic accounting state otherwise...."Operationally speaking, the USPS nets profits every year". Vital how? Since 2006, the USPS has lost over 20% of its volume. Times are changing and because of various "voices" (unions and representatives with heavy postal worker presence) have been holding back from a much needed reduction of services.

Tell me, why are you saddened that you won't be receiving mail on Saturday?

Do you know how many people use the USPS every day and how many people it employs? Do you know what it would do not having this one centralized means of communication and the jobs they provide? Do you know how much information (not junk) travels through the USPS each day? Or how long it would take a private institution to create such a network? Wrap your head around that, if you're able.

Congress mandates this business to serve every household in the United States, every day, except Sundays; which is completely ridiculous and dropping Saturday service is just the beginning to transforming the USPS into a viable operation.

Tell me, what would it do if I don't have the mail man bring me my weekly junk mailers and the miniscule paper copies of bills I already received electronically? Given the vast reduction in volume (20% +) the the USPS has experienced, I would say that the rest of America is feeling the same way.

As for the jobs, yeah, get with the times. Your industry is dying in the face of better and quicker technology. Ironic considering this question: Would you like to have this debate via regular mail? I am willing but it would be far less engaging and far less effective in spreading our ideas (pro/con).

Even though the USPS is an independent agency, it is still a government agency, not a private agency, regardless if it operates like a corporation.

And regardless of how many times you state it, it still needs to live and die as a separate entity (by law). This is one of its major issues. They cannot make command sweeping changing unless Congress (because they are reliable to make good choices) approves or suggests them.

It was started as a low-cost means to communicate—nationally. While we now have telephones, email, etc (unlike when the USPS was created), it still provides a low cost means to send information and goods to various places around the country. Its network is extremely large, one of the largest in the country.

By your rationale, with the advent of better technologies, the Government should maintain a monopoly in those areas too no? I mean, the Internet has grown largerly to replace many of the USPS functions (communications between individuals/businesses) and is the lowest cost of communication we have over the largest area; many they should monopolize it too...think of the jobs!

If UPS/Fedex or another private entity had to push the volume of letters around the country as the USPS, prices would increase to accommodate (at least until the structure grows to meet the service demand). Why: because they do not have the centers and hubs.

Have you ever been in a UPS/FEDEX hub? Are you always this ignorant? Also, they never tooled to handle regular mail because.....wait for it.....THE US GOVERNMENT HAS A MONOPOLY ON FIRST CLASS AND REGULAR MAIL. Hell, that little box in your yard or near your door.....is Federal Property (not yours) and no one can touch it except the addressee and the glorified United States Postal Service.

And while oftentimes private corporations *can* and do provide low cost services, they must must have the means. The USPS already has the means: hubs and mail centers all over the US. It's efficient. If this was gone, for a private institution to take on that load and maintain such an efficient network of delivery would likely transfer its cost-burden to the people, at least until established, which who knows how long that would take.

And they can't because they are barred via law to even attempt to provide it. This leads me back to the Kevin Costner comment. That movie, or that era in which it depicted, would have been a private contracted person/company delivering the mail. A system we need to get back to.