Comments on: USPS lost almost $1 billion in August

By: Gaelen

Gaelen — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:19:13 +0000

How does the exhorbitant cost of the new dps Flat Sorting machines that take up the space of half a football field play into this HUGE loss???!!

Now they’re going to have to pay for the machines and the facilities to house them: OUTSOURCED for construction of the giant sorting robots, will OUTSOURCE for major repairs and the parts to repair them, will OUTSOURCE for the new equipment to store the flats for the carriers, will OUTSOURCE for more transportation to haul these rack systems!

No one is talking about the money that was spent and will be spent on this new technology that will further cut our jobs. In smaller AOs we already have been cut to 32 hours a week with threats of further reductions and layoffs!! Imagine working for the USPS for 13+ years and still not having a chance to make Regular Clerk because the UNION has let the USPS squirrel away the regular jobs and replace them with PTF jobs that have no security!

Where are you going to get money for UNION DUES when you’re bringing in less and less every year and all you hear from the UNION is how happy you should be that you have a job in the USPS. Sounds like MANAGEMENT talking to us again! In our area we don’t have anyone acting as salesman for USPS. Why aren’t AO Postmasters and SPVs out there working with the local businesses and residents to increase revenue. We’re doing our part X 10 on the window and they just keep expecting more! We’re NOT EVEN ALLOWED to say the words “PARCEL POST” or “1st CLASS PARCEL RATE” on the window unless the customers specifically ask us for a cheaper option (after they look at us like we’re idiots).

In this slowing and scary economy we’re now in, the customers want the best value for them and not the most expensive choices. We should be glad to accept and deliver their packages, flats or bill payments in whatever way THEY want. But now we’re miserable about helping customers with large packages or packages going long distance because we’ll get our SCORES read in front of everyone. How can we help it if we take in 25 Priority and Express and then a customer comes to the counter with 4 large boxes which would cost $141 each to go Express and $75 to go Priority and they choose PARCEL on all of them because there’s no hurry and it costs $40 less per parcel?!!! HOW DID WE GET HERE?! These customers walk in and we want to run from the window, not embrace them and thank them for mailing with us!

WHAT’S NEXT on the MYSTERY SHOPPER?!

By: bake

bake — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:52:13 +0000

we have a manager for every 6 or 7 carriers here at our office.thier job is to stack and store mountains of paperwork in a big metal shed behind our office in boxes,never to be seen again paperwork.take more smoke breaks than you can count,eat,play solitaire,surf the net,etc.,etc.ive been here too long to quit now but only hope that this place isnt ruined for future carriers who devoted thier entire adult life to this place.as we getolder,our job becomes much more difficult but the continual management song…………gimme more, is getting old.we touch and deliver every letter we deliver…to put it in a nutshell,we work for our money.MANAGEMENT DOSENT

By: Kent

Kent — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:20:01 +0000

My second attempt, I have read the statements and agree with most everyone. Now, what can we do from an employee point of view. I’m a carrier and in the union but will be getting out soon enough. Why, before I get attacked. I watch day in and day out out union officials trying to get out of carrying their routes to files grievences everyday. Okay, I work everyday and carry all of my mail and never had one disclipine problem or need the union to help me. I’m not perfect but just do my job like I’m as too for 15yrs. So, when I see union trying to continue to squeeze money from the post office over grievences I see why were going down hill. Management trys to get everyone to work together but I when you see sorry carriers going as slow as they can to get overtime it amazes me even with reduce volume. The unions need to wake up and see that there won’t be a need for the union when we don’t have a job. I know the union has done some great agreements but our local union is losing members faster than they can blink an eye. So, with that said and raising cost of everything the post office won’t survive until 2015. Next year the post office will do the maxium postage increase allowed by law. So, Mr.Potter and this imaginary world of wizards what will you do then. Flat sorting will be waste because their will be reduced customers willing to pay for the increase. Sidenote: I used to case all of my mails and flats everyday and still get home to pick up my kids but now we come in later and get off later with all this new equipment. What is post office thinking that we will survive when we are only fooling ourselves. Our post office can’t even purchase office supplies so that tells you something. The tax payer will take care the post office blunders just like AIG. My rambles!

By: Pam

Pam — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:59:57 +0000

Well, notice how they don’t mention how much Rural Carriers lost over the last year and a half on gas prices. We were not compensated for the increase of $2 a gallon. We just subsidize the Post Office. Also, I certainly did not get my COLA increases like my fellow workers (RC’s), remember I am just a lowly RCA doing the work of the RC.

By: level26

level26 — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:34:36 +0000

Everyone read article 6 of your contracts. March 2009 they begin the layoffs of everyone 6 years of less. Problem will be solved

By: stan

stan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:58:29 +0000

Too many useless management , they only think positive . but they all have stupid idea .

By: epic

epic — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:52:31 +0000

It is greed, pure and simple. Look at Wall Street, it’s the same thing in the PO. Do you see the CEO’s of Freddy Mac and Fannie May out on the street in pvery? Nope, they are leaving with millions after running those companies into the ground and costing the taxpayers Billion. Anyone remember the Siverado Savings and Loan fiasco? Here we go again, just bigger numbers.
The PO lost how much? Says who? Several finacial experts have tried to figure out how tha PO does their books,..and all have given up in digust. SO< where did those numbers come from? And who is to verify them? NOBODY!!!!! There’s a reason for that.

By: schnufus

schnufus — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:05:27 +0000

Pay for Performance Bonus is the downfall, not Potter.

By: Kent

Kent — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:08:20 +0000

The problem is the post office doesn’t have the mind set of the future. They think it will always be there and everything will be okay. I say this because they never took the internet seriously like getting revenue programs set up or taking the internet in their arms to do business. They have internet websites but it’s to little to late. Second, they never took a vision of the future or had emergency plans for things like gas prices or reduced mail volume. Potter wants to spend money on flat sorter that will save the day. When he could have bought new alternative vehicles that could have saved millions down the road. (research Electric LLV on Google) Sad!. We had a chance to makes changes but it gone to waste. The employees and customer will take the brunt of the lost revenue and I feel the employee are willing to make changes to keep their jobs. The unions on the other hand think that there is secret money and a plan to privatize. Well, it not true because they don’t control raising gas prices or lost revenue from dying customer base. That customer base is older customer who depend on the post office for mailing out their bills. That customer base is dying and the replacments are our kids who do everything on the internet. The post office never thought about that! So, the post needs to make changes very fast but I think they are unable to get it done. Leaving the post office to ruins in the future. I believe the post office won’t survive until 2015. I bet on that! They need to get all the management together and layoff the worst. Hire new college business minds to restructure the post office for future not the old mindset of today. Just my thoughts!

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:37:05 +0000

If we just make the same “management sucks” comments, we are kidding ourselves. Look at the layoffs and bankruptcies in the private sector. Look at the lost mail volume. Look at how gas prices affect us, with the largest fleet of vehicles in the world. We are in a serious world of trouble and just blaming management is lame. We need to all look at ways to save the Postal Service money or next contract we will be facing pay cuts or layoffs or no COLAs.
We are supposed to break even and we aren’t. The rumbles from HQ are that major changes are coming, so don’t worry, a lot of middle managers are losing their jobs,too. There is plenty of blame to go around…the economy, high wages,
management errors, competition. We haven’t kept up with our competition. If you want an overnight package truly tracked, Express Mail isn’t an option. UPS can track it the entire way. If Express Mail gets lost or stolen, we just have the last scan and no further information.

If we all want to have a Postal Service to retire from, we have to figure out how to make it a leaner. faster company and get rid of the deadwood(management and craft). You don’t see deadwood at UPS, they get rid of them. We have people working for us that couldn’t get a job in the private sector, and they are usually the loudest complainers about how bad the Post Office is to work for. I welcome them to join the private sector and let the rest of us get the mail out.