The postal service has published unaudited financial results for the month of August showing a net loss of $721 million for the month, resulting in a fiscal year to date loss of $6.3 billion with one month left to report. Mail volume continued to decline, coming in at 13.2% below August a year ago. The steepest declines continued to be in standard mail, down 18.4%, periodicals, down 14.2%, and package services, down 18.1%. First class volumes were down by 7.8%.

Total revenue was down by just under a half billion dollars for the month, and down by $5.9 billion for the year to date. Expenses were reduced by 10.6% for the month, but are down by just 2.7% for the year to date, a reduction of less than $2 billion.

According to reports circulating on the web, the postal service has told the postmaster organizations that there will be no retirement incentive offered to postmasters. The USPS says that an incentive wouldn’t make sense, because postmasters who retire would, in most cases, need to be replaced. The organizations had suggested that postmaster vacancies would provide “landing spots” for other employees displaced by changes in the agency.

Another unconfirmed report says that USPS COO Pat Donahoe told a national telecon last week that there would also be no incentive offered to management (EAS) employees, or to letter carriers.

House Passes USPS Stopgap Relief
Resounding Vote of Support for HR 22

By a 388-32 vote this afternoon, the House of Representatives approved a substitute version of HR 22, the “United States Postal Service Financial Relief Act of 2009.” To find out how your Member of Congress voted, click here.

The measure now goes to the Senate for approval. NAPS and its members, along with other postal groups, will work to achieve Senate passage of the measure before September 30, the end of the 2009 fiscal year for the Postal Service. Without immediate relief, the Postal Service risks defaulting on its obligation to pay $5.4 billion this year to pre-fund retiree health benefits for future retirees.

NAPS President Ted Keating said after the vote, “Thanks to everyone who contacted their House Member to urge their “YES” vote on HR 22 today. Now let’s make sure the Senate does the right thing, and soon.”

Bruce Moyer
NAPS Legislative Counsel

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Unaudited financial statements files with the Postal regulatory Commission report that the Postal Service lost an additional $865 million in July. That’s better than the $1.3 billion loss reported in June, but brings the total fiscal year to date net loss to $5.6 billion, with two months left left to report in the fiscal year, which ends September 30.

First class mail volume was down 10.9% from July 2008, Standard mail was down by %16.8%, and package services by 18.8%.

On the expense side, total expenses were up by 0.9%, or about $55 million. Personnel expenses, mainly salaries and benefits, were up by 3.8% from the prior year, or $167 million. City and rural carrier compensation expenses were up less than a percentage point from July 2008, while customer service and mail processing compensation (i.e. employees who work inside post offices and processing plants) was down by about 7%, or $104 million. The biggest contributors to the increase in compensation were “other” employees, i.e. administrative, maintenance, postmasters, etc., where compensation was up by 33% or $245 million, and workers compensation payments, up by 17.3% or $18 million.