U.S. Postal Service Suffers Another 3.3 Billion Loss

In what continues to be a slow descent into oblivion, the U.S. Postal Service announced it had suffered another quarterly loss of $3.3 billion.  Once again, blame was put on declining mail volume, and mounting costs for future retiree benefits.  This huge loss comes after what traditionally is a USPS strong financial quarter that includes Christmas.  That is definitely a bad omen.  The report (linked above) states that on this present course, USPS will run out of money by October.  I think they are being optimistic.  At this rate, they will run out of money sometime this summer.  No way they can make to October with losses that will exceed this latest quarterly report.  Overhead, such as fuel cost, labor (despite technology changes, USPS is still greatly labor intensive), and just poor management is pouring gas onto a raging inferno. 

As I have stated before, I worked for USPS at one time.  I know how things are done there.  Labor and Management have been at each other's throats since the 1970 Postal Service Reorganization Act was established giving workers the right to unionize at the Postal Service.  EEO complaints, labor grievances and lots of internal strife have hurt productivity for many years at this quasi-government organization.  I still know people who work for USPS.  I am saddened to know things have not changed since I was in that workforce.  If productivity improved, it might give USPS time to get a hold on its burdening debt.  That is not likely to happen.  You have lazy people working in USPS.  You have lazy and incompetent managers who exacerbate the problems there.  The beginning of the end were fax machines.  Even that technology is now outdated.  How does USPS plan to hold on?  There is talk of ending Saturday delivery.  There is talk of eliminating 100K jobs. There is talk of another increase in the price of stamps.  USPS hopes to save around $6 billion in eliminating 3,200 post offices around the country.  Of course, they are hoping for concessions from the unions in way of cutbacks on salary and benefits.  The latter is very unlikely to happen in my opinion.  The unions will go to the mattresses on those two issues. 

I don't see USPS lasting to the end of this decade.  I hope I am wrong about that.  But, even if USPS gets all they have asked for in cuts and concessions, they cannot control high technological changes, fuel prices and other unforeseen expenses down the road.  If they do surive, it will be totally unlike what you see now.  The majority of people working there will be part-time workers with minimal benefits.  That's a shame.  Working for USPS, even under harsh circumstances of management, was a fulfilling job to have.  But, the reality is, the USPS of today will not exist much longer.






 Subscribe in a reader

McRib Attack?

 

A woman at the McDonald's, in Cumbland County, North Carolina, refused to wait in line at the drive-thru.  So, rather than wait her turn in line to go to the order window (like everyone else) she went straight to the pickup window!  The woman drove her Ford Taurus straight to the pickup window to place her order.  The McDonald's employees told her she would have to go to the end of the line.  They also told her they couldn't take her order at the pickup window (which I find is a stretch).  Of course, this woman, who thinks the world owes her a living or is at her beg and call, refused to leave.  She become quite belligerent to the employees as I'm sure you can imagine.  So, of course, Cumberland County's finest showed up to make her leave.  This made her even madder than before.  She still refused to move out of line.  Police then tried to drag her out of the Ford Taurus.  That didn't work out as planned.  Police had no other choice than to taser her.  That apparently did the trick.  She and her car were removed from the lunch line.  Never mind how this woman inconvenienced so many other people.

If you read the article I linked, you'll see this woman has a long history of cutting in line at this particular McDonald's.  What I don't understand is why did management at this MickyDee's allow it to continue to the point this woman felt she was allowed to cut in line, even at the pickup window.  Of course, this woman deserved what she had coming to her.  I suspect the courtroom judge will also have a few choice words for her.  But, management could have, to use a Barney Fife colloquialism,  "nipped it in the bud" the first time it happened.  McDonald's management must bear some blame in this incident.  I've seen this before.  So many people think they are better than everyone else.  So, they just cut in line.  I have spoke up before about this when it happened in my life.  But, it happens so much now, until I am almost immune to it.  It is time for someone else to take up the fight. 

As for this Cumberland County woman, I wonder if she just simply had a McRib attack?












 Subscribe in a reader