USPS Poised to Strike Again

[SASABERANGER]

On July 9th the USPS is going to raise the postage rates again. I believe that this is the second time this year.
First Class Stamps (Forever Stamps) will now increase from 63 cents to 66 cents. And I suspect all postage rates will also increase at the same time.
So much for the party in power getting a handle on Inflation.
Some how I do not think that Ben Franklin imagined that the Post Office would morph into the USPS of today.
Thom Braxton
SWCA #1474

 

[Rustyt1953]

To repeat myself:


"The U.S. Postal Service handles around 500 million pieces of mail every day. UPS and FedEx deliver 34 million packages combined. Those are astounding numbers and their failure rates barely budge the needle.

Gas up your car and try retrieving/delivering your own mail/parcels for the same rates as those three charge and see how that works out.

They do Herculean tasks everyday. If my stuff is late once in a while I cut them slack because they cast huge nets and there are bound to be a few holes here and there."

 

[Muley Gil]

I have worked for the USPS twice in the last 14 years. It is amazing how much mail can go through a small post office, let alone a large PO.

 

[Rudi]

They raised the price for PO boxes too.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I remember 6-cent first class mail delivered twice daily and once on Saturdays by courteous, well-dressed, and helpful people (postcards were only 3 cents), working out of clean and well-maintained buildings in every city and town in the country. Postal employees were trusted and valued members of every community, not walking billboards for tattoo parlors with the contents of a fishing tackle box stuck in their faces.

My initial response would be to let them go on strike, give them a firm date to return to work or forfeit their jobs permanently, and if necessary hire a full replacement staff at about 70% of what is currently being paid in salaries and benefits.

My second thought is having a system of post offices and mail delivery staffed with a bunch of uncaring dead-beats incapable of third grade reading comprehension and little work history outside of court-ordered public service or prison programs. Perhaps not much difference.

Exchange one non-functioning system for another non-functioning system or surrender to perpetual extortion? Turn it all over to UPS or FedEx, then go through the same nonsense again and again? What other options exist in a country where high school drop outs think $100K per year is OK unless they actually have to show up for work every day, on time, without a smart phone for perpetual entertainment between appointments at the tattoo artist or body piercing shop?

Rant over.

 

[Secundius]

So far I haven't seen any videos of USPS packages being dumped in the woods, whereas UPS and FedEx have…


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[Kanewpadle]

To repeat myself:


"The U.S. Postal Service handles around 500 million pieces of mail every day. UPS and FedEx deliver 34 million packages combined. Those are astounding numbers and their failure rates barely budge the needle.

Gas up your car and try retrieving/delivering your own mail/parcels for the same rates as those three charge and see how that works out.

They do Herculean tasks everyday. If my stuff is late once in a while I cut them slack because they cast huge nets and there are bound to be a few holes here and there."

While I agree that it's not an easy job, the USPS is typical of most other government agencies. It is poorly managed and highly inefficient requiring more and more money to "fix" the problem.

 

[Kanewpadle]

So far I haven't seen any videos of USPS packages being dumped in the woods, whereas UPS and FedEx have…


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You haven't been paying attention.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I remember 6-cent first class mail delivered twice daily and once on Saturdays by courteous, well-dressed, and helpful people (postcards were only 3 cents), working out of clean and well-maintained buildings in every city and town in the country. Postal employees were trusted and valued members of every community, not walking billboards for tattoo parlors with the contents of a fishing tackle box stuck in their faces.

My initial response would be to let them go on strike, give them a firm date to return to work or forfeit their jobs permanently, and if necessary hire a full replacement staff at about 70% of what is currently being paid in salaries and benefits.

My second thought is having a system of post offices and mail delivery staffed with a bunch of uncaring dead-beats incapable of third grade reading comprehension and little work history outside of court-ordered public service or prison programs. Perhaps not much difference.

Exchange one non-functioning system for another non-functioning system or surrender to perpetual extortion? Turn it all over to UPS or FedEx, then go through the same nonsense again and again? What other options exist in a country where high school drop outs think $100K per year is OK unless they actually have to show up for work every day, on time, without a smart phone for perpetual entertainment between appointments at the tattoo artist or body piercing shop?

Rant over.

Part of the problem is that they are government workers. It is extremely difficult to fire one because of union representation, EEO, and attorneys.

The USPS needs to be privatized. It needs to be run like a business.

 

[Secundius]

Part of the problem is that they are government workers. It is extremely difficult to fire one because of union representation, EEO, and attorneys.

The USPS needs to be privatized. It needs to be run like a business.

UPS is unionized by the Teamsters Union, FedEx isn't! In either and/neither case you can expect that the someone delivering your package is or isn't a union member…


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[Nevada Ed]

If it is not threatening to go on strike for something, raising the rates, is their standard thing to do.

Nothing new.

I had to pass on them, since they told me their rate of pay might go under $20 an hour, due to a pending strike, and I needed that much,
to make ends meet back when I was young.

 

[Kanewpadle]

UPS is unionized by the Teamsters Union, FedEx isn't! In either and/neither case you can expect that the someone delivering your package is or isn't a union member…


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Union representation has nothing to do with dumping packages in the outback. They've all been caught doing it.

Not everyone has the same integrity and moral and ethical standards. Especially in the federal government. People know it's difficult to get fired. And they take advantage of it.

With some people, if you give them an inch they will take a mile.

 

[Secundius]

Union representation has nothing to do with dumping packages in the outback. They've all been caught doing it.

Not everyone has the same integrity and moral and ethical standards. Especially in the federal government. People know it's difficult to get fired. And they take advantage of it.

With some people, if you give them an inch they will take a mile.

That also applies to the public sector to! I use to work for a Gas Company that wasn't unionized at the administrative level! All that was required for someone to how their job at the administrative level was tenure! When I worked there in the late '90's, the goal requirement for obtaining tenure was 18-months plus one day! Once you got you were set for the rest of the time you worked there, regardless of job performance while at work…


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[BC38]

So far I haven't seen any videos of USPS packages being dumped in the woods, whereas UPS and FedEx have…


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Then you haven't been paying attention

https://6abc.com/dumping-mail-usps-philadelphia-united-states-postal-service-found/11121421/

Almost 600 Amazon packages found dumped near Oklahoma City | CNN

Took all of 1 minute to find these 2 examples, and I'm sure there are plenty more.

There are lousy employees in every industry, company, and organization...

Unionized job security (a.k.a. CAN'T be fired no matter what) doesn't help.

 

[Tom S.]

<sigh>

Reading comprehension folks!!

The postal employees are not threatening to go on strike! The USPS is going to "strike" with higher postal rates. Two entirely different uses of the word 'strike'!

As to postal workers, many carriers are not union, they are contract employees. As such, they are not members of a union, they accrue no benefits or pensions, and can be dismissed at will. I have found postal employees to be no different than employees at private business - some are great and some not so great.

 

[Secundius]

APWU (American Postal Workers Union) and NPMHU (National Postal Handlers Union)…


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[Dave.357]

Fact- Fuel prices go up every thing goes up.
Fact- shutting coal mines and oil wells drive
Price of fuel up.
This cripples our country.

 

[Bald1]

<sigh>

Reading comprehension folks!!

The postal employees are not threatening to go on strike! The USPS is going to "strike" with higher postal rates. Two entirely different uses of the word 'strike'!

As to postal workers, many carriers are not union, they are contract employees. As such, they are not members of a union, they accrue no benefits or pensions, and can be dismissed at will. I have found postal employees to be no different than employees at private business - some are great and some not so great.

U beat me to it. The use of the word strike confused some readers. As for cost going up I always say if I had to pay $1 to send an envelope from NY to LA that would be a bargain. I'm certainly not going to complain about .66 cents. As to union workers being hard to fire. I'm a retired 34yr Teamster. I'm a 2 time elected union rep (steward). I've negotiated contracts, I've sat on accident review boards , safety committees and I personally did the road test and training of new hires. Our contracts had disciplinary steps spelled out quite clearly. The PROBLEM I saw constantly was management was not smart enough to fire someone. There are rotten apples everywhere. As a Steward I'd tell a driver to go pound salt, and do your job. Management simply would not follow the necessary steps to terminate someone. They went from step 1 right to step 4. Had they followed all 4 steps they'd have been successful. The union is not always the problem.

 

[Rule3]

To repeat myself:


"The U.S. Postal Service handles around 500 million pieces of mail every day. UPS and FedEx deliver 34 million packages combined. Those are astounding numbers and their failure rates barely budge the needle.

Gas up your car and try retrieving/delivering your own mail/parcels for the same rates as those three charge and see how that works out.

They do Herculean tasks everyday. If my stuff is late once in a while I cut them slack because they cast huge nets and there are bound to be a few holes here and there."

+100!


It's just time for the weekly bash USPS again


What has NOT gone up in price. People have no idea what is involved with moving the mail!

 

[cmj8591]

I think it's UPS that is talking about going on strike. It's illegal for a US postal employee to strike.