This is nothing new but the USPS is having some problems. They reported a $2.4 billion loss in their most recent quarter Wednesday, blaming plunging mail volume and rising retiree health care costs. They lost $1.1 billion a year earlier.
The long and short of it is that they blame a decline in mail use. The truth is that they suffer the same problem as all the rest of the big companies in this country. These companies will cry and cry about losses, but the truth is that a handfull of guys at the top make obscene money for doing little work. While the guy at the bottom makes little money for doing a ton of work.
Listen Mr. CEO, you make what, 5 trillion a year? Oh is it up to 6 trillion a year now? At the very least, these guys need to get their pay cut when the company isn't doing so hot. It would solve all of their problems. But what good is common sense when you have that kind of money in your pocket?
If the company is not doing good and you are laying people off, making cuts etc, then why are YOU still raking in the dough? Because you're a worm of course.
This is the scenario that is really ruining the country. I could be wrong, but that never happens.
At least the Postal Service has capped executive pay. That's a start and about time. But sadly they are reducing their 700,000-strong workforce through attrition and early retirement.
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Comments
3 Comments so far
Perhaps the Postal Service should look at the real cause of their loss. Could it possibly be their lousy service? Last February the USPS LOST a package that I sent. This was a package I sent to a fellow eBayer who had won the item. I bought and printed out the postal label (Priority Mail via my PayPal account) and WITNESSED THE MAIL CARRIER PUT IT IN HER TRUCK IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.Several days later the intended recipient contacted me to say he had not received the package. When I contacted the local post office, they said they had no record of the package being mailed. It never did arrive and I had to refund my customer $140.00. The package was not insured, and therefore I had no recourse. Today, six months later, the package still has not been found, and the local postmaster (Wildwood, FL) still has a very cynical attitude about the whole matter as if I REALLY NEVER MAILED THE PACKAGE AT ALL! After being treated in this manner, no wonder they are seeing a decline in their mail.
I blame them, too, but I am not so naive to believe that cutting executive salaries is going to either offset the loss (they don't make _that_ much) or fix the problem. I am really tired of people screeching about other people's salaries. There are plenty of people out there who would complain that I am overpaid for what I do. I disagree, of course, and just like the aforementioned executives, I have the information to prove it. But all that griping is irrelevant because it doesn't solve the problem.
The root of the problem lies in the fact that the Post Office is basically still a government run organization. It is riddled with inefficiencies, it is based on an exceedingly old and antiquated system, and there is NO INCENTIVE TO IMPROVE. It needs to be re-designed and someone needs to think outside of "the box" to do it. Personally, I don't care if it remains a government run organization or not, but I don't think the impetus to change will come unless it's entirely privatized.
So, quit bitching about people being overpaid. You're overpaid, too. I'm overpaid… we're all overpaid. There. Case closed. Now, let's move on and fix the problem.
I know the post office was instituted due to constitutional mandate, but from what I can tell it's not required of the government to actually own the post office. I think any sort of spin off plan for the post office will go all the way to the supreme court. In the end it doesn't really matter, the combination of better independent carriers, electronic transfer of documents, and digital communications is killing the organization very slowly.