Community Corner

Letter Carriers Union Touts Post Office Successes

Union president says discussion of looming changes overlooks the USPS' accomplishments.

In an editorial published in the North Haven Citizen Friday, president of Branch 19 of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Vincent J. Mase contended that, despite concerns surrounding possible changes in North Haven's postal service, the state of the USPS is not as precarious as some may believe. 

Responding to the oft-repeated figure that the USPS is operating with an $8 billion deficit, Mase clarified that this number stems directly from the organization being forced by Congress in 2006 to pre-fund $75 billion worth of pensions going forward 75 years. 

The catch, according to Mase, was that the USPS had to pony up the money in the space of only ten years. 

Find out what's happening in North Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mase wrote:

Therefore, the USPS has had to pay between $5.5 billion to $5.8 billion each year since 2006. This is why the USPS has lost money each year since 2006.

Find out what's happening in North Havenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The NALC president also mentioned that, if not for the pension obligation, the USPS would have earned $611 million in profits over the past four years:

Keep in mind that the USPS earned a $611 million profit over the past four years even though the entire country was suffering through the worst recessionary period in American history since the Great Depression. What these USPS officials also failed to tell the audience is that the USPS does not receive any subsidies from the Federal Government.

There have been no bailouts from the government and, more importantly, the USPS does not use any taxpayers’ money. The USPS relies solely on the sale of metered postage, stamps and other products to provide mail service to the American public. Not one cent of taxpayer money is given to the USPS for any of its postal operations.

Regarding the last month's meeting with the postal service, Mase argued that the officials in attendance were attempting to, "frighten the audience by sputtering bad news and never attempting to explain all the positive progress that the USPS has made during the worst recessionary period in the past 80 years."

What are your thoughts on the state of the USPS? Did you feel like the October meeting contributed to fear-mongering?

Tell us in the comments!

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here