POSTAL NEWS
NO. 70/2012
Formulated by
UNI-JAPAN POST
In cooperation with
UNI APRO, ASPEK INDONESIA
and SPPI
- Postal Service Bankrupt
Shows Why USPS Must Be Privatized. Aug 7, 2012.
- Liberia: Postal Ministry Dedicates Voinjama Post. Aug 6, 2012.
- Postal politics: Federal
help for the USPS is overdue. Aug 5, 2012.
- New Russia
post office in limbo. Aug 4, 2012.
- Postal Service Misses $5B
Payment, Could Bankruptcy Be Next? Aug 4, 2012.
- Postal Service Posts Big
Loss as Cash Runs Low. Aug 9, 2012.
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- Postal Service Bankrupt Shows
Why USPS Must Be Privatized
The United States Postal Service’s anticipated default
tonight shows that both Congress and Americans are on the mailman’s side.
USPS will default at midnight because it cannot pay $5.5
billion to retiree health benefits. Back in 2006, the Republican-dominated
Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, which mandated
the USPS to “prefund all of its retirees’ health benefits” for the next 75
years. Naturally, they couldn’t afford to meet the requirement, and now find
themselves in default six years later.
Despite the agency’s insistence that this default “will
have no material effect on the operations of the Postal Service,” the impact
won’t go unnoticed. A first-time default will crack a few bones of the
service’s infrastructure, and a foreseeable second default in September could
destroy it.
Yet both of these defaults hold good news: now that the
skeleton of the postal service is broken, Americans will truly realize that
change—on a radical level—needs to occur. Even if Congress passed a bill that
was clearly unattainable, they did it with honorable intentions. This default
needed to happen a decade ago. Now more than ever, it needs to happen so we can
find a new pathway out.
Some call the postal service's foundation “old-fashioned,”
but I think a more suitable term is archaic. The underpinning is based on a
government-induced monopoly, a money-losing flat rate service, and a hope that
Americans use snail mail instead of email. The simple reality? Delivering
letters to rural places for the same 44-cent rate as delivering them to
populated urban areas isn’t lucrative. Reforms have only lead to more junk
mail. According to Bloomsberg, “the USPS needs three pieces of junk mail to
replace the profit of a vanished stamp-bearing letter.” Additionally, the
Internet has stolen the top money-makers from the USPS: Christmas cards and
college acceptance/rejection letters. This spring, my mailman won’t get the
satisfaction of delivering any rejection letters to my door! My Gmail account,
however, will.
The only way out is to completely reconstruct the whole
“one size fits all” plan. Privatization is inevitable.
Although many oppose privatizing because it could curtail
unions, it has worked in socialist countries like Finland,
Sweden, Germany, Switzerland,
and Austria.
The European Union “prodded members to give up their monopolies and compete
with one another,” and the result has been glorious compared to our system.
Furthermore, the postal service would not be obliterated
if we privatize it. More mail delivery services mean more job opportunities,
more efficiency and more freedom. That little post office around the corner
might be closed, but it doesn’t mean Americans will completely forget or demolish
the legacy of the USPS. Privatizing will force the postal services to be
rejuvenated, modernized, and ready to compete in the 21st century.
In a perfect world, Ben Franklin would have wanted us to
keep the USPS alive. But this is far from a utopia. Our economy is already
suffering, and privatizing mail is the only answer.
- Liberia: Postal Ministry Dedicates Voinjama Post
Tagged: Business, Governance, ICT, Liberia, West Africa
6 August 2012
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has dedicated
the Voinjama Post in Lofa
County. According to a
release, the ceremony brought together officials of the county, including
Acting Superintendent Gimmy Kamara, Acting City Mayor Bizzie, other assigned
officials of the ministries of Education, Labour, Public Works, Internal
Affairs, LISGIS, General Services Agency, Church Leaders and opinion leaders in
the county.
Acting Superintendent Kamara lauded President Ellen
Johnson Sirleaf, Postmaster General Frederick Norkeh and the Universal Postal
Union for the relentless efforts exerted, which led to the dedication of the
Voinjama Post.
"Although it wasn't possible to dedicate Voinjama
Post Office during the July 26 Independence Day Anniversary celebrated in our
County, we are quite grateful that today marks the day God designed for
Voinjama Post to be dedicated to serve our people", Acting Superintendent
Kamara said. The Minister of Posts and Telecommunications Ferdrick Norkeh said
the dedication of the facility means a lot for the people of Lofa.
He encouraged all to make maximum use of the various
services available to them now thru Voinjama Post; "instead of going to
Monrovia for such services which is quite costly, these same services are now
available at Voinjama Post with the staff set to serve", the Minister said
and added, "building post offices and windows at strategic areas
throughout rural Liberia will greatly reduce the burden of poverty on the
citizenry."
Deputy Posts Minister Dolomengi said in accordance with
the Ministry's mandate to develop and promote a people-friendly postal
industry, the Voinjama Post will strive to provide postal services such as
Letter posts, parcel posts, registered & expressed mail, Expedited Mail
Services (EMS), Book posts, Small packets, philatelic (stamp sale), Institutional
and Home mail delivery and sales of variety of post cards, among other
services.
- Postal politics: Federal help
for the USPS is overdue
Published: Sunday, August 05, 2012, 3:55 AM
Staten Island Advance Editorial By Staten
Island Advance Editorial
It has been a vital part of life in America since even before the birth of the United States.
Now the U.S. Postal Service is struggling to survive modern times.
Ben Franklin was named by the Continental Congress as the
first Postmaster General in 1775. Under Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution,
which was ratified in 1792, the post office became the nation’s first
government agency.
But the USPS is on the way to bankruptcy, which could
bring chaos to its traditional role in the quick and reliable delivery of the
mail throughout America.
To prevent this, Congress should do the right thing and
establish the sensible reforms needed to put mail delivery on a sound basis.
Only the Postal Service makes deliveries to every one of
this nation’s 151 million residential, business and government addresses. In
doing so, it carries nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail.
Yet the USPS, an independent agency since 1972, receives
no tax money. It relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund
it operations, including a total of 32,000 post offices and other sites across
the country.
Unfortunately, its annual revenue of more than $65 billion
has not been enough to stem the tide of red ink.
From 2007 to 2010, the USPS lost $20 billion as the volume
of mail it handled dropped 20 percent, mostly due to the growth in e-mail, bill
paying via computer and competition from private carriers such as FedEx and
UPS.
The Postal Service is now losing $25 million a day.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe has urged Congress to
let him eliminate Saturday delivery, slow down first-class mail and raise the
cost of a stamp by 5 cents.
But Republicans and Democrats have been unable in an
election year to agree on what to do to help.
A few days ago, the USPS defaulted on a $5.5-billion
payment mandated by Congress to pre-pay for the health care of future retirees.
No other government agencies or private companies do this.
The ill-advised requirement dates from legislation passed
in 2006 during the Bush administration to keep postal expenses from being
charged to the federal deficit.
It’s clear the Postal Service has too many workers, too
many post offices and too many processing centers.
But the politics of reform are tricky.
This became a local sore point when the USPS decided in
February to move all Staten Island mail-sorting from the Manor Road Post Office
to Brooklyn.
Even though labor costs represent 80 percent of Postal
Service expenses, Congress is highly reluctant to tamper with the second
largest employer in the nation. It has over half a million workers.
So the agency that delivered 171 million pieces of mail in
America
last year has been left in the lurch.
Nothing significant in the way of long-term reform is
expected to be OK’d by the current Congress.
This isn’t what the Founding Fathers had in mind.
August 4, 2012
- New Russia
post office in limbo
ALVIN REINER Press-Republican
NEW RUSSIA — The future of the New Russia post office is
still in limbo.
The U.S. Postal Service had indicated that it might be
closed last year, news that brought impassioned pleas to keep it open from
residents at a meeting held in the Elizabethtown
Town Hall with Dan
Cronin, manager of post office operations for the area.
To resounding applause at that November meeting, Alden
Harris, landlord of the building that houses the Post Office, volunteered to
cut the annual rent to $1 and to cover the utility costs out of his own pocket.
The support at the meeting and a letter-writing campaign
to postal and elected officials saw the facility spared, at least temporarily.
The dark financial picture of the Postal Service has
driven the decision to close some post offices. There has been a decline in
business in recent years, since stamps can be ordered online and email and texting
have replaced much interchange that once was done by mail.
"People used to be good for a lot of mail — paying
their bills and sending birthday cards,” said Margaret McCoy, who retired as
postmaster in New Russia this week.
"Now, they do a lot of this online."
But a rural post office is more than a place to mail
packages and pick up letters, she emphasized.
"People come here to converse, as well as get their
mail,” she said. "It’s where people meet for the first time.
"If you don’t have this place (in the hamlet), there
is no other public building, and you don’t get a chance to meet and find out
about your neighbors or other local news."
- Postal Service Misses $5B
Payment, Could Bankruptcy Be Next?
Written by Andrew Forgotch
Last updated on August 03, 2012 @ 6:54PM
Created on August 03, 2012 @ 6:19PM
For months 5 News has been keeping on top of the money
problems facing the United States Post Office.
Earlier this week they missed a $5.5 billion tab to prepay
health care benefits for retirees.
Some experts believe it could be the first step toward
filing for bankruptcy.
It's too early to say if that missed payment means the end
of the post office, but it's not a good sign for a group that's already
announced plans here in the Mountain
State to cut hours at
some offices to only two hours a day.
"I believe it is a scary though," Patricia
Loy-Colbank, owner of Patty's Arts Studio said. "I love mail."
It's fitting that Loy-Colebank owns a business right
across from the post office in Star
City.
"I think it's a nice traditional way to relay
information," Loy-Colbank said of sending letters.
What's not fitting, for the sister of a letter carrier, is
the post office is in serious financial bind.
They've reported several quarters of multi-billion dollar
losses.
Earlier this week came word they missed a $5.5 billion
payment due to the federal government.
Post offices will continue to stay open, but the question
is for how long?
They've already announced plans to cut hours, including in
some places in the Mountain
State where some offices
would only stay open for two hours a day.
"There would probably be a line clear to the
road," Nancy Dias said in reference to what the line would like at the
post office in downtown Morgantown
if it went to two hours a day.
If the cuts indeed do go through, businesses figure to be
hit the hardest.
"Quite frankly many of us who have a concern about
that are hopeful that they will be able to turn things around," Morgantown
City Manager Terrence Moore said.
Postal workers have pushed legislators to ease funding
mandates, but congress remains sitting a bill that could help. That isn't
welcome news at Patty's Art Studio.
"I need them to be open," Loy-Colbank said.
"I need them open when I need them to be open. I know they can't be open
24 hours a day, but I need more than two hours a day."
There isn't any expected to be any catastrophe in mail
service just yet. If the cuts go through West
Virginia figures to be one of the states that should
lost the most.
U.S. NEWS
Updated August 9, 2012, 5:43 p.m. ET
- Postal Service Posts Big Loss
as Cash Runs Low
By ERIC MORATH
The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a $5.2
billion quarterly loss and said it was nearly out of cash and likely to exhaust
its government credit line in coming months.
The U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported a $5.2
billion loss for its fiscal third quarter, an indication that the agency's
financial woes are deepening. Eric Morath has details on The News Hub. Photo:
Getty Images.
[image]
The agency said the loss was its widest since it began
releasing quarterly financials in 2007. But Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe
said the Postal Service would do whatever it takes to maintain its operations,
even if that means defaulting on a second multibillion-dollar retiree
obligation in as many months.
"We will do everything we need to do to make sure the
mail is delivered," he said. "Congress needs to act responsibly and
move on this legislation." Losses and defaults will continue, despite
cost-cutting efforts, unless Congress passes a postal-overhaul bill, Mr.
Donahoe said.
The Postal Service's loss for its third quarter ended June
30 compared with a $3.1 billion loss for the like period a year earlier.
Charges taken in connection to a mandate to prefund retiree health care drove
the loss in the latest quarter, but declining first-class and advertising mail
volume were a drag on revenue.
Mr. Donahoe said the Postal Service would pay its
employees and critical vendors but might skip some payments to others.
He said current retirees aren't at risk of losing
insurance coverage. While the Postal Service may tap all its credit from the
U.S. Treasury by October, finances should improve later in the year with
election mail and holiday deliveries propping up revenue, the agency said.
The Postal Service defaulted for the first time in its
history on Aug. 1, failing to pay $5.5 billion for future retiree health
benefits. A similar $5.6 billion payment is due at the end of next month. The
agency said it wouldn't make that either, unless Congress acts.
The Senate passed postal-overhaul legislation earlier this
year, but the House hasn't take up the bill or a plan drafted by Republicans.
"I'm not sure how much more evidence leaders in the
House of Representatives need before they realize that the Postal Service is in
dire straits," said Sen. Tom Carper (D., Del.), one of the Senate bill's
authors.
A spokesman for the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee said no date has been set to take up the legislation.
The Postal Service has criticized the Senate plan for not
going far enough. For example, the bill makes it difficult for the Postal
Service to implement its plan to cut delivery to five days a week to reduce
costs.
Rep. Dennis Ross (R., Fla.), a co-author of the House
bill, said Thursday's loss shows the Senate bill, which would eliminate the
prefunding requirement and return pension overpayments, isn't enough.
"These declines, without right-sizing the expense side of the postal
equation, spell the end of the Postal Service," he said.
The House bill, which allows for more sweeping changes
that would enable the post office to cut costs sooner, has met resistance from
some lawmakers who are concerned it would lead to slower service and more
post-office closings.
Excluding losses tied to retiree health care and workers'
compensation, the Postal Service lost $1 billion in the latest quarter. That
marks an improvement from a year earlier, when the operating loss totaled $1.3
billion.
By the end of this month, the Postal Service will have
closed 48 mail-processing plants this year. It plans to shut 92 more next year.
In a positive sign, the agency said it is seeing growing
sales from its parcel business. Led by "If It Fits, It Ships"
service, the shipping revenue was up 9.9% for the quarter. That wasn't nearly
enough to make up for a 3.1% decline in first-class mail, still the main
revenue driver.
Write to Eric Morath at eric.morath@dowjones.com
A version of this article appeared August 10, 2012, on
page A2 in the U.S.
edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Postal Service Posts Big
Loss as Cash Runs Low.
