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Here Comes "Going Postal" The Sequel: US Postal Service To Cut 120,000 Jobs To Avoid Bankruptcy
That the US postal service is on the verge of bankruptcy is well-known by now and was discussed by Zero Hedge long before it became mainstream news. Furthermore, as we previously noted, the key sticking point in cost reduction negotiations is the labor force compensation (80% of all costs), which is paid an average of $41.15 an hour, and which is over 60% unionized. As of today, we finally welcome the USPS to reality which has announced that, in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy, it is now seeking to reduce its total overhead by 20%, or a whopping 120,000 workers (a number which would amount to roughly an increase of 0.1% in the national unemployment rate). Ah yes, but this is prohibited by existing union contracts. Furthermore, WaPo writes that "SPS also wants to withdraw its employees from the health and retirement plans that cover federal staffers and create its own benefit programs for postal employees." Good luck trying to convince a labor union that cutting an ungodly amount of jobs is for the greater good. Alas, what happened in Greece (and what is about to happen in Italy) will be nothing compared to what will happen when the entire post office goes, well, postal.
This major restructuring of the Postal Service’s relationship with its workforce would need congressional approval and would face fierce opposition from postal unions. But if approved, eliminating contract provisions that prevent layoffs and quitting the federal employee health and retirement programs could have ramifications for workers across the government and throughout the national’s labor movement.
In a notice to employees informing them of its proposals, with the headline “Financial crisis calls for significant actions,” the Postal Service said “we will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit prefunding costs imposed by Congress.”
The Postal Service plan is described in two draft documents obtained by The Washington Post. A “Workforce Optimization” paper acknowledges “that asking Congress to eliminate the layoff protections in our collective bargaining agreements is an extraordinary request by the Postal Service, and we do not make this request lightly. However, exceptional circumstances require exceptional remedies.
“The Postal Service is facing dire economic challenges that threaten its very existence. . . . If the Postal Service was a private sector business, it would have filed for bankruptcy and utilized the reorganization process to restructure its labor agreements to reflect the new financial reality.”
And here are the number that will shortly be repeated ad nauseam on every talk show over the next week:
The USPS says it needs to reduce its workforce by 120,000 career positions by 2015, in addition to the 100,000 it expects through regular attrition. Some of the 120,000 could come through buyouts and other programs, but a significant number likely would be the result of layoffs, if Congress allows the agency to circumvent union contracts.
But what is a labor loving president to do (recall how in the Detroit-3 restructurings, labor unions just incidentally took precedence over secured debt holders):
“Unfortunately, the collective bargaining agreements between the Postal Service and our unionized employees contain layoff restrictions that make it impossible to reduce the size of our workforce by the amount required by 2015,” according to the postal document. “Therefore, a legislative change is needed to eliminate the layoff protections in our collective bargaining agreements.”
Those most likely to suffer yet another political whiplash as a result of this huge dilemma (massive layoffs or no more snail mail) is the democratic party:
How Congress will respond to the postal proposals remains to be seen. Many Republicans, including those who have sponsored legislation that labor considers anti-union, may support the plan. Some Democrats probably would back union opposition. But the Postal Service’s critical financial situation could make Democrats have second thoughts.
Sure enough, the unions wasted no time to craft a response:
American Postal Workers Union President Cliff Guffey said, “The APWU will vehemently oppose any attempt to destroy the collective bargaining rights of postal employees or tamper with our recently-negotiated contract — whether by postal management or members of Congress.”
National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association President Don Cantriel: “We are absolutely opposed” to the layoff proposal. “We are opposed to pulling out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Our advisers are not advising us at all to even consider it.”
National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric V. Rolando: “The issues of lay-off protection and health benefits are specifically covered by our contract. . . . The Congress of the United States does not engage in contract negotiations with unions and we do not believe they are about to do so.”
Unfortunately, about 30 years after its inception, the USPS is about to remind America what the source of the "going postal" phrase really is.
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Like Jack Kent Cook, then owner of he Washington Redskins said of new coach George Allen, "I gave George an unlimited budget and he went over it the first week!" Tuco
Like any other government entity [aka sans competition], the gene pool never gets cleaned...
this really pisses me off. I swear , of COURSE they make $40 an hour. I am still paying back a student loan and probably by the time you would figure in all of the benefits minus the student loans and other things for my "doctorate" even though my paycheck is 144K I bet you I make just about that much. these people are waaaaaaaaaaaay out there. I HATE the mail anyway. I glued mine shut and will not accept it.
Special delivery bitchez
Where to start?! First of all, we probably only need 3 days a week house delivery versus 6 days now. Congress can't get off their fat ass to even eliminate Saturday delivery. The reason of course is JOBS, JOBS, JOBS. It is now governments JOB to create and maintain JOBS. Didn't ya know?
Second, $41/hour...well that is obscene. I will work for $25/hour as a multi-skilled handy-man (hate that term). Plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. Granted, I have a little more choice in weather conditions for work, but seriously...fucking delivering mail?!!!
Until this country finally figures out that we're not the king of the hill anymore, you are going to see some strange, fucking shit. Wall streeter types expecting and making multi-six figures, post office workers making $40/hour plus sweet pensions, city/county government workers same.
The shit will hit the fan one of these days and people will start understanding the meaning of real work.
Management screwed up (my guess is there are management signatures on the contracts) so, of course, blame the workers... one can only hope the 'groupthink' hate on this site is not representative of the general population.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
UNfortunately we can be sure that the groupthink is well and truly replicated in the rest of the Borg Hive.
No doubt the negotiations were not that tense. Shit, they probably had that clause in there simply because nobody ever thought the PO could be hung out to dry.
The money always came rolling in. Everyone got a cut so there wasn't a problem.
Now the music stopped and everyone is pointing fingers. This is exactly what happens when profit is not in the top 5 goals for a company.
I saw it with IBM in NY in the early 90s. They had it REALLY good. Country club, great pay, everything.
Then the barrels of money stopped arriving and suddenly everyone looked around with wild eyes. They never had a problem with $, so being efficient was not in the cards.
Same everywhere, car makers in Detroilet, defense contractors, the works.
pods
it isn't. . . this site is heavily skewed towards a certain demographic, very easy to spot.
this site is heavily skewed towards a certain demographic, very easy to spot.
How is this site skewed? 'Cuz while my linking to this may seem like trolling, I'm watching one of my fave shows right now as I read your comment:
http://www.icarly.com/
Surely this site is not skewed to the iCarly crowd! I've felt alone for a long time commenting here...
When Going to the Post Office.....DUCK !
As I'm sure mail volume will only continue to drop, they should close 1/2 the post offices and reduce mail delivery to only 3 days a week (M, W, F), and cut staff by 50% now. Honestly, do we really need to receive mail 6 days a week? Not me.
What happens when the demons hit the kill switch because of a false flag from our patriots at the CIA and rest of the alphabet soup terrorists in our government. With post office cut back we will have to resort to the passenger pigeon to deliver our mail. Oh hell.............! Tuco
Kind of a shame. I have had very few problems with USPS service over the years. $41.15 seems kind of high for basically unskilled labor, but it's not like some of the pensions Univ. of Illinois retirees are getting (up to $400k/yr).
I'd rather see them cut back to 4 days delivery instead of 5 1/2 like they currently do than lay people off. But, that's basically what unions are all about - get the most for as many as they can and the rest can fuck off basically.
I wonder if they will charge tax for emails and shipping any parcel. If they do, that will help deterring terrorists. It will make them more costly to run. LOL
drug companies are riding the usps , raise the rates you asshats if nobody wants to use it then shut it down.
plus a ton of these small biz cocksuckers are mailing for about 1/3 what it should cost.
raise the rates you asshats if nobody uses it then shut it down.
what the hell is wrong with this country. price the shit where you can break even or shut it down.
+1
"price the shit where you can break even or shut it down."
YEP! Better yet, price it so you can make a buck or 2. But, we don't shut nothing down in this country anymore - we bail it out.
Several years ago when the USPS was profitable Congress decided they would tie postage rates to the "rate of inflation." What would happen if the government was "less than accurate" in their CPI numbers?
The Postal Service has no way to correct this. They asked for a 2 cent rate increase several years ago and congress denied them saying there was no emergency. One thing in particular that is killing them is the high cost of fuel. They have no fuel surcharge and no way to pass on the additional expense.
USPS has the lowest rates in the developed world and it generally isn't close. Nearest I know of is NZ and they are around 49 cents. A rate increase to .49 would put the USPS back in the black, (Not a Barack reference). The guy who was bragging about the Canadian post making money should have mentioned a stamp costs 30 percent more. He did mention they don't deliver on Saturdays.
The strangest thing about this is I never hear anybody: congress, the unions, the postmaster, or mailers mention the possibility of raising rates. That is the first thing FEDEX and UPS did when the economy went bad.
Cheers.
so, next time you're waiting for your unemployment check, and they tell you it's in the mail, you'll know it'll never come!
They can hire the buffet guy to give them a suck it up motivatinal speech. After they do the same when BAC goes to shit on them.
The USPS would be incredibly efficient with mail delivery drivers making about 16 - 18 dollars an hour with the removal of defined health and retirement plans that are more in line with non - union counterparts.
It's a fucking shame the unions refuse to negotiate when tuimes are terrible. They insist on demands that are untenable.
The elimination of the USPS brings in the possibility of a domestic comapny seizing the opportunity to deliver mail to homes.
I believe the unions need to re-think their greed.
Because only a banksters contract is sacred.
#41
Remember after TARP when all the Republicans argued not to change the compensation packages of Wall St? They were sacred.
You wouldn't need "health plans" (byu which I mean profit plans) if you had a half-decent health care system. Seriously, come to Australia, or got to Canada. it works! And costs a fraction of what your health care system costs.
Your system is the problem, not the fact that people don't want to be bankrupted because of heart attack.
hey, witch_p! we have the AMA which as far as i'm concerned is still the most powerful lobby in the US.
and, since we have never elected but 1 or 2 wo/men who were not extremely attracted to the lobbyists' $$$, don't get sick! or, if you do, if you weren't poor before, you will be, soon!
we. are. fuked!
maybe, before i shed this mortal coil, i'll get to see the doctors, the generals, the pols, and the banksters & all their lawyers trying to kill each other over the last $1 FRN in america! b/c they went to school! so, that makes it ok, right? really! just ask them!
You don't know where I am from, slewie, as I do not know where you are from.
I think you know more than me but I believe we are kindred spirits. Keep going on this site. Your comments are always good stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdfPER5Cgm8
its all good slew_E. I probably shoudl have written in this style
In all seriousity you are one of the best ZH commenters. Even if you or I never lick on tyler's buttplug, tyer is still a cool guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch84fmOa414&ob=av2e
Let's squeeze every fukking dime outta the workers. Health benefits...who the fukk do they think they are. Yeah, it's the unions. That's the ticket.
You fukking retard.
No. I mean yes! I mean no.
I am confident that union leadership understands the realities of the political and economic situation that they themselves have helped to evolve and will work diligently to help resolve the situation.. just like union leadership did in Wisconson.
OT:
must watch max keiser!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umJ6co__lz8&feature=player_embedded
Honestly though, how many services can you get for under 50 cents? Just double the d**n price on a stamp already. Can you imagine the hysteria that would cause with old Baby Boomers who have been raised on cheap subsidized mail their whole lives?
The same goes for all subsidized industries including agriculture. To decommission them would be to eliminate any discretionary income the middle class American might still have. No one wants to admit how far the American standard of living has declined. Therefore, it's better to allow China to fund our subsidized way of life.
Triple that for all I care. 99% of my fiat transactions (IE: power, banking, etc.) are done electronically through my CU these days anyways. F&ck em, let em go down.
A great bit of positive feedback: when the USPS is no longer functioning, lots of paper benefit/entitlement checks can't get delivered, saving the Feds even more dough.
Gov. checks go straight to a card or the bank.
a card provided by "a bank" who makes a profit from usage. . .
hmmm, combined with the post above, can see where this story might end up.
Not all of them. I know people on an old-fashioned dole. Even if it's only 5% of recipients, yanno what they say.
Every little bit helps.
What's the difference between Yahoo comments and Zerohedge? Not much, at least in this tread.
Yeah, usually the comments in the articles seem to be half reasonable people and half Tea Party. This seems to be mostly Tea Party commenters.
How is babby formed?
Too bad, all the USPS service members were nice and polite. I truely hope that they can find a good job at Fedex/UPS.
USPS is a prime example of a company running by the federal govornment failing to compete with private companies like Fedex and UPS.
So, they should stop running GM, C and AIG. This thing just doesn't work. A public entity can never have a true accountability.
Nice & polite? 4 clerks in our local PO. 3 are decent 50% of the time. 1 is a richard head 100% of the time.
Right you are!
When they took over the Mustang Ranch (was it?) they couldn't turn a profit selling liquor and women!
Had to close the joint.
They have the scatological touch.
looks like obama bin bagel will loose 100k negro votes...hmm kinda reminds me of the whole election fraud from 04 except this time its being done by their own kind!
Never happen. They'll just blame whitey.
Might as well stick with what works.
I'm guessing that instead of Congress coming through with the contract changes, they'll suggest something like the following:
* Plan on hiring 150,000 new posties.
* Only hire 30,000.
Problem solved. 120,000 posties eliminated. Could be done in one year, and would not bump up the jobless numbers.
I believe strongly that Obama will not let this happen and some sort of bailout will be coming. Why? Because he is a friggin socialist and these people will vote for him. Don't believe me. Wait and see.
Looks like the Two Minutes Hate is in full swing on this one....
It's the forever stamps bitchez!
Things are getting better, getting better all the time.
The Postman: It takes one postman to make someone else a postman.
Ford Lincoln Mercury: Sorta like vampires, huh?
More quotes from that movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119925/quotes
While I do believe that public sector unions need to be disbanded, most of the comments on this story are out of line. Someone stated it correctly, Congress saw the writing on the wall and never decreased the number of days per week mail is delivered. I can't stand entitlement minded government workers are much as the next person, but to watch our country go back to a two class society is disgusting. Welcome back 19th Century, we missed you so much (or at least some of us did).
Work or die always had a pleasing simplicity.
Feel free to support as many usesless mouths as you can afford. I won't get in your way.
So cocksucker, you have no problem with CEO's making millions of $, not adding a dime to the company's bottom line, and getting a multi-million $ a year pension? Fuck you asshole! Since when have these CEO's put in a solid day's work? Eat shit , cocksucker.
Thanks I'll do that.
If you're for the good society, why get the government involved?
Why use force to do good? If you really want to help the "poor" people out, why not get a list of you and all your friends, and then take an oath to pay 35 - 50 percent of your income to these other people you deem worthy of aid?
35%-50%? I would be have to making considerably more money to use that percent of my paycheck. Our taxes don't go all to helping the poor, they also go towards meaningless wars, paying for defense contracts we don't need (just defend the fucking country), entitlements (some people actually paid for SS)...
Wait for it...
Almost there...
If you think there is a two class society, and it is your moral duty to support the underclass, why use force to do that?
There is no need to use government to force others through coercion to help others in need. In fact, my point is when you seek force to make others comply to your ideals, you have reduced your moral position through coercion. You have become morally bankrupt and are now worse than the exploiters you rage against. You have become a tyrant, a bully, that uses force to get others to comply to your ideals of what is "right".
My argument is that you can bypass the force altogether by getting a sheet of paper, writing down your name and income, then pledging a percentage of that income to your cause, whether it is supporting the underclass or giving people a fair wage, then getting all the liberal minded friends to do the same. There is your aid to the underclass, and you still retain your moral position.
I agree with you that wars and other govt. programs are used by our taxes, but I was addressing your argument of a two class system.
It's always been a two class society. There's leisure class and working class. Same as it's ever been.
But realize: as government collapses, the protections that the leisure class takes for granted evaporate. There's *more* potential for justice in an anarchic society.
just raise rates... gas goes through the roof and everything else.. double the price and atleast make those junkmailers pay to annoy everyone
I have used the post office my whole life personally and for business. The employees I have met over the years have been professional and hard working. I disdain government but these people are by and large good people just trying to make a buck and they are having their water, air and vaccines poisoned by the demon elite just like the rest of us. Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez
Bummer.
I hear buggy whip workers were damn fine people too.
i'm all in on nfl preseason games...winning!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yZeT2OAzbU
Royal Fingerbowl "Otis Goes Postal"
how about 120,000 bankers, politicians and priests instead? before i go #postal..
Just raise rates?
Double the price of stamps? Make a profit or close it down?
Get fucking real! They get life-time bennies that you coud not come close to in the private sector for unskilled labor . Weighing out packages, stamping "First Class" on it and dropping it in the chute - cost = $40+/hour.... You are kidding right?
whatever - selective attackmode fully engaged eh? You all just wake up to these types of family supporting wages just a few years ago? Why is there are segment out there that wants the majority of workers to make shit?
Hopefully you get your $6 an hour postal workers that throw the mail away and work like commies since they won't have anything to lose
this is post-fordism, fincap, techrat, quants over quality +++
mean reversion, entropy, equilibrium is a bitch.
postal service, meet e-mail.....though at least chinese hackers don't mess up snail mail
Awesome!!!!!! You wiped the stage with that racist!
Wait a second, are you telling me postal workers make on the average apporximately $75,000 a year + benefits + Pension? That's more then my family's pediatrician makes.
What a strange country we live in.
what has been the financial arragement between the federal government
and the postal service over the last several years? has the service
been able to allocate surpluses or have they been allocated elsewhere
by the feder/feral government? postal rates kept pace with inflation?
or, he thought, blow it out your ass.
@"unfortunate.." . to each his own.
as for "unskilled..". what a crock.
go deliver a few million pieces of mail and then i'll tell
you you don't deserve to eat or sleep in a bed.
fucking ay. and ..
sheesh
Maybe they can live in the government owned rentals:
"...the Obama administration said Wednesday it’s looking for investor ideas for converting more than 92,000 foreclosed properties owned by the U.S. government into rental units."""
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-moves-to-sell-rent-92000-foreclosed-...
“Going Postal”
IMHO your gona miss our postal system just like your gonna miss a safe sound bridge.
I miss the job security I used to experience in the early '90s FAR MORE than I miss any of that bullshit.
The die is cast.
Great COngress needs to approve this?
Screw this shitz and get er done
My fix:
(1) Increase bulk rate to regular postage fee of 44 cents. This will reduce amount of mail by at least 25%.
(2) Offer 10% discount with on-line printed postage. This will reduce customers at the counter.
(3) Put all routes on a three day system. Deliver to half of the routes on Mon, Wed. & Fri. and deliver to the other half on Tues., Thurs. & Sat. using the same vehicles and delivery personnel. This will facilitate a 50% reduction in delivery personnel, a 50% reduction in deliver fuel costs and a 50% reduction in needed delivery vehicles.
(4) Close all postal branch customer counters on the weekend. Remain open an extra hour Mon.-Fri.
(5) Offer early out incentives to reduce the number of employees. this will reduce the unemployment burden on the taxpayers.
There is no need for the mailman to come to my mailbox six days a week and leave over half of the mail in the form of junk that goes strait to the trash. three days a week is often enough for anyone to receive mail. My mailman told me that USPS is required by law to visit every mailbox six days a week.
Finally, a reasonable idea. I like your idea, worth a shot. I respect you for giving a solution. Want to run for Congress?
some great ideas that make too much sense unfortunately
You've forgotten who gummit works for.
been recommending USPS to young people. first of all the private carriers follow no security rules whatsoever. they drop ship from all over the world, and the carriers (who used to come to your door) now throw the package at your door. this will not last, in the increased security environment needed, the corporate boys, you know who, have been getting away with murder, now its time to pull them up by the short hairs and make them play by the same transportation rules that we use on airlines.
i would expect USPS to get into package security, even if the corporate guys keep a profile, its badly needed. they also do passports, so i expect someone to expand the role of USPS, a real american success story.
meanwhile the private carriers have done pretty well because Amazon doesnt charge state sales tax. what kind of crap is thatz? they use the extra to pay for shipping, well how about we level the playing field for retailers just a bit? that and i think corporate america has a date with reality, (like no more corporate welfare, GE pays not taxes, Amazon collects no sales tax, who let this shit happen?)
on the rebound, USPS
You know this story quite expected, I think Tyler just wanted to use "going postal" in the context of the USPS >:)
The USPS is a perfect example of sucking at the teet until there's absolutely nothing left but a shriveled dead carcass.
As a side, I was never at the bargaining table when these agreements were reached, and those who were had no vested interest in striking a reasonable deal for the tax payers that support this leviathan.
As was stated, if it had been a private entity it would already be defunct and gone. This is a perfect example of just how bad it can get when a government runs a business.
IRS: Obama said he was going to put a solar panel on the whitehouse to atleast have a background for the miller lite superbowl call the president moment in 2012.
Department of Registerd US mail: Sounds complicated. Why am I here? I have live poutry in the truck.
IRS: We need somebody to tell Obama that Jimmy Carter thinks there should be a solar panel on the whitehouse.
Mail man: I Do not have a nuclear engineering or community organizer degree.
IRS: How about the ole in and out? you tell passenger 51 that he is a nerdowell, you get the $7 fee for registered mail?
Mail man: And then can I serve real legal summons after I retire?
IRS: Of course, but you should not drive around that gimp truck when you are assigned to ask Jeff Immelt about the what what.
How is it that people, including the staff at Zero Hedge, can get so torqued about a working man making a lousy forty bucks an hour (on their feet walking all day I might add) but don't never get outraged about the guys making $40,000 an hour because of government assistance whether through law or contract or both. Boy but just let some working stiff make a few bucks and look out. What bullshit. The people that resent other people making a lousy forty and hour are pretenders. Poor, young, ignorant, jealous. Wanna bees. I wouldn't work for a lousy 40 an hour myself and pitty the man that still has to. I don't begrudge him nothin. So you guys must like work at McDonalds during the day and get all outraged here at night. Pretty sad.
LY2140023
It's all about what you see. You're right on, it is jealousy of someworking stiff making a superior wage. The problem is how isolated the rich bastards really are. Imagine how truly disgusted someone of the working poor would be to spend a day with Warren Buffet.
Whatever happened to the American Letter Mail Compnay? You know, the one that invented the 3 cent stamp.
They charged five cents in 1844 according to wikipedia. So 5 cents in 1844 was .715*.05=.03575 ounces of silver which today is about .03575*38.5= $1.37
I hope this doesn't effect the 650 J. Crew catalogs I get every year. Or the friendly efficient service at the post office I never go to...
I genuinely hope it doesn't affect the 1300 Victoria's Secret catalogs I get each year. And I wish I got more than 13 Frederick's of Hollywood catalogs, too.
And since you and I are both speaking anecdotally, don't you think the postal workers in small towns are nice, friendly people? And the postal workers in big cities are worthless shitheads? 'Cuz that's how I've seen people in a lot of service jobs.
Well Vic Vinegar, I am not comfortable calling people, "worthless shitheads" and I believe that most "small town" people feel the same way. But I do agree with the sentiment of what you ask. In fact, the more Christian a community the nicer they tend to be in my experience. My "neighbors" in New York City would consider that offensive to their metro-sexual, group-think but it is just a simple fact. And postal service to rural America is about the only reason to subsidize a dramatically smaller USPS.
Anything that can be outsourced will be outsourced. Anything that can be digitized will be digitilzed. Where is USPS in this grand scheme?
Quantify this you rich american tax payer who don't pay their fair share, the US Postal Service is losing, year in and year, out 8-9 Billion. Are you understanding this?, is there a question about whether or not to reduce work force numbers 120,000, in a workforce of 790,000? This should have been proposed, expedited and completed years ago, then we could be debating about lopping off another 100,000 of the naves this day. You know it just isn't going to turn out like they might think, economic financial repression has not only come to American private sector enterprise it's is coming to American government postal workers sooner than they may think.
I just couldn't help myself so I had to put up a post for the Postman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IhoSJbKbJQ
I am buying a pony and making my own mail service.
This one goes out to all you spacemonkeys, just trying to get through another day on this here planet.
Why did you ever have a comment re: the postal service laying off peeps that you thought another person might enjoy hearing from? Kind of like me saying I enjoy everything RobotTrader, B9K9 and slewie the pi-rat have to say.
Who gives a shit, who gives a fuck?, as a famous newsman once said.
Yet no one can quit this site. Dare I say we just can't get enough :-) Dare I say Tyler enjoys the Black Eyed Peas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrTyD7rjBpw&ob=av2e
The only time I had any use for anything Black Eyed Peas related was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzgJ6Mkkd-w
Seems to have timed the drugs perfect for that performance...
Why all the postal bashing here? Most postal employees I see day to day are nice folks.
And besides, if there was a government organization worth saving, its the post office. All they do is serve the people. Need to ship a package? Costs half or less then what the UPS ripoffs charge. For 44 cents you can send a letter anywhere in the united states...ANYWHERE. The post office is probably the most amazing acomplishment of the United States, and should be last to go, costs be damned. It serves the greater good.
There's no fucking CO here.
You knew a postal mechanic that made $100,000 a year? Wow!! Let's see, I read about CEO's making $100 million a year, for the last 5 years, and the company's stock hasn't moved an inch during the whole time. So, what the fuck is your point? Trying to beat up on ordinary people making a living wage? What the fuck. These CEOs are robbing the stockholders, living off bailouts, and you are beating up a postal worker making $100,000 a year? FUCK YOU!!!! I worked at the post office for 6 months till I found a job using m college degree, and it was hard work. Busted my ass off. Lost 25 pounds running my ass off. You fat fuck! Beat up the CEOs, and leave hard working postal workers alone. They are a dying breed. Have you ever walked 7 /8 miles a day carrying 50/60 pounds of mail? Doubt it. A letter carrier is like going on a forced march, carrying a 60 pound backpack all day long. Were you ever in the Army? Doubt it. Fuck off asshole.
huh... interesting, never thought to look up the true story behind "Going Postal" always figured post worker going crazy... and maybe the episode of Simpsons in which a post worker shoots at Homer during a dream...
bitcoin will do to money what email did to the postal service - www.silverrevolucion.com
Bitcoin exchange has already been hacked and virtually destroyed the currency. Several large thefts of the currency > BC 500,000+ have been also occurred. And the damndest thing about it is, everyone can trace every transaction involved in the theft, and where the "money" went, and can't do a damn thing about it. Since it's limited to 21M total and about 90% of that is already mined/allocated, it's difficult to come up with any. These days, it takes about a day of "mining" with a fairly heft computer to come up with 0.001 bitcoin.
Not a very useful currency, overall....
Yeah, printed cash never gets stolen, that's part of the appeal.
I am mining about 2-3 coins a week. Are you sure you are doing it right? Pick up a $200 radeon video card and it should get you nearly a coin a week. I have one that is hashing at 314 Mh/sec.
napster is dead...long live filesharing.
Fuck Saturday delivery. When's the last time you received something good in the mail?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiGMVtfzfrE
Here's the latest from Gerald Celente.
http://www.geraldcelente.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1647
It's good stuff.
Still relevant, but with today's fast moving events, one week might as well be a light year.
Well just on the amount in wages, 41 an hour is only ~10 over where minimum wage should be.
That is of course if minimum wage was still equal to a quarter (25 cents) when it started.(meaing current minimum wage is roughly equal to 25 percent of a quarter when adjusted for inflation)...give or take.
To put it another way, during the era of 25 cent minimum wage, the average person if they were paid what they are paid now adjusted back down, would be making about 6-7 cents an hour.
Just fiat for thought.
Glass-Steagall
Why aren't these research jobs being moved overseas? Is the CEO an incompetent boob?
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A number of years ago I was living in South Beach. I would visit my PO box several times per week. One could not miss the AOL CD giveaway displays with the Post Office.
I recall thinking:
Well that is fu*king stupid. Each person who moves to email is a lost customer. Dude, WTF? "
Unintended consequences...
If you had to have Congress approve every policy decision and were not allowed to set your own rates, choose your own hours, or other critical functions, you just may run costs up. Polaroid, xerox... eMail
In the dutch edition of the Financial Times:http://fd.nl/beleggen/779621-1108/beurzen-openen-hoger-door-positieve-re...
The propaganda here comes thick and fierce.
do a full urinalysis p o sweep nation wide, that will take care of the layoffs and more 120K is such a small number
Good luck trying to convince a labor union that cutting an ungodly amount of jobs is for the greater good. Alas, what happened in Greece (and what is about to happen in Italy) will be nothing compared to what will happen when the entire post office goes, well, postal.
As the USPS is one of the largest employers in the US, I would say the above statement is correct. Also the union has supported the Democratic party.
Barack Barry Hussein Soetoro Obama:
"...if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It's the Post Office that's always having problems."
That's the Kenya born teleprompter reader August 2009
<dupe>
This is another manufactured crisis. The U.S. postal service isn't allowed to raise rates at will, even though postage rates here are at half the level in many European countries. And the Postal Service says it has overpaid $75 billion for the liabilities in a retirement fund it inherited from the days before it was "independent" (pre-1971). They need Congressional approval to get the money back, but Republicans block it. Republicans and pseudo-libertarians seem to hate the Post office and other government institutions and want it to fail. That's the story he's not telling you.