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TOP NEWS STORIES |
Burrus: USPS' Bleak Financial Picture and the Presidential
Election
"In response to the financial crisis, the Postal Service
has announced a hiring freeze. And, in a meeting with union
leaders and management association presidents, the Postmaster
General pointed out that 16,000 USPS employees lack the six
years of continuous service required to achieve protection
against layoffs. The PMG's message was clear: For the first
time in our history, postal employees may experience layoffs.
This looming crisis is the reason that the 2008 election for
president and Congress is so important to postal employees."
- Hard Times -
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Who should make the first call to Congress?
"Who'da thunk that after seven successful years of
cost-cutting and after the enactment of a new postal law, the
U.S. Postal Service (USPS) once would again find itself stuck
between a fiscal rock and hard place? Of course, this time,
it's different. This time, no one can blame the leadership of
the USPS for not doing their mightiest to trim postal costs to
reflect rapidly changing postal realities. So what's the cause
of the current fix? Very simply, the largest part of the
Postal Service's current financial woes can be found within
the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006." -
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Filling in the Gaps (on Postal Finances)
"The fourth quarter is clearly one of the most difficult
periods that the Postal Service has faced in its history. The
release of the Postal Service's revenue and expenses accounts
through August shows that the Postal Service's loss so far
this year is how challenging this period is. So far this
quarter, revenue is$11.850 billion and expenses are $13.025
billion, producing a two month loss of $1.176 billion. The
loss so far in the fourth quarter is driven by a 4.7% decline
in revenue, a 1.3% increase in expenses, and a $329 million
workers compensation adjustment. Extrapolating this trend
through September would result in a quarterly loss of $2.168
billion and a fiscal year loss of $3.326 billion." -
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Junk Mail Keeps the Post Office Alive
"These are tough times for the U.S. Postal Service. It's
being pummeled by high fuel costs. The soft economy is
crimping the overall volume of mail, which fell 5.5 percent in
the past year. Its business is also falling as Americans opt
for e-mail over birthday cards and thank-you notes. Now comes
another threat: consumers like Colleen Plimpton of Bethel,
Conn. Earlier this year Plimpton became tired of the
credit-card offers, catalogs and advertising fliers that
clogged her mailbox. So in February she paid $20 to GreenDimes,
a firm that helps consumers reduce their inflow of "junk mail"
by contacting businesses on their behalf. "[Junk mailers] are
cutting down trees willy-nilly, and that has got to stop,"
says Plimpton." -
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Federal health premium to rise 7 percent in 2009
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