WASHINGTON, D.C. – On March 25, 2010, Reps. Lynch, Chaffetz, and Davis announced the reconvening of the Congressional Postal Caucus (CPC). Recently, the United States Postal Service unveiled a new business model to address unprecedented challenges largely due to the current economic environment and the rise in alternative means of communication. If nothing is done, the Postal Service expects to have an $8 billion shortfall by September 30, 2010 and suffer a net loss of $238 billion over the next 10 years.
Bringing the CPC back on line is intended to inspire and stimulate new ideas on how to put the Postal Service back on sound financial footing, assess the benefits and drawbacks of the proposals in Postal Service’s new business plan, and help Federal Policymakers tackle important postal matters such as 6-day delivery. The caucus will allow for a productive exchange of information and insight among members and will make sure that Congress is well-equipped to provide successful, permanent solutions to the Postal Service’s current and future issues. Collectively, the Members of the Congressional Postal Caucus will evaluate all viable options for securing a robust and vibrant Postal Service for years come.
According to CPC co-chair, Stephen F. Lynch, “The Congressional Postal Caucus will ensure that Congress effectively addresses the most challenging and important postal issues of our time. I am excited to be involved with the restoration of this important organization and am looking forward to seeing the benefits that this collaborative effort will bring to the entire postal industry.”
“The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the authority to establish a postal system. In recent years, despite significant increases in productivity and reductions in work force, the US Postal System still faces significant fiscal challenges due to changes in consumer preferences. The Postal Caucus will serve as a forum to discuss proposals to restore fiscal stability to the USPS,” CPC co-chair Jason Chaffetz said.
“The challenges facing the Postal Service reflect, in large part, deep going technical, economic and social changes now transforming our information infrastructure. The Congressional Postal Caucus will provide an indispensable forum for the development of public policy consistent with the all of the demands we place on the Postal Service of the 21st century,” advised Danny K. Davis, CPC co-chair.
The CPC sounds like a good idea providing you dump the Presidential appointments of the board of governors and Postal rate commissions, these people are making million dollar salaries, and yet have not help at all in my opinion. They only give lip service to PMG Potter on how to kill the service, or when an increase in stamp prices are due.
How often do they actually meet and how have they actually helped the service?
Its PMG Potter and his staff that has come up with the business models we all suffer with today. These members of these boards all they do is say yeah or nay. It’s time to dump them, and save millions while doing it. Allow the PMG and all the other unions and management association to have a voice in a new business model.
Congress needs to fully investigate PMG Potter regime for the investment of billions in automation for the next ten years, when there is no mail to automate. In addition too…All these out source programs, mystery shopper, EXFC and so on?
We need more hands on people in the field and less people behind cubical’s in each headquarters as analyst and managers!!!
This may be an actual indication of progress to yet finally evolve from these weeks of congressional hearings. The CPC has been activated to provide resolution with logical and responsible evaluations of the congressional hearings with a narrow focus of the USPS financial and organizational failures. This response is long overdue as the business model and environment have changed dramatically and rapidly. Dramatic change is obviously justifiable but with future flexibility. The unknown here again is the immediate and long term trickle down impact on our American Industry/Economy and it has likely been short changed again. E-mail is here to stay yes and hard copy mail is also. So each has a place and now is the time for intelligent adjustment to a new harmony. May the CPC see through to the new ballance and adjust our plan to endure our future communications for time to come.
Sirs, The idea of a forum for new, existing, or even old but effective ideas is an obviious but effective place to start. Equally obvious and effective would be to start this process by examining the effectiveness of postal policies and how they are managed and implemented. For example. there is some question in terms of both business and philisophy concerning both the short and long term philosophy of removing already the blue collection boxes from residential areas. Apparently the reasoning is that it takes ‘too long” to empty, thus is not cost effective. The counter phlosophy is that yiu are discouraging your customers from mailing, cutting off your own revenue. Another subject for possible discussion might be the removal of the 24 hour automated postage machines from the postal lobbies. The Postal Service trumpeted the advent of these machines as a reduction of labor costs and as a customer service to shorten the lines in existing offices. Both turned out to be true and an improvement both in image and service resulted. Then, without warning, the USPS decided that they cost too much to maintain and began removing them from these same offices. However, the number of clerks selling stamps, formerly being able to be reduced due to the postage machines was never restored resulting in a net loss of service. A little research found that the costs in one city for mailtenance were approximately $60,000 for the year and the sales were over $600,000 for the same year. Would private business not consider a profit margin of this size acceptable ?
A suspicious person might be caught thinking that there was a hidden motive for what superficiously might be considered undermining your own business. These business decisions and others that have been made should be examined more thoroughly in a forum such as this. Even if the reasoning had validity at the time any organization having the ongoing financial difficulties as the Postal Service does, should be reviewing all their policies and strategies ensuring that they do not receive a ” James Watt Award ” which is what former President Reagan gave ti his Interior Secretary for shooting himself in the foot in terms of bad policy.
The larger the problem any individual faces the more likely it is that a large portion of said problem resides in the policy and operations of the company itself.
I agree that Congress needs to do something.I also feel the Postal Board of Governors should be abolished.Let Congress make some decisions.Hopefully they have the best interest of their partons in mind.As well as all the postal employees they represent.Potter and all his people at L”Enflant Plaza should be replaced,because all they’ve done is cut service.They’ve done nothing to help moral,or increase business.No private sector company would operate with this much overhead.And stop with automation already,if volume is down,how can you justify spending all this money(we don’t have) on something like that.It’s time to let the people that actually do the work make some decisions regarding their jobs.I’m sick of people who couldn’t make it in the craft,telling me how to do my job.
As far as asking for major consessions from the unions.How about rewarding the actual people that are doing ALL the work.We only get our 1.9%,yet they gave management almost 4% last year.Go figure