I find things in the news (daily) that leave me wondering what others opinions are & if i'm alone in the way i feel about certain things.
I ask... What is your opinion on this...
Along with the 2 cent increase on stamps come May, they might end up doing away with mail delivery on Saturdays as well.
Quote:
(CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. Postal Service may be forced to eliminate a day of mail service because the economic downturn has led to plummeting volume and revenue, the postmaster general said Wednesday.
If the recession continues to hammer at USPS revenue, six-day delivery may not be possible.
My ex-GF worked for the Postal Service and made $26 an hour. Granted she'd been with them 16 years but I always thought that was unnecessarily high for "sorting mail and licking stamps" (boy, she'd get mad when I'd say that! ). Better they should cut wages like that by $5/hr or do forced retirements than cut service.
Speaking of forced retirements, it was just a few months back they were talking about cutting 40,000 non-essential postal service jobs.. looks like they need to trim some more fat.
They should have let 3rd parties deliver first class mail years ago and we might have avoided all this. I worked for a company in Rochester, NY that attempted local first class mail delivery and they were forced to stop by the Postal Service. No competition allowed makes for sloppy business and high prices.
We were talking about this very subject on Twitter, by the way.
I'm glad I stocked up on "Forever" stamps! I have about 200! And most of bill paying is online, so I will have these still for next Xmas!
No delivery on Saturdays would suck, but then again, if I get a check in the mail I can't cash it anyway until Monday, and all I get besides checks from my clients are BILLS. They can wait until Monday.
Alot of people working fo the USPS will suffer the most.......more than me missing one day delivery.
If I had anything URGENT to mail for Sat. delivery, I would just use FedEx.
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.....just another day in Paradise
ha ha, we posted at the same time! I have a friend that just retired from the USPS, he was making about the same, and in this day and age, that's not alot of money really. After taxes and all. But it could be WHERE you live too. THAT salary would not go far here in FL., where just renting a house to live in (or an apt) starts at $1,000 a month. (for nothing great either)
My friend lives very modestly in one of the cheapest apt. buildings in the area and pays $1,200 a mth for a 1 BR walk-up.
__________________
.....just another day in Paradise
I wonder how long before the "Forever" stamps become the "Well, We Were Just Kidding" stamps and they tack on a surcharge?
Here's some more background:
The Postal Service isn’t looking to immediately drop Saturday delivery; it will likely study the issue first. And it could take a lesser action, such as temporarily suspending Saturday delivery during periods of low mail volume.
A 1980 report found that ending Saturday delivery would save about $1 billion annually. That’s about $2.5 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars, and experts say that estimate still might be low because of today’s higher fuel costs and the larger delivery network.
One of the biggest problems is a postal reform law passed by Congress two years ago that requires the Postal Service to fully fund its retiree health care accounts within 10 years. That means the Postal Service owes $7.7 billion this fiscal year toward health benefits. Most of the money, $5.4 billion, goes into a trust fund that’s used to pay future benefits; the other $2.3 billion pays the Postal Service’s contribution toward insurance premiums for current retirees.
The Postal Service asked Congress in November to suspend that requirement. It wants to waive the $2.3 billion contribution and pay this year’s health care premiums out of the trust fund — a short-term savings, but one that leaves potential risk for future retirees.
Looks to me, one of their problems is their union and union benefits coming before public service..
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToesInTheSand
I'm glad I stocked up on "Forever" stamps! I have about 200! And most of bill paying is online, so I will have these still for next Xmas!
No delivery on Saturdays would suck, but then again, if I get a check in the mail I can't cash it anyway until Monday, and all I get besides checks from my clients are BILLS. They can wait until Monday.
Alot of people working fo the USPS will suffer the most.......more than me missing one day delivery.
If I had anything URGENT to mail for Sat. delivery, I would just use FedEx.
I'm of the mind that high wages cause high prices.. my rent is a perfect example of that. My rent is based on my income and every time my wages go up, so does my rent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ToesInTheSand
ha ha, we posted at the same time! I have a friend that just retired from the USPS, he was making about the same, and in this day and age, that's not alot of money really. After taxes and all. But it could be WHERE you live too. THAT salary would not go far here in FL., where just renting a house to live in (or an apt) starts at $1,000 a month. (for nothing great either)
My friend lives very modestly in one of the cheapest apt. buildings in the area and pays $1,200 a mth for a 1 BR walk-up.
Oh man if they pulled a "just kidding" when it comes to the so called "forever" stamp, that would cause major uproar around the country!
I don't ever get mail unless it's junk mail or something for my kid from the school. Everything i do is online... banking, bill pay, auto deposit on all income & so on. I feel no mail on Sat is no big deal for me, though it could be a huge deal for those who depend on it, however everything will work around it, i suppose. If you can not get a bill on saturday they will know that & adjust the due date etc...
I am not sure i agree on a wage cut for the usps employees... 16-20 yrs working for the state and making only $26/hr? that's not good at all actually, no matter you position in the company 16-20 yrs of devotion deserves better than that IMO
Trust me, I'd love to see $26 a hr again.. I used to make $50 an hour doing consulting.. but I'd be willing to take a cut across the board rather than risk losing my job due to a forced retirement or a reduction in benefits.
Granted, I know some people it would hurt.. one postal employee I know has 9 kids so I'm sure he could use every dollar. But very few people "need" $25 or $50 an hour to survive or even be comfortable. I'm living proof of that. Instead of an across the board wage increase every year paid for by "forever stamps", there should be a bonus based on performance and merit.
My ex-GF had to work with a postal employee that literally did little to no work and what work she did do was done wrong but even tho they tried to have her fired, they couldn't because she went to the union. They weren't even allowed to transfer her to another office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Latina
I am not sure i agree on a wage cut for the usps employees... 16-20 yrs working for the state and making only $26/hr? that's not good at all actually, no matter you position in the company 16-20 yrs of devotion deserves better than that IMO
Granted, I know some people it would hurt.. one postal employee I know has 9 kids so I'm sure he could use every dollar. But very few people "need" $25 or $50 an hour to survive or even be comfortable. I'm living proof of that. Instead of an across the board wage increase every year paid for by "forever stamps", there should be a bonus based on performance and merit.
I don't feel that is a fair statement... If i had a pay cut, my landlord wouldn't adjust my rent to better suit me & that's true for most people, so yes i do believe it would hurt most people & they do need that kind of money to survive with the cost of living these days... unless of course every home occupied by low to middle class gets the rent adjusted by our income & then we are looking at more government money being spent & who do you think will pay that?
People have mortgages & rent, cars to keep in working order in order to get to that job & gas prices the way the been, food prices, clothes (especially if you support more than yourself) etc... These are not luxuries, they are necessities.
$25/hr isn't great pay when you take into consideration taxes, health, dental, vision & life insurance, 401k (lets not forget paying for disability insurance and soc. security/medicare i will probably never get). IMO
And what I make per hour now is much, much worse..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Latina
$25/hr isn't great pay when you take into consideration taxes, health, dental, vision & life insurance, 401k (lets not forget paying for disability insurance and soc. security/medicare i will probably never get). IMO
And what I make per hour now is much, much worse..
You pay much less to live as well... My rent/bills will still total $1500 a month if they were to cut my pay. Government wont step in and offer to pay part of my rent & 30% of my income wouldnt allow that anyway, i'd still be considered "over payed" in the governments eyes, therefore it would hurt me way more than one might think, when i cant make my rent/bills and still survive daily needs for my child & myself. Simply put we cant compare one persons situation to the next & say they dont need the money they earn, that's just not fair.
I don't feel that is a fair statement... If i had a pay cut, my landlord wouldn't adjust my rent to better suit me & that's true for most people, so yes i do believe it would hurt most people & they do need that kind of money to survive with the cost of living these days... unless of course every home occupied by low to middle class gets the rent adjusted by our income & then we are looking at more government money being spent & who do you think will pay that?
People have mortgages & rent, cars to keep in working order in order to get to that job & gas prices the way the been, food prices, clothes (especially if you support more than yourself) etc... These are not luxuries, they are necessities.
$25/hr isn't great pay when you take into consideration taxes, health, dental, vision & life insurance, 401k (lets not forget paying for disability insurance and soc. security/medicare i will probably never get). IMO
I fully understand where you are coming from Latina. $25.00/hr doesn't go very far in our 'normal' world of fixed rent/mortgages and trying to raise a family.
It's easy to not understand why people 'need' 25.00 when there is no children involved and your rent fluxuates. Try having a few children and their needs thrown on top of growing cost of fuel to heat a home, car payments, and everything else life throws at you on top of the mortgage or high rent that doesn't change with your income but stays high no matter what you earn, and it's quite easy to see why it's important to have at least $25.00 an hour.
It would be great if our salary dropped the mortgage would drop along with it but that just simply isn't the way for the majority. We have a fixed mortgage and that is what it is. And no, it's not a new fancy home, it's just a regular family home that is to small but it's what we 'make' do with. Add the high gas/ele bills (around $400.00 last month with turning lights off and heat down), food for a family, (not just one person but a 'family'), high cost of raising kids and all their 'needs', the car payments, insurance, etc. it is easy to see how quickly an income of a higher amount is needed just to maintain a not fancy lifestyle.
I guess when you are just taking in what 'one' person needs if living by themselves and a moderate rent, no kids, car, etc. 25.00 an hour may seem steep. But that is not the norm for this country. This country is based on families and what is good for the 'needs' of families with it's high cost of living prices, government taxes, insurance heat, food, etc. mandates a higher hourly wage just to barely keep one's head above the bills. It's sad but true.
Along with the 2 cent increase on stamps come May, they might end up doing away with mail delivery on Saturdays as well.
And back on topic of Saturday mail...It would not bother me at all not to have Saturday mail stopped. It would be fine with me to have a nice weekend break from the boring junk mail and bills that come in during the week.
It would even be better if it actually meant the cut in service would help keep the cost of sending mail down. I think if they cut the Saturday, they should not be allowed to raise their costs.
I would use the Post Office more if it wasn't so dang expensive to send a letter or package. I would like to go back to sending a nice letter to someone once in a while rather than a cold email but it just isn't cost effective when the cost goes up but our mere wages aren't.
Again, another example of how we are forced to have higher wages just to survive... I sent a small package of cookies from Wi to Florida a few weeks ago and it cost me over 12.00 to send it. I was floored it was so much! If you want to look at it in terms of a $25.00 an hour wage, that is the same as having to pay 1/2 hour of wages just to send a box of cookies.
I was really PO'd recently about a package I sent to tamed recently. I can't remember how much I spent, but I know it was at least $7-8? Maybe more, for Priority Mail, just a small box. It took, what tamed? Over a week? And she had to finally end up going to the post office to get it. I mailed 3 boxes that day, all priority mail, on a Friday. The other 2 got to their destinations (1 in WI and 1 in TN) on Monday morning.
grrrrrrrrrrr. Never again.
Next time I need FAST, I'll do Fed-Ex.
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.....just another day in Paradise
Since all I get is bills and junk in the mail, I wouldn't care about Saturdays. It would actually be better for the weekends when we might decide to do a get away and then we don't have to worry about mail sitting until we get home.
$25 an hour? That's a laugh. I've never even made near that amount. One place I worked at a few years ago told me that the $11 an hour they were paying me was too much. I was so insulted since most places were paying more than that for the same kind of work.
Which was kind of one of my points about the $25/hr.. when you get poor service and rising costs, do you think they deserve $25/hr? Shouldn't pay also be based on merit?
Do autoworkers deserve $70 an hour? Here we are bailing out the big auto companies so I think not..
Now, I don't dispute, as I think I pointed out above that some people (the worker with the 9 kids) may need that $25 an hour (probably more).. but my brother constantly crys poor, yet he just told me he bought a $34,000 Town and Country and will now be saddled with high monthly payments.. well, duh! My other brother always complains he doesn't have enough money and just bought a 23 foot boat. My grandmother used to complain about money when we were living in a 19 room farmhouse, had two successful family businesses and 23 rental properties. The more you make, the more you spend. Easy credit is one of the downfalls of this country IMO.
I had a friend once that spent half his life living on the streets. He said if he ever won the lottery, he'd buy a nice warm car to sleep under. So I guess it's all relative
They're (the Post Office) condensing routes locally here as well and not hiring as much seasonal or part-time help.
With the advent of email and the Internet.. the Post Office IMO is pretty much doomed as an entity unless they come up with another business model or provide comparable or better service than the private sector (FedEx). I haven't sent any mail other than a few Christmas cards in months. I do all my bill paying online, except for my electric which I pay at the office.
Interesting conversation. I still remember when the postman stopped twice a day at the Grandparents' house. I believe stamps were well under a dime yet.
Thank a Mailman Day is your chance to say thanks to the guy, or gal, who delivers your mail. After all, they are there six days a week. The reliable postal worker is always there doing their job, regardless of the weather. They are a hardy lot. You'll find some mail carriers on walking routes, wearing shorts in all but the coldest of winter days.
that typo annoyed me through the rest of the reading... they should fix that. Oh and why would they be wearing shorts in the dead of winter?
I want a drug developer day dang it! lol someone honor every hard worker in the country & then we will talk.
I've never seen my mailman/lady & i've never heard of this thank a mailman day, nice concept i suppose.
Don't think I don't love the Postal Service tho and I love learning about postal history as well. Used to collecy stamps, first day and first flight covers.
When I lived in Nebraska, I visited Rock Creek Station, a waystation for the Pony Express and where Wild Bill Hickok got his start as a gunslinger. The Great River Road Archway over I-80 in Nebraska had a great exhibit explaining the Pony Express as well.
I don't send alot of mail but I get so much that I'd personally miss Saturday delivery.
I know most of the postal workers here.. mainly because Cindy used to work there but also because of the volume of mail I get. I'm always giving Amy, my postal carrier, something or other.. she admired my Christmas wreath one year and I even gave her that, lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Latina
that typo annoyed me through the rest of the reading... they should fix that. Oh and why would they be wearing shorts in the dead of winter?
I want a drug developer day dang it! lol someone honor every hard worker in the country & then we will talk.
I've never seen my mailman/lady & i've never heard of this thank a mailman day, nice concept i suppose.
Someone was just telling me that they read if they remove a day of delivery it won't be Saturday, it would be Tuesday. Apparently, Tuesday is the lightest delivery day, Saturday is their busy day.
I was surprised to hear this since from what I experience here, Saturday is one day we don't get as much mail and Tuesday and Wednesday are the days we get the heaviest days of junk and sale flyers.
Anyone else hear or read that it may be Tuesday and not Saturday?
I did a quick google on recent articles related to stopping one day of delivery and found it isn't necessary Saturday they are thinking about:
Quote:
If the change happens, that doesn't necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous post office studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day when mail flow is light, such as Tuesday.
Quote:
If it did become necessary to go to five-day delivery, Potter said, "we would do this by suspending delivery on the lightest volume days.
Quote:
if the change is made, that doesn’t necessarily mean an end to Saturday mail delivery. Previous studies have looked at the possibility of skipping some other day, such as Tuesday.
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). Better they should cut wages like that by $5/hr or do forced retirements than cut service.
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