News

Author: Akira Kurihara

Email: kurihara.akira@jprouso.or.jp



Introduction

United States Postal Service (USPS) employs around 600,000 workers in some 34,000 postal facilities including post offices. It is the nation’s third largest employer following the Department of Defense and Walmart. However, USPS is facing the “edge of a crisis” due to the declining volumes of mail related with strong competition and economic recession caused by the Lehman Shock, and the development of IT technology. The USPS has adjusted to these factors, cutting costs dramatically in recent years, but have recorded huge financial losses due to retirees’ health insurance payments that create a huge financial burden for the USPS.



Currently, the Democrats’ submitted bills are supported by postal unions, with some significant reservations. At the same time, the GOP introduced bill is largely supported by management. The US Congress battles to draw many votes from each side of GOP and Democrats over ways of pension programs and retirees’ medical benefits on the USPS.



Both labor and management acknowledge necessity of postal reforms, but each side looks for different directions. USPS side wants to optimize its size to the reduced mail market by eliminating Saturday mail delivery. Meanwhile, the American Postal Workers’ Union (APWU), the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU) and other postal organizations have launched nationwide campaigns to remain at current level of service; 6 days delivery service per week.



In the slumping postal service industry, the crisis at USPS could have strong impacts on the postal business in other countries. This paper will describe the current situation of the US Postal Service. In the first part, it will deal with the business performance of USPS. Second, it describes the relationship between the federal pension fund and USPS. Third, it focuses on the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA). The fourth part will discuss the USPS and the postal unions. The fifth section will explain the moves of the US Congress.





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