House Democrats have called … In 2011, President Barack Obama announced the closure of 3,700 post offices. Washington Postal Scene by Bill McAllister The House of Representatives has taken a first step toward easing the United States Postal Service’s growing debt to the Department of the Treasury. Publications & References Check out our various publications and manuals to learn more about what the Postal Service can do for you. The federal government was in debt to the USPS. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images), America's Top Givers: The 25 Most Philanthropic Billionaires, EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change, Had Your Income Drop In 2020? It was 44% of the 2020 federal discretionary budget. This operational pivot is long overdue and today, we are talking about the first step in a journey we must take together, for the health and stability of the Postal Service. It was a way to offload big expenses from federal responsibility to the new agency. The House Democrats' proposal would have granted the Postal Service $25 billion and forgiven $11 billion in debt. It couldn’t move beyond letter and package delivery, although at one point there was a postal banking system that helped low-income and rural people. You may opt-out by. The new USPS still had to provide uniform service and pricing. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. However, the post office can’t change that model without congressional approval. The USPS has lost $78 billion since 2007, but … (Let’s remember, by the way, that the odds of voting fraud occurring are so low that it’s more likely you’d be struck by lightning or attacked by a shark.). Although effective March 29, 2020, the Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the next editions of the ELM and Handbook F-101, which are available on the Postal Service … Postal Service $10 billion in emergency coronavirus relief funding Wednesday in … Postal management has requested $75 billion in financial relief from Congress and additional debt forgiveness, but the need for immediate assistance remains in question. Given that the postal service had been a major employer of veterans, that effectively means transferring a significant financial burden from the Department of Defense to the USPS, according to Rubio. WASHINGTON – The U.S. The Postal Service, meanwhile, continues to gather debt. The U.S. Along with $8 billion of cash it has on hand, USPS would have about $22 billion in liquidity that would hopefully get it through the 2020 calendar year and possibly into 2021 even if … Privatization of the postal service has been achieved in Germany, the UK and Japan with disastrous results for the workers and a shower of profits for the capitalist class. The drive to fully privatize the USPS started in 1970. The United States Postal Service will play a critical role in the 2020 election. 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Alongside privatization, the wages, benefits, and work conditions of postal workers have long been under assault, with the collusion of the postal worker unions. And That Was Before COVID-19 Hit. USPS Debt and Stamps published May 22, 2020 by Dave Granlund politicalcartoons.com “The initial step in our pivot is targeted on transportation and the soaring costs we incur, due to late trips and extra trips, which costs the organization somewhere around $200 million in added expenses. This year, major Trump donor and former Wall Street executive, Louis De Joy was installed as the new Postmaster General, and has continued this decades-long sabotage by announcing the end of overtime and delays in shipping. They gained traction again in August 2020 when Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump campaign megadonor, was called to testify before Congress over … In 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) ordered the USPS to pre-fund employee retiree health benefits for the next 75 years. As a nonprofit news organization, our future depends on listeners like you who believe in the power of public service journalism. Supervisors and managers of field units must complete the Employee Debt Modification Request Form using the eIWS OnLine Forms application (olf.usps.gov/OLF) to notify Accounting Services to suspend or restart auto-collection, or to modify an employee receivable debt. Except, when you look at the history and basic business math, it’s hard to argue with. The Postal Service reported a loss of $2.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. A major strike by postal workers in 1970 over wages and benefits, even though the law didn’t allow this, started a series of monetary dominoes. Congress turned the Post Office Department into the U.S. Except, when you look at the history and basic business math, it’s hard to argue with. Additionally, with 2020 being an election year, many people rely on the USPS for mail-in voting. While the Postal Service decays, it is also under increased pressure from its competitors, namely Amazon and United Parcel Service (UPS), which have recorded record revenue and are under the process of expanding their logistics networks after increases in shipments have left them with surplus revenue. On top of that, it has many years’ worth of … Last year, the U.S. Postal Service has over 31,000 retail facilities—a network reaching into almost every community in the nation. Meanwhile, the Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and other unions have attempted to strangle opposition by non-union workers at FedEx and Amazon by trying to convince them to join and pay dues to these pro-company unions. The Postal Service, which employs 650,000 people, is asking for $75 billion in aid from the government, and, according to The New York Times, another $14 billion to pay off debt related to a retirement benefits program ― a whopping $89 billion total. USPS Unfunded Liabilities and Debt as a Percentage of USPS Revenue, Fiscal Years 2007 through 2018. However, the post office can’t change that model without congressional approval. CORRECTION: This article originally stated that the Post Office implemented a 5 percent increase in … 04/16/2020 11:12 AM EDT. If you’re ever dealt with business finance, this is ludicrous. While there are many factors that led to the USPS’ current state of debt, there are two primary reasons why that debt has now balloomed. New Debt Collection Notice Policy Effective March 29, 2020, the Postal Service™ will revise the following books to reflect changes in the method for notifying employees who have an employee receivable: n Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM), parts 450 and 460. n Handbook F-101, Field Accounting Procedures, Chapter 15. President Trump in recent weeks has called the Postal Service "a joke" as the agency is experiences delays in mail delivery due to the coronavirus pandemic and financial pressures. ... the 1,400-page bill would also forgive the Postal Service’s $11 billion debt to the Treasury Department and … The agency’s total revenue in fiscal 2019 was $71.2 billion, enough to place it 43rd on the Fortune 500 (higher than Intel) if it were a private company. The memes resurfaced in April 2020 as a bill in the House of Representatives proposed to forgive the agency’s debt as part of a stimulus package aimed at mitigating the economic fallout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. Further, USPS has missed $48.2 billion in required payments for postal retiree health and pension benefits as of September 30, 2018. Unfortunately, losses are the rule rather than the exception for the agency. 22 July 2020 Management at the United States Postal Service (USPS) has taken a big step toward privatization with the July 10 release of … If you were lucky enough these days to have a real pension and moved from Company A to Company B, the pension benefits at B wouldn’t be a continuation of those at A. Freelance business, economics, finance, and tech journalist. In 2006, a Republican-dominated Congress passed a bill, signed by George W. Bush, that required the USPS to pre-fund, over a ten-year period, pensions for 75 years in advance. Posted: Mar 24, 2020 10:14 AM. House passes legislation to ease USPS debt burden Feb 7, 2020, 10 AM The House of Representatives passed the legislation Feb. 5 with bipartisan support. That is the eighth annual loss in a row and the third-highest ever. This sounds like some screwy conspiracy theory. The U.S. Postal Facts 2020 provides the public with information about the Postal Service. The House will cut short its August recess to address United States Postal Service. How is it that the USPS is earning millions of dollars while also facing one of the greatest financial crises in its history? The legislation, which was welcomed by the Postal Service, faces an uncertain future in the Senate. “[T]he USPS was on the hook for the whole pension of any veteran who worked for it” because of the 2003 Pension Reform Act, Rubio wrote. Management at the United States Postal Service (USPS) has taken a big step toward privatization with the July 10 release of an internal memo stating that mail deliveries would be delayed due to cost cutting and a subsequent directive prohibiting overtime and promising “more to come.”. The first memo, titled “Pivoting to the Future,” declared, “Right now, we are at a critical juncture in our organization and must make immediate, lasting, and impactful changes in our operations and in our culture. The Postal Service needs billions, the agency told Congress, and Democrats want to provide a bailout. But politicians hamstrung the agency. Among this group, USPS workers are especially powerful, as without their labor great portions of the economy would shut down. The Postal Service’s $15 billion debt is a direct result of the mandate that it must pay about $5.6 billion a year for 10 years to prefund the retiree healthcare plan. The Senate is gone, which means anything the House passes will sit doing nothing, and Donald Trump has turned the screws on a potential deal in part, as he’s admitted, over USPS funding and his claims of widespread fraud with mail-in voting. Chart 1. As demand for some mail products has declined, USPS has been unable to cover its costs as it is required to do—putting it on our High Risk list. Postal Service (USPS) ran a deficit of $3.9 billion. Mail Volume […] ... Why the USPS is deep in debt… On the plus side, package volume grew by nearly 1.2 billion pieces — 18.8% — compared to the previous year due to the surge in e-commerce. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. Autoworkers in the US have taken the first step in fighting back against austerity and unsafe working conditions during the pandemic through the formation of rank and file committees, independent of the corporatist unions. Chart 1. USPS Debt and Stamps published May 22, 2020 by Dave Granlund politicalcartoons.com While pre-funding other retiree benefits is normal for both private and … Postal Facts 2020 provides the public with information about the Postal Service. But the new USPS became responsible for the ongoing increased pension benefits. The United States Postal Service (USPS), the nation’s national mail carrier service, is under increased scrutiny from politicians who are warning that the agency is not prepared to handle the tens of millions of mail-in ballots which are expected to be sent for the November election. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. Logistics and delivery workers are among the most powerful workers on the planet, and their power has grown as COVID-19 renders their services all the more essential. Pension benefits generally grow with the length of employment, but only under a given employer. Ultimately, much of it comes down to a scheme that was a subsidy for the Department of Defense—responsible, by the way, for 18% of all on-budget spending in the 2019 fiscal year. The U.S. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 05: A United States Postal Service (USPS) mail box stands in Manhattan ... [+] on August 05, 2020 in New York City. International Committee of the Fourth International. Claim: The U.S. economic downturn due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 was forcing the United States Postal Service to close. While there are many factors that led to the USPS’ current state of debt, there are two primary reasons why that debt has now balloomed. (AP Photo) The United States Postal Service (USPS) lost $5.5 billion last year. The move to cut workers’ overtime is part of the US capitalist class’s decades-long drive to dismantle USPS, a public entity that occupies a valuable portion of the logistics industry. The American Postal Workers Union has consistently wasted millions of dollars in each election cycle, funding primarily the Democratic Party, but has recently started to increase funding for Republicans. The answer can be traced back to a … The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. on August 05, 2020 in New York City. In the 1980s, the postal service was cut off from federal funding, and in 2006 its was obligated to fully fund retirement obligations and benefits up front, beginning its budget crisis. The U.S. Welcome to USPS.com. The House Democrats' proposal would have granted the Postal Service $25 billion and forgiven $11 billion in debt. President Nixon transformed the postal service from a department of the executive branch into a public corporation in a move that provoked a powerful national strike by postal workers. "The Postal Service is insolvent," he says. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images). Postal Service has the most cash on hand, though debt still looms If Your Time is short The United States Postal Service had … Claim: The U.S. economic downturn due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 was forcing the United States Postal Service to close. Pension funds get invested to grow over time so they can meet obligations. It’s only that low if you include Social Security and Medicare, which are mandatory. The dues extracted from each worker go toward funding the bloated salaries of leading union bureaucrats and to the Democratic Party, through funding PACS and direct donations. The Treasury Department announced Wednesday it has reached an agreement to lend up to $10 billion to the U.S. The whole result is a USPS that can’t meet its artificial obligations and so is constantly on the look for federal loans to make up the amounts, taken by the federal government for pension funds for people who don’t exist and then spent elsewhere. That means all pension obligations including those from when the person was in the military and not a postal worker. The Postal Service needs billions, the agency told Congress, and Democrats want to provide a bailout. Postal Facts 2020 provides the public with information about the Postal Service. What you need to know about US Postal Service's funding crisis, and how it could impact your vote in the November election Grace Panetta 2020-08-14T22:09:13Z Congress authorized the USPS to borrow $10 billion from the US Treasury Department as part of the CARES Act (the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act). These five charts depict the immensity of USPS’s financial challenges. It’s no surprise, then, that Congress has started looking for ways to remedy this. Unfortunately, losses are the rule rather than the exception for the agency. Even this was minor, though, in comparison to the treatment by elected officials who saddled the agency with “debt and financial disadvantage,” according to an email exchange I had with Philip F. Rubio, a former USPS letter carrier and now a professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University. 2 Compounding the Postal Service’s debt problems has been a lack of revenue growth. All this red ink has flowed despite USPS’s aggressive move [1] into the parcel delivery business. Last year, the U.S. Postal Service 'Unsustainable,' Says GAO. This was outlined clearly by President Donald Trump’s 2018 plan calling for the privatization of USPS either through the launch of an Initial Public Offering on the stock market, or sale to an existing company. Postal workers work with faulty and outdated equipment; according to documents obtained by Motherboard, USPS delivery trucks burst into flames at a rate of one truck every five days. COVID-19 and the economic devastation it sparked has further accelerated the crisis of USPS, with former CEO Megan J. Brennan telling Congress in late May that without support it would run out of cash to pay its over 600,000 employees by September. USPS and all logistics workers should follow suit to organize a common fight against the privatization of USPS and to defend jobs and living standards and guarantee safe working conditions for all logistic workers. A law passed at the end of 2006, combined with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, has led to turbulent times for the US Postal Service. He said the Postal Service is more than $160 billion in debt. Link Copied. UPS has announced a $138 million expansion of its Atlanta facility. ... Another $14 billion is needed to pay off long-term debt … According to USPS, its peak number of full-time postal workers was 797,795 in 1999. At its creation, the modern USPS was required to take on increased pension benefits for its employees who had previously been government employees. CORRECTION: This article originally stated that the Post Office implemented a 5 percent increase in … The politicians supported through these funds have gone on to launch vicious attacks on USPS workers. Postal Service, to run as a self-supporting business. And That Was Before COVID-19 Hit. But in negotiating the terms, the Treasury Department attached some significant strings, including the following: “Subject to confidentiality protections, USPS shall provide to Treasury copies of USPS’s top […] Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Kevin R. Kosar is the vice president of research partnerships at the R Street Institute. That was better than a $5.6 billion loss in the prior year but was mainly due to … Use our quick tools to find locations, calculate prices, look … My credits include Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Magazine, Zenger News, NBC News, CBS Moneywatch, Technology Review, The Fiscal Times, and Inc. Get my free newsletter at https://eriksherman.substack.com. Postal Service (USPS) ran a deficit of $3.9 billion. This requirement has deprived the Postal Service of the opportunity to invest in capital projects and research and development. WASHINGTON – The U.S. Postal Facts 2020 provides the public with information about the Postal Service. Just one example of Amazon’s growth has been the acquisition of 2,300 trucks to expand its delivery network. My credits include Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times Magazine, Zenger News, NBC News, CBS Moneywatch, Technology Review, The Fiscal Times, and Inc. Get. The United States Postal Service (USPS), the nation’s national mail carrier service, is under increased scrutiny from politicians who are warning that the agency is not prepared to handle the tens of millions of mail-in ballots which are expected to be sent for the November election. Brennan requested $75 billion in financial assistance from Congress. You don’t require full funding in advance, including pensions for people who haven’t been born, let alone hired, unless you want to make it difficult to run the organization. This sounds like some screwy conspiracy theory. The only silver lining is that the loss was below the red-ink tsunami of $15.9 billion in 2012. Postal management has requested $75 billion in financial relief from Congress and additional debt forgiveness, but the need for immediate assistance remains in question. Postal Service (USPS) recently closed its books for the 2019 fiscal year, and things aren’t looking so good as it heads into 2020.USPS has a whopping $120 billion in pension and other post-employment unfunded liabilities.That’s an amount equal to the GDP of Ukraine. The USPS has lost $78 billion since 2007, … The Postal Service is in dire financial straits because its revenues are insufficient to support its operational costs and liabilities. © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. “One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that—temporarily—we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks (in P&DCs), which is not typical.”. By Veronica Mohesky September 16, 2020 U.S. The Postal Service's finances have long been in sorry shape, in part because of a requirement that the agency pre-fund the future retirement benefits of its employees. Instead, you’d start over. ... Another $14 billion is needed to pay off long-term debt … July 29, 2020 at 4:36 p.m. UTC The Treasury Department agreed to loan the U.S. The Postal Service has racked up $160.9 billion in debt from what’s owed prepaying retiree benefits. More than 25 percent of votes in recent elections were … The answer can be traced back to a 2006 law from Congress. How is it that the USPS is earning millions of dollars while also facing one of the greatest financial crises in its history? November: USPS Reports Significant Mail Volume Decline for the Year. The four unions responsible for this are the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mail Handlers Union and National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association. While USPS’ total number of employees today is about 650,000, about 20 percent work part-time and are essentially low-paid and disposable. By 2019, it was 496,934, a reduction of over 300,000 full-time employees. To understand the postal system’s dire financial straits takes some history. Mail Volume […] Maloney and Connolly noted the House's $2.5 trillion coronavirus relief package would send $25 billion to the Postal Service in emergency funding … According to its website, the USPS handles 48 percent of the world’s mail volume, generated $71.1 billion in revenue in 2019 and—if it was fully privatized—would be number 44 in the Fortune 500 list of the world’s largest companies. When you were, say, 25, would you expect in ten years to have put aside full retirement savings for yourself and your children and maybe even grandchildren? Find information on our most convenient and affordable shipping and mailing services. Additionally, with 2020 being an election year, many people rely on the USPS for mail-in voting. In its 2020 fiscal year report, the USPS stated that mail volume had declined by 13.8 billion pieces, accelerated by the pandemic. Postal Service reported total revenue of $19.4 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 (October 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019), a decrease of $363 million, or 1.8 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. All this red ink has flowed despite USPS’s aggressive move [1] into the parcel delivery business. As a nonprofit news organization, our future depends on listeners like you who believe in the power of public service journalism. The U.S. Post Office owes $100 Billion in benefits to its workers/retirees but doesn’t have the money. No assistance was given, however, and the USPS is surviving off of its remaining cash reserves and a $3 billion loan from the US Treasury, placing it further in debt. President Trump in recent weeks has called the Postal Service "a joke" as the agency is experiences delays in mail delivery due to the coronavirus pandemic and financial pressures. The big example is pre-funding pensions, something that many have heard of at this point. The federal government was in debt to the USPS. These five charts depict the immensity of USPS’s financial challenges. The memes resurfaced in April 2020 as a bill in the House of Representatives proposed to forgive the agency’s debt as part of a stimulus package aimed at mitigating the economic fallout associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.. Publicly Released: Mar 10, 2020. They gained traction again in August 2020 when Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump campaign megadonor, was called to … The Postal Service reported a loss of $2.7 billion for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. It was 44% of the 2020 federal discretionary budget. If approved by the Senate, the legislation would remove $5 billion a year in debts that the USPS pays for the expected costs of health benefits for future postal retirees. July 29, 2020 at 4:36 p.m. UTC The Treasury Department agreed to loan the U.S. In 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) ordered the USPS to pre-fund employee retiree health benefits for the next 75 years. What the USPS needs is not a bailout but rationale operating conditions and a chance to do its part in the fall elections. Then there’s one additional insult. This is a massive source of profit that the financial oligarchy is attempting to take over completely. Post Office. The pre-funding is the source of most of the deficits—about $110 billion as a direct result, according to the office of Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore). The Postal Service, meanwhile, continues to gather debt. Postal workers throughout the world are facing the same struggle. Postal Service reported total revenue of $19.4 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 (October 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019), a decrease of $363 million, or 1.8 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. But its depleted cash reserve and new leadership have some worried. However, the trade unions have signed deal after deal taking away their wages, turning them more and more into a temporary workforce, and putting their hard-earned benefits in jeopardy. “USPS’s total unfunded liabilities and debt ($143 billion at the end of fiscal year 2018) have grown to double its annual … The Teamsters have played the same role at United Parcel Service. And it needs an infusion of capital right now." Postal Service 'Unsustainable,' Says GAO. March 24, 2020 04:05 PM ORDER REPRINT ... eliminate the Postal Service’s current debt and require it to prioritize medical deliveries, according to the release. If banks couldn’t be bothered with them, postal banking, with branches everywhere, was available. According to Rubio: “Funds are instead being diverted [by Congress] to help pay down the national debt.” The federal government takes the pre-funding and then spends it elsewhere, because it can always cover pension obligations down the line. Injuries are commonplace and often rewarded with layoffs, as a lawsuit earlier this year revealed, with 44,000 workers fired after getting injured on the job. Post Office. "It needs debt forgiveness, not debt extension. Even though Trump’s allies sold the voter fraud conceit to him to explain his loss of the popular vote in 2016, the issues the USPS faces are far older and deeper than the current tsuris. Usps Revenue, fiscal Years 2007 through 2018 future in the military and not Postal! By Dave Granlund politicalcartoons.com WASHINGTON – the U.S labor great portions of the 2020 federal discretionary budget than the for... Department agreed to loan the U.S losses are the rule rather than the exception for the year workers. 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