US Postal Service contemplates tens of thousands more job cuts

[marmar]

Jun 15, 2009, 4:13 a.m. EST
Postal service, operating in the red, mulls more cuts: Journal

By MarketWatch


TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Postal Service, having posted a nearly $2 billion fiscal second-quarter loss, is contemplating cutting tens of thousands more jobs and closing or consolidating 3,100, or 8.4%, of its 36,700 offices and retail outlets, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Postal Service also is considering eliminating Saturday deliveries, the Journal reported, as mail volume for the quarter ended March 31 shrank 15% from a year earlier.

First-class-mail volume has been cut because people and businesses increasingly pay bills and correspond via the Internet. In addition, the weaker economy has prompted businesses to send fewer catalogs and direct-marketing mailings, the Journal reported.

Automation, attrition and early retirements have pared full-time staff to 636,000 from more than 800,000 in 2000, the paper reported.

The agency faces opposition to further cutbacks, however, from both legislators and the public at large, the Journal reported


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/usps-eyes-further-cuts-journal

[grannie4peace]

1. here i go ....bye :)

[Hannah Bell]

2. wait, things aren't so bad & getting better, people here keep telling me so!

[marmar]

3. I know. I'm so sick of the "it's bottoming out, recovery is on the way" koolaid....

..... how stupid do they think we are?

[Captain Hilts]

4. The idea that the postal service, like railroads, are supposed to be profitable is crazy. ALL the

postoffices in Bethesda now close at 5pm. FIVE!!!!!!

This happened after a rate increase.

It makes no sense.

[marmar]

5. EXACTLY.....Essential services shouldn't be driven by a profit motive.

..... that's supposed to be one of the benefits of a public institution. (Tho I guess the Postal Service is quasi-public)

[sarcasmo]

6. We aren't even close to bottom, the economy is getting better is propaganda

[Mudoria]

7. Stopping Saturday deliveries seems like a reasonable way to save a little money

[kickysnana]

9. Sure would screw up my Netfix flow. n/t

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

8. More layoffs... I'll bet they'll raise the postage again too.