The US Postal Service has been an integral part of the communications network of our country. The system itself was created before independence from England was declared. It has grown with the country, using all methods to move written and printed materials from horseback to train to commercial jet, and has evolved right along with the country. At the same time, the thousands of people who work for the Postal Service have been known to be some of the most diligent (and sometimes stressed) workers in the country and possibly the world. They've earned everything they work for over 231 years, and even with the explosion of electronic communication they still have the greatest respect from the citizens of this country.
So, does it come as any surprise that the Bush Administration, despite the fact that several years have passed since the USPS became a private corporation with little or no support from the government, is using its supposedly unlimited power to destroy yet another revered part of the fabric of this country, drive up the costs of the service on the citizens, and put thousands of unionized postal workers out of a job?!
B..b...b...but Scoopster - I didn't hear anything about this anywhere?! Of course you didn't! I didn't until about a half hour ago either, when I heard about the plan to consilidate postal sorting operations throughout the country.
Now you can imagine how this will impact the workers, and provide another blow to workers' rights and the union movement in the country, but how might this plan affect the public?
(emphasis added)
...the USPS consolidation efforts -- developed to suit the preferences of large corporate and advertising mailers -- will cause serious disruptions to the mail stream, resulting in:
* Week-long delays in the delivery of mail;
* Mail collection taking place earlier in the day;
* Mail deliveries taking place later in the day -- sometimes even in the evening;
* Loss of local postmarks -- and community identity for many cities and towns
For many citizens, delayed mail service means more than just an inconvenience:
* Bills will be delivered late (and likewise, payments on bills which would create a corporate windfall in late charges);
* Checks, tax forms and business and legal documents will not arrive on time; and
* Prescriptions may not arrive when needed.
(also, it's not mentioned here, but consolidation in the mail service will create increased costs for users of the postal service due to increased transportation and sorting costs - while corporate customers will receive volume discounts paid for by the taxpayer)
The American Postal Workers Union has taken a stand against this plan, and they're not just doing it to save their own jobs. Yet it seems that even in an election year,
the Republican-controlled Congress is doing nothing to check the Executive Branch and prevent the plan from going into effect. Why should they? They think their constituents are corporate billionaires running FedEx, UPS, and DHL, not the hard-working people who deliver the mail or the citizens of this country who believe in and respect this service.