e-Team Report, Oct. 25, 2013

Send Congress a Letter: Don’t Destroy the Postal Service

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is presently considering the flawed postal reform bill S. 1486.  In the coming weeks, the committee may move to entertain amendments to the bill and approve it for consideration before the full Senate.  In its current form, S. 1486 would permit severe cuts to service, allow the shuttering of mail processing facilities nationwide, and needlessly punish postal workers.

Will you take a minute to call upon your lawmakers to oppose the destructive policies set forth in S. 1486? Will you ask them to support reasonable policies to get the USPS back on track?

To send a message to your legislators in Washington, please click here.

Once you’ve taken action, either by sending a letter or email, please share this important message with friends and family and anyone who supports a public Postal Service.  The more people we get involved, the better our message will be heard in Washington.

Facility Closures Wreak Havoc for Consumer-to-Business Mailing

The Postal Service continues to tout the line that mail service has been unaffected by the closure of mail processing facilities, earlier pick-up times and reduced hours at post offices.  That is simply not true, and the result of the policy is growing more apparent. 

Many accounts receivable and accounts payable departments in businesses across the country have been forced to change their schedules and processing procedures due to slowed mail service.  In a recent FinancialOps.org article, a BancTec director said, “If a business collecting $1 million a day in paper checks sees a two-day delay, that adds to $120,000 a year of real dollars needed to finance that shortfall.”

While business-to-business mail has suffered some effects, consumer-to-business mail has suffered the most due to the closure of mail processing facilities.  Consolidations have resulted in late payments to businesses all over the country because mail must travel further to be processed and delivered, and because the remaining processing facilities are often overwhelmed by additional volume.  Cutbacks in the postal network are robbing USPS customers of timely mail delivery.  

For more on the impact of facility closures on businesses and consumers, please click here.

Lest We Forget – The True Impact of the Shutdown

While the irresponsible Republican shutdown of the government is finally over, the solution is only temporary and we could again see a similar crisis as soon as January. While many of those who supported the shutdown say that it didn't cause any real harm – that at worst a few monuments were closed – the tales working people tell are quite different.

The AFL-CIO asked working families affected by the shutdown to share their stories.  To read some responses, please click here.

Experts have said the government shutdown caused a $24 billion blow to the US economy.  To read about the true damage of the government shutdown, including 120,000 jobs, please click here.