The larger numbers are also more relevant as attrition is uncertain. The number of layoffs of RIF's could be higher or lower than the 120,000 depending on the pace of attrition.
Note: the Postal Service refers to a cut in career employment of 220,000. This figure may reflect a reduction from the number of career employees that it expects to employ on October 1, 2011 rather than the reduction from levels reported in the On Roles and Paid Employees Report for pay period #13.
The relevant paragraphs of the Postal Service's discussion paper are as follows:
Our most significant area of cost is in compensation and benefits, and one key driver of those costs is simply the sheer size of our workforce. Therefore, the Postal Service has to be able to reduce the size of our workforce if we are to have any hope of insuring that our costs are less than our revenue. Based on current revenue and cost trends, and assuming a move to 5-day delivery, the Postal Service can only afford a total workforce by 2015 of 425,000, which includes approximately 30% lower cost, more flexible, non-career employees.
Attrition and certain other measures will allow us to achieve a portion of the savings needed to match expenses with revenue by 2015. We estimate that attrition will only result in a staff reduction of approximately 100,000. However, in order for the Postal Service to reduce complement to meet projected volume degradation, we must eliminate roughly 220,000 career positions between now and 2015.
In order to eliminate the remaining 120,000 career positions by 2015, to restore the Postal Service to financial viability, it is imperative that we have the ability to reduce our workforce rapidly. Unfortunately, the collective bargaining agreements between the Postal Service and our unionized employees contain layoff restrictions that make it impossible to reduce the size of our workforce by the amount required by 2015. As explained below, it is not likely that the Postal Service will be able to eliminate these layoff protections through collective bargaining, given the nature of collective bargaining and interest arbitration. Therefore, a legislative change is needed to eliminate the layoff protections in our collective bargaining agreements.
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The Contract Clause appears in the United States Constitution, Article I, section 10, clause 1. It states: The Contract Clause prohibits states from enacting any law that retroactively impairs contract rights. The Contract Clause applies to legislation, but not the Judicial Branch. Only an unconstitutional congress would void an employees contract.
I just attempted to contact my Post Master and it appears he was only in today for a couple of hours. He is out Golfing. How is this not wasteful.
How will creating our own health plan system save any $$? That is ridiculous
We better start looking at the available jobs in our areas because the USPS wants a workforce of ALL non-career employees.
This is such a crock of $hit! They want us to do the same work for a LOT less money and NEVER be able to retire with the company we worked our butts off for a lifetime???
Bye bye good ole' USPS.....The new USPS is gonna be no different than any other low paying factory! All they care about is the almighty DOLLAR!
OUR LEADERSHIP IS FAILING US, BY NOT REINVENTING OUR PRODUCT AND STAYING IN TUNE WITH CHANGE. INVOLUNTARY RETIREMENTS MUST HAPPEN, TAKE HARD LOOK AT FITNESS FOR DUTY AND YOU COULD MEDICALLY RETIRE ANOTHER 30,000 AND TRIM AT THE TOP, THE SALARIES OUR TOP EXECS ARE GETTING IS CRAZY COMPARE TO THE WORKER WHO TOUCHES THE MAIL EVERYDAY!!!!!!
Amazing, if it wasn't for congress stealing from our retirement/healthcare funds, we wouldn't be in this financial mess in the first place. Just goes to show you how much of a bunch of lying/hypocrites they are!
None of the previous rumors or news scared me until today when I read that the postal service wants to manage our health care and retirement. They can't even manage the company much less these important benefits. It's been years since we were there because we loved what we did. Now we are only there for the health insurance and retirement!!
Hopefully this will be a wakeup call for the folks fortunate enough to keep their jobs down the road. Look at how the staff operates in the bulk of post offices across the country and you'll have no problem realizing the incredible lack of customer service, efficiency and regard for productivity that has put the USPS into this position. If they spent less time being unproductive, unfriendly, ensuring every box was checked and running customers through hoops, they might find they had enough time to create the efficient, customer service oriented organization they claim to be.
When you are losing over 5 billion $'s a year you have to do something rash and it is a bloated obsolete system that needs massive restructuring becuase mail volumes are down and never coming back.
I hope they raise import taxes so maybe these workers can find jobs manufacturing things we should be producing here ... toys, clothes, supplies ... ie everything we import from China !!
I tried golfing, but congress had all the tee times filled.
Life goes on and we will all some how come out of this better then before...with less money in our pockets and medical bills that will be with us forever.
Upper, middle, lower class and poor...I guess I know where I will be heading. I hope my bill collectors will be understanding!
Something is missing here, what about POSTAL MANAGEMENT? How many EAS are they laying off. There are how many EAS across the country? 100,000. 120,000. They have no layoff clause. Why are they NOT targeting these phony do nothing jobs FIRST? Something is very wrong here.
Anonymous said...
When you are losing over 5 billion $'s a year you have to do something rash and it is a bloated obsolete system that needs massive restructuring becuase mail volumes are down and never coming back.
I hope they raise import taxes so maybe these workers can find jobs manufacturing things we should be producing here ... toys, clothes, supplies ... ie everything we import from China !!
August 12, 2011 4:44 PM
The fact is that we are not losing over $5 billion per year, congress is extorting $5.5 billion per year from the USPS.
I retired and thought I had escaped the clutches of USPS. Now they want to change my health insurance. I knew it was too good to be true.
Addressing the two issues of health care and retirement plans. The USPS is not wanting to manage our health care. They are wanting to take our pool of employees and bargain WITH health care providers to get the best price with our numbers. Every company half our size negotiates their own rates because we can. As far as retirement plan the USPS wants control of our retirement money. Not OPM. Congress is counting every dollar we send OPM as revenue for them. IT's a plus to the gov. ledger. Now that we have overfunded if congress transfers that money back it counts AGAINST the deficit. That's how idiots like Issa can call it a taxpayer bailout, which is just a lie. Keep our money in the organization and USPS has control of it. This is simply a shot over the bow of congress to wake them up to do something about the overfunding and do it now!!!
Job cutting should begin where it is most needed. The ones standing around with their hands in their pocket and higher paying jobs should go first, let the every day man/woman out delivering and working their butt off trying to meet the hour deadline.
The ones that got Bonuses in a business loosing money every year. Those are the ones that need to be restructured! Not the ones doing the work for an hourly wage. The PO has become a disgrace in recent years. Shame that the ones making it into a mockery are the same ones saying it should be restructured and jobs cut.
It would serve them right that when the contract is up in November that the day after the WORKERS walked out. See how much gets done with the ones left standing there to give orders, since there wouldn't be anyone to "order" around. Let them sling a bag over their shoulder and get the job done!
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