Even the Postal Service may have lay-offs. The first in it's history.

http://www.ksla.com/global/story.asp?s=9247633

 

hmm...

according to a lot of members here, the economy isn't in bad shape.

 

i think that is just stupid that the government will have a bailout to help keep afloat companies that had bad choices but yet they will lay off their own federal workers...? doesnt make any sense to me

 

UN-BE-***ing-LIEBAVLE....


Nope- no sign of a recession here...

 

Yeah I know. The media is magically making companies fail! It's all their fault, not the companies themselves. Obama is evil. Does this make me a Republican poster child now?

 

Why would they not lay off Postal employees? The Post Office is ARCHAIC!!!! Its out of date, and we really do not need them... Cut the fat.

 

Until the country embraces electronic media and billing as the only way to receive billing invoices, and letters. Until we can put a package (flowers, birthday cards, mother's day cards) onto a transporter pad, and beam it to the distant end. Or, until FedEx, UPS, DHL, et al grow large enough to be able to take over for the USPS, we'll still need them.

I do agree, change may be overdue for the post office- but, it's a sign of the times, when federal employees are subject to a layoff of that scale.

I think what this is, may be yet another salvo from the USPS to regulate the internet. The post office for YEARS has been claiming they are losing money because now we can send 1, 10, 20, 100 page letters/presentations at the click of a mouse- for free, to multiple destinations, and have them get there in seconds. Where a few years ago, those presentations had to be mailed and they (USPS) gained revenue from transporting it.

They've been defeated so far, every time. But, with continuing losses, and now laying off 5.8% of it's workforce- may prove to be a convincing argument (to lawmakers) to give the USPS jusridisction (and gained revenue) over internet E-mail.

 

I don't know, that's sort of progressive, can't be having any of that.

 

I'll be damned if I pay the USPS or any government agency for the right to e-mail a document to someone. So are we to pay for the bandwith to a provider, THEN, to the USPS for e-mailing a document? I've never heard of this before, Hersh. Please, do elaborate.

 

I'm with you 100%, screw those guys. If there is less mail (which I find hard to believe with all the junk I get), then we need less carriers, sort of like the people that used to make wagon wheels.

 

I think this news source is full of it. They're still screaming for more help down here and can't find anybody because of poor working conditions. While I'd love to hammer the union, which is all but worthless to the postal employee, it's not high wages killing the P.O. It's a case of poor management. The last raise in postage netted the folks down here a 0% raise. The raise in postage before that got the local postal employee a 0% raise. That a bunch of trillions of dollars that the work force hasn't seen any benefit. I think all companies are on the tax bailout bandwagon. Next will be your utility companies or the phone companies. As far as the Post Office, I don't use them unless there is no other way. I had bought a roll of $.29 stamps years ago and when postage went up, they wouldn't accept any mail with them unless it had another $.02 added to it. But they didn't have any $.02 stamps or any $.01 stamps but they would be happy to sell me new stamps that would go thru. The way I looked at it, I paid, IN ADVANCE, for delivery service of anything I put their stamps on. They refused to honor their own stamps so I found other ways of handling my mail and correspondence. Screw the post office. I hope they do go out of business. You can count on somebody else taking their place and probably do it far cheaper and economical. Only problem I have with them going broke is I have numerous friends that are now retired from the PO and it would probably put several with health issues in the ground.

 

It won't be DHL. Today's bad news here in California is that they are closing their Riverside location and 900 people will be out of work.

 

USPS play a vital role in eBay purchases, even on this side of the border. Canada Post takes over on this end, but it starts with USPS. When the Canuck buck was at par with US, I imagine they were going nuts.