10/17/2011

USPS Hires Big Guns to Help Get More Government Protection

Hopefully, this bailout will cost something less than the $100 billion spent to bailout GM. From the WSJ:

The National Association of Letter Carriers said it retained Ron Bloom, the president's former "car czar" who orchestrated the bailout and restructuring of General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC, and led the Treasury's oversight of the companies.

The union also has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd., assembling a restructuring team experienced in analyzing large, complex, financially troubled institutions and proposing solutions.

The hiring of Lazard and Mr. Bloom indicates that rather than absorbing the massive job and infrastructure cuts being proposed by the postal service, the union is aiming instead for a role in the public-policy debate over how to prevent the collapse of the age-old institution and remake its business model for modern America.

The letter carriers say they have no choice but to go on the offensive. As part of its strategy to right itself, the postal service is aiming to slash $20 billion in expenses by 2015 by closing many post offices and mail-sorting centers, dropping Saturday delivery and eliminating 220,000 jobs, despite collective-bargaining agreements limiting layoffs. The agency is appealing to Congress to change laws so it can rapidly make these cuts. . . .

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1 Comments:

Blogger kjvonlybaptist said...

Well, I have commented on this topic before. I have worked for the USPS for 18 1/2 years. The problem is on both sides. The USPS isn't in as bad a shape as they say, and the union is wrong in thinking they have more money then they say they do. The USPS does not need to act as fast as they can and make non rational decisions because that will cost more in the long run. We do need to cut Saturday del, no doubt. Big waste of money. Next we need to close all the small offices. The ones in towns with less then 500 people. Now, take a moment to see how that combination effects the business model and then you can have a more informed rational plan. But doing that, plus closing 250 processing centers right up front is a little odd. Make some small changes at first and see how the mail flow is effected, then adjust accordingly.

10/20/2011 2:58 AM  

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