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NALC plays prominent role in reactions to
USPS 2nd quarter report
May 13, 2013—Coverage of Friday’s USPS quarterly financial report varied in depth and quality over the weekend among news outlets, but NALC President Fredric Rolando was widely quoted, lending perspective to many reports. Some examples:
Associated Press:
The National Association of Letter Carriers noted that the Postal Service’s operating revenue of $16.3 billion was nearly 1 percent higher than the same period last year, a sign of gradual progress in the agency’s financial picture. Fredric Rolando, the union’s president, said the improvement “shows the absurdity of taking the radical step of degrading the postal network by eliminating Saturday delivery.”
“This would cost the USPS its competitive advantage, drive customers away, reduce revenue and make the Postal Service less able to adapt to an evolving society,” Rolando said.
The unusual requirement for the Postal Service to pre-fund future retiree health benefits decades in advance “accounts for 90 percent of this year’s red ink” and shows the urgency for Congress to end the mandate, Rolando said.
The Postal Service is an independent agency that receives no tax dollars for its day-to-day operations but is subject to congressional control. |
The New York Times:
Postal unions praised the second-quarter numbers, saying the figures show the continuing viability of the Postal Service.
“This positive trend undermines the doom-and-gloom scenarios postal critics cite — and it shows the folly of reducing services to Americans, as the postmaster general seeks to do,” said Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. |
Reuters:
The National Association of Letter Carriers said gains in the second quarter in the parcel business, a rare bright spot as more Americans shop online, showed that cutting delivery days would be foolish.
Package volumes increased by 9.3 percent or $267 million in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year.
“Instead of the postmaster general’s ‘shrink to survive’ strategy - which will only begin a death spiral for the USPS - what is needed is a dynamic business plan for the future to take advantage of the many opportunities for growth, including in the exploding package delivery market,” Fredric Rolando, the union’s president, said in a statement. |
Diana Reese is author of The Washington Post’s “She the People” blog.
Her father was a letter carrier for 30 years in Northwest Missouri.
Idaho State Association President John Paige’s letter to the editor of the Twin Falls Times-News ran May 14.
Long Island, NY Merged Branch 6000 President Walter Barton was interviewed by New York City’s WABC-TV for a story about Saturday mail.
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