News & information

Today, the U.S. Postal Service released its financial report for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2014, which covers the last three months of 2013.

Here is NALC President Fredric Rolando’s statement about today’s report:

Today’s Postal Service figures for the first quarter of 2014 are highly encouraging and show why the postal network must be maintained and strengthened, not degraded.

The announced operating profit of $765 million for the first quarter is dramatic in itself—and it continues the operating profitability that began last year.

The Postal Service’s unmatched networks and outstanding employees have made these striking results possible. And these trends augur well for the future, because they reflect the opportunities increasingly presented by the Internet and by an improving economy. Package revenues resulting from online shopping rose by more than 14 percent this quarter—more than offsetting the small decline in letter revenue.

This quarter's $765 million operating profit compares with the $100 million from the first quarter of 2013—another sign of improving postal finances.

In light of these results, lawmakers should strengthen the postal network while addressing the remaining problem: the congressional mandate to pre-fund future retiree benefits, required of no other public or private entity in the country. Degrading the network and reducing services to the public and businesses would jeopardize the postal turnaround.