I see PAD is still on his Anti-Bush soap box. Change happens PAD most american jobs will be in india soon and we will all be on welfare and not have to work. I think thats a wonderful thing vacation all the time. So whats your PROBLEM with Bush hes helping us all get that never ending vacation.

skyblue, I agree with you. The USPS is obviously a labor intensive job. Therefore, it makes sense that a good portion of the budget would go to labor.

I was just making the point that all of the figures that are being thrown around by those that want to outsource our work are claiming that 3/4 or more of the PO's money is going towards labor and benefits when it is actually about 20% less than that.

What about the automation equipment that DIDN'T work out well? About 6 - 8 months before we got the AFSM-100's, we had these pathetic auto-feeders for the 881's that actually slowed down production so much that they were removed shortly after being installed. It was ridiculous. How much was paid for those useless pieces of equipment that sat in the basement collecting dust?

Clerk in MN. I have never understood how an organization that does not produce a "product" but only supplies a service can complain about the percentage of costs related to labor. If we do not manufacture anything, then there are no heavy materials or inventory costs. Obviously our costs should be mostly for labor. Now if GM or Walmart said their labor costs were more than all other costs, i.e., inventory,etc. then they would have a problem. In our case, we move a product, mail, which does not have an Intrinsic cost of itself. Therefore our main costs should be labor, and fuel. Of course no one seems to resent the cost factor in the many generations of machinery the PO has invested in to automate moving the mail. They only seem to object to paying our salaries and benefits, this in spite of the fact that productivity is up.

According to testimony from Joel Popkin (I believe it was him), labor costs make up about 56% of the USPS costs. This was using public records from the USPS.

This is also more in line with what a lot of privately owned companies pay.

postalveteran, NO

PAD, I expect you are right about that. Bush senior lost election number 2 primarily because people in this country vote their pocket books and most felt their pennies being pinched then. That $400 per child won't go very far though and since the lowest income level people still aren't going to get even that, if Bush the junior is going to be re-elected it will be by that phantom "Middle Class"

will we get the right to strike?

In reply to: I am just constantly amazed at the polls, which purport that the majority of citizens still support the current president. Either the pollsters are limiting their questioning to corporate leaders and big business or the average citizen must have their heads up their @zzes to support the policies of this administration. Personally I chalk a lot of it up to the myth of the "middle class". People need to wake up to their true station in life. Either you must work for a living to keep food on the table and a roof overhead, or you are the one who benefits financially from the work of others.

They all keep believing in him because of the tax cut bribes. The average american looks at that as extra money. They all love this administration because it gave them checks. All those checks were is a bribe for support, and a vote in 2004.

The FLIM-FLAM man cometh. He comes disguised as 3 wise guys
selected by the Presidential Commission. They will find a disparity with exsisting wages and give the green light to
bring in new hired guns at a lower wage. We will be asked
for concessions and give backs at the end of our contract.
We will be out flanked from all sides when the rank and file
looses membership. Within the next 45 days the gains achieved since 1970 will be tweaked to allow historic give
backs. With a 90, 60 and mandatory 30 days for bargaining
we will have no choice but to concede. The PRB new suits
will become the FAT CATS. They will be multi millionaires
after serving 5 years as members of the PRB. That and a personal letter of recommedation from the President will set
them up for life.

Ok,
So I had heard UPS pays in the hi 60's in labor costs.

Big deal, they are both labor intentsive organizations.

Post #22

I am sorry but I don't agree with you that there is nothing to worry about with this report. I think we have A LOT to be concerned with!!

We, collectively, need to inform everyone we know to write their elected officials so they know we are watching this issue verty closely. This Commission has received very little press and it is my belief that they are trying to get their recommendations through Congress without the American publics' knowledge.

The USPS is a potential money machine for the private sector if work starts getting outsourced, if salaries and benefits are cut, etc.

We want to expose this issue to the greatest number of people possible, not just USPS employees! Tell your friends, family, neighbors, etc. Don't sit there and wait for something to happen. Do something now before it is too late!

Our jobs depend on it!!

skyblue2u: I hear you loud and clear. It was not that long ago my "middle class" buddies were sitting around talking about how their stocks were doing. They were riding the FERS investment for all it was worth with no background in finance whatsoever. Everyone else was talking stock so why couldn't they? Then--the bust. My friend lost quite a bit-maybe up to $30,000. The "other class" also lost thousands if not hundreds of thousands. They said oh well--my buddies still don't know what happened, but they all say they have to work many more years now because of this. Get real people..we work for the Post Office as peons. We can raise a small family comfortably, but we will never take European vacations every year---that is we COULD be semi-comfortable. If we don't all act together to vote this Brotherhood off the face of the earth we may all be on the streets with the "other" class..the homeless!

oh yeah, the large mailers love the report, if they can mail their stuff for free. Give them a big discount and they will talk like the Presidential commision is the greatest thing since white bread. Big business doesn't care about the postal service they just want thing given to them for FREE. I say kiss my ass rich people and pay your way and leave us alone.

This presidential commision was another waste of taxpayer money, as they will not do anything they suggest. I thought we had something to worry about, but as always it is garbage. I love this country.

Calpatches, Regarding your post #15, I think you hit the nail on the head all the way. I am just constantly amazed at the polls, which purport that the majority of citizens still support the current president. Either the pollsters are limiting their questioning to corporate leaders and big business or the average citizen must have their heads up their @zzes to support the policies of this administration. Personally I chalk a lot of it up to the myth of the "middle class". People need to wake up to their true station in life. Either you must work for a living to keep food on the table and a roof overhead, or you are the one who benefits financially from the work of others. "Middle Class" is a nice little dream they try to implant in our minds to keep us compliant. The only thing that puzzles me about the extent to which the current powers that be are pushing things is that they don't seem to realize there is a breaking point for all of us. If you take away too much hope then people no longer feel compelled to follow the rules and stay in line. As Bob put it in song: "When you got nothin' you got nothin' to lose." Oh well as I have always said when I see those in power trying to strip more and more away from the workers, at least when the revolution comes we will all know precisely which side we are on.

Getting back to those wonderful proposals of the President's Commission, lifting the "cap" on top executive pay while concurrently "eliminating the total compensation premium" for craft workers, is a more blatant example of pushing too far than any I could have imagined. I just can't get over the gall of these people. I realize that they think most of us are too complacent to even read their report, but I take great insult at their attempts to couch their conclusions in such idiotic though admittedly creative language. "Total compensation premium" is a phrase I see destined to enter general usage in all union management negotiations in the near future.

No, I can handle it and have no problem doing either...I think it is called survival.