First Class Postage Increase Being Requested

[ICF]

I pay some bills online, but others (such as our natural gas bill) want $2.95 (I think it is) a month to pay electronically??!??! WTH...like that makes any sense. We still send out 'snail mail' for some bills and things like birthday / christmas cards but just use forever stamps.

I wish they would raise it (a lot) and then be done with these increases every 6-12 months. Why do 2 cents every time? Make it 50 cents and say that will be the last increase until 2012 or something.

 

[foolishmortal]

I'm sure the union workers disagree with your appraisal of the value of their work.

I was a union employee (a couple differnet sectors) for over 15+ years.. SCREW UNIONS!

In fact its funny unions are now part of this conversation because, like usps, unions are a thing of the past which were once good, but are no longer a viable solution to current work/living standards.

They make it seem nice and cozy, but in reality they do not fight for you, or your job, they only care about thier bottom line and saving the lazy employees. Most people can get better pay and benefits doing same job at a private non union company. I'm proof as well as at least 50+ ex co workers of mine from different places.

 

[wdwfan16]

I don't think the USPS really should be allowed to go 21st Century. That would put it in competition with private enterprise, where there is already clearly sufficient competition. There is a public interest in having a service available that will have written papers and small item taken from place to place, reliably, and without incurring the expense typically associated with folks like FedEx, so that would mean federal subsidy to maintain that service at that price. Perhaps the USPS should not have been divorced from the government as much as it is.

I agree there is a need for the USPS but I think the divorce was the right move. Maybe it is time to cut benefits, streamline jobs and reduce mail delivery until they can become a profitable enterprise. We need to do this with all state and federal agencies.

 

[ronjarrell]

I get annoyed at the penny here, penny there raises. Just raise the darn thinks to an even $.05 boundary and be done with it. Then bump it another 5 next time. I use stamps rarely enough it gets truly annoying to have a stamp and a long strip of 1s and 3s beside it...

 

[ronjarrell]

Oh, yea, I also use a lot of online payment systems, but I really wish there were some standards, so I could log in one place, get a list of bills to review, and allocate money to each one I want to pay, rather than either signing up for auto-payment at each site, and remembering to go check the bill, or having to visit each site separately and click to pay.

 

[FireDancer]

Oh, yea, I also use a lot of online payment systems, but I really wish there were some standards, so I could log in one place, get a list of bills to review, and allocate money to each one I want to pay, rather than either signing up for auto-payment at each site, and remembering to go check the bill, or having to visit each site separately and click to pay.

We have that exact product here. Our home banking service allows you to use it like a dashboard to pull in your bills from almost all originators (credit cards, phone companies, utilities, etc), set rules based on the balance, and make scheduled payments automatically.

For example, you could set your utilities and fixed bills like the phone bill to be paid in full every month 7 days before the due date. Bills that fluctuate, like credit cards, you could set to pay automatically if the balance is under a threshold and to pay a set amount if it is over the threshold (pay in full as long as it is under $1000.01 or pay $1000 if it is over).

 

[bicker]

SCREW UNIONS!

Maybe it is time to cut benefits, streamline jobs and reduce mail delivery until they can become a profitable enterprise. We need to do this with all state and federal agencies.

I think these are easy things to say, and many of us would agree with the general sentiment, but practically-speaking they're non-starters, and therefore serve only to push the discussion further away from actual resolution.

I suppose if a USPS union employee logged in and posted, "Yes, I'm in favor of taking a pay cut commensurate with the $7B shortfall in the budget," that might hold water, afaic, but us ratepayers saying that, doesn't. Instead, I think that moves to "screw" the unions will only result in more pain than the American people are willing to accept. Any efforts along those lines would back-fire.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Oh, yea, I also use a lot of online payment systems, but I really wish there were some standards, so I could log in one place, get a list of bills to review, and allocate money to each one I want to pay, rather than either signing up for auto-payment at each site, and remembering to go check the bill, or having to visit each site separately and click to pay.

Some banks provide this service. You might look into it at your own bank.

 

[foolishmortal]

I think these are easy things to say, and many of us would agree with the general sentiment, but practically-speaking they're non-starters, and therefore serve only to push the discussion further away from actual resolution.

I suppose if a USPS union employee logged in and posted, "Yes, I'm in favor of taking a pay cut commensurate with the $7B shortfall in the budget," that might hold water, afaic, but us ratepayers saying that, doesn't. Instead, I think that moves to "screw" the unions will only result in more pain than the American people are willing to accept. Any efforts along those lines would back-fire.

A union employee would never say that because they are to blinded in union propoganda to see life outside thier little box.

Is it a coincidence that sectors that are largely union are going under fastest? Auto industry, postal service, newspapers, telecom, etc...


Union is a big factor and yet they (the unions) would have you believe they are to help not hurt

 

[MIGrandma]

I am not in favor of unions either, all they do is want more, more, more.

A local company here is going to close its doors because their union employees voted down the latest offer the company made during their negotiations. Rather than taking a pay cut, they voted against it. So now they get to go find another job. In Michigan. Yeah, good luck with that.

I wouldn't mind not receiving mail on Saturday. Even Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be fine with me. But I doubt the full time mail delivery person would like that schedule. And I'm tired of them raising postage stamp rates by a penny here and a penny there.

I use about 10-15 stamps per month to pay bills. We only do automatic payment with our electric bill and had such trouble with it that we prefer to just pay the rest of our bills by mail.

 

[bicker]

A union employee would never say that because they are to blinded in union propoganda to see life outside thier little box. Is it a coincidence that sectors that are largely union are going under fastest? Auto industry, postal service, newspapers, telecom, etc...Union is a big factor and yet they (the unions) would have you believe they are to help not hurt

I think the issue here, though, is that you're talking about what the problems are (and I don't necessarily disagree that what you've highlighted contributes greatly, but...) I'm talking about what a solution could be. What do you think is going to so radically change in our society that will permit a solution to the specific problem you're outlining? Never mind whether or not that's a problem; assuming it is (and again, I think that's a good assumption), the way things are, and the way things are going to remain, despite our fervent wishes to the contrary, it is not going to be solvable, and so expending focus on that problem is not only wasteful, but actually moves us further from solving the problem.

I'm belaboring the point because it is critical for our society to move past these kind of log-jams. Things have gotten so dogmatic, with sides digging in and insisting on solving things the way they want to, regardless of the fact that there is no chance of that approach happening. They steadfastly resolve to have no solution whatsoever unless they can have the solution that they want, and that's why we are now beginning to jump from ugly mess to ugly mess.

 

[foolishmortal]

I think the issue here, though, is that you're talking about what the problems are (and I don't necessarily disagree that what you've highlighted contributes greatly, but...) I'm talking about what a solution could be. What do you think is going to so radically change in our society that will permit a solution to the specific problem you're outlining? Never mind whether or not that's a problem; assuming it is (and again, I think that's a good assumption), the way things are, and the way things are going to remain, despite our fervent wishes to the contrary, it is not going to be solvable, and so expending focus on that problem is not only wasteful, but actually moves us further from solving the problem.

I'm belaboring the point because it is critical for our society to move past these kind of log-jams. Things have gotten so dogmatic, with sides digging in and insisting on solving things the way they want to, regardless of the fact that there is no chance of that approach happening. They steadfastly resolve to have no solution whatsoever unless they can have the solution that they want, and that's why we are now beginning to jump from ugly mess to ugly mess.

I guess what I am saying is get rid of union and you get rid of part of the problem, Is it a viable or even easy solution, of course not, but it would help. Nowadays unions need to get with the days and understand that the companies can no longer afford to keep so many people, cannot afford to pay 100% healthcare (shoot even 75%), etc...

things unions fight are things that can greatly reduce a companies debt.

Also dropping another 2 days i dont think would greatly hurt in the grand scheme of things and would reduce debt as well. Stop saturday and wednesday delivery, stil leaves bulk of week as well as no more then 2 days without service. Thats an option the publin not the company would have to over come tough

 

[rockydek]

United States has the cheapest Postal rates and best service in the world.
Also...NO TAX DOLLARS are used to operate it..Postage revenue is what pays the operating expenses for the Post Office...So that being said...only those that mail or collect stamps will be affected by the increase...Everyone that uses the internet will not be paying more tax dollars or money.
The union is what gets employees decent wages and good working conditions.
Stop dumping on the employees...They are the most TRUSTED employees for over the last 100 years.

The Postal Service is not allowed to make a profit.
It is a Service to the American People...Not a profitable business.
I heard a lady in line ...complaining about paying 44 cents to mail a card to her son in California... A card that that has increased in cost so much..I cannot afford to buy them anymore ... So I....

 

[foolishmortal]

United States has the cheapest Postal rates and best service in the world.
Also...NO TAX DOLLARS are used to operate it..Postage revenue is what pays the operating expenses for the Post Office...So that being said...only those that mail or collect stamps will be affected by the increase...Everyone that uses the internet will not be paying more tax dollars or money.
The union is what gets employees decent wages and good working conditions.
Stop dumping on the employees...They are the most TRUSTED employees for over the last 100 years.

The Postal Service is not allowed to make a profit.
It is a Service to the American People...Not a profitable business.
I heard a lady in line ...complaining about paying 44 cents to mail a card to her son in California... A card that that has increased in cost so much..I cannot afford to buy them anymore ... So I....

MYTH!!!!


Again, like i said before. myself as well as plenty of others i know all used to work in union jobs and used to think this was a true statement, then we got out of that sector of work and we all make more per hour, better benefits at cheaper and a much less hostile work enviroment as we all have a job to do not picking up slack for lazy employees union tries to keep around bring down workplace moral. and its doing the same exact thing as before just non union. I dont fear for my job every day like we used to under union and threats of lay offs, we dont have union propganda thrown in our faces, no threat of having to choose between family and work (picket lines, strikes, etc...). Union its a great thing when yo uare in it and you see the horrors of it once out. They looove to lie to your face about what they do for you, and then when layoffs come they claim there is nothing to do all while they are safe because they are union stewards and are not effected by said layoff because of that.