USPS 10,000 Workers to be Cut

[stuff4divas]

in the next 30 days, what affect, if any, do u think it'll have

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/usps-signs-agreement-doge-agrees-cut-10000-workers-broken-business-...

[hapvintage]

Honestly I can only hope that it would not affect anything, I wouldn't dare expect that it would have any positive impact on us - USPS customers with less manpower.

Recently, my missing goods rate through USPS has risen significantly and many other packages were delayed. I don't know if cutting 10,000 workers would improve this.

[house*of*paws]

I believe we’re likely to see more ‘mistakes’ being made … not necessarily because of a worker shortage … but because of what rumors of mass firings does to workers’ morale.  

[People start panicking about potential unemployment … which leads to their making more errors.  My guess is we’ll see more late- and mis-deliveries, as well as scanning errors that take packages on circuitous trips to their destinations.]

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@stuff4divas I won't speculate on this. I rely on USPS, and they make policy and rate changes with considerable frequency. While I try to keep up with the changes, I recognize that I have no control over them. So I'll just try to stay informed, without worrying too much. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@adamcartwright wrote:

@tarotfindsandmore 

Since you have experience...

I was driving to the post office the other day and saw my driver parked a block away.

I pulled over and handed her my package, which she took willingly.

The package didn't get its first scan until more than 24 hours later. 

Is that normal? I figured even if she didn't scan it upon receipt, it would be scanned at the end of her shift. 

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@adamcartwright   On the rare occasions I do this, I request a scan at that moment, I also remind them to switch their scanner from Delivered to Picked Up cuz otherwise it can easily scan as delivered.   Beyond that happening, 24 hours later can easily happen.  When my PO gets busy, they never scan & they wait until the sort center does it.  Sort center is in big city over an hour away & it rarely happens before midnight.  The ONLY way to know your getting your initial scan is to DIY or watch it being done.  

I once handed my carrier a mtg payment the same way you did, just a regular piece of mail. IDK whatever happened to it, but it involved me paying a late fee, the check never showing up & us switching to electronic payments on everything. 

[campanaelia]

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@quikdropflstu wrote:

Something needs to be done how can they lose 9 Billion Dollars ? and be inefficient I am not for people losing their jobs but needs chanages !! 

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It seems Doge only targets gov't services, meanwhile subsidies and corporate welfare they don't even look at when it benefits their donors.

The USDA just announced they are taking applications for another $10 billion dollars for farmers. Farmers have taken economic hits in the early weeks of the Trump administration and are struggling with slumping prices that have made some crops more expensive to plant than sell.

Also farmer subsidies quadrupled in Trump's first term but since they are part of his voter base I guess it's not a problem.

https://news.yahoo.com/news/usda-begin-disbursing-economic-aid-173121769.html

[adamcartwright]

Yikes -- a mortgage payment!

Thanks for the info. I feel like a counter scan is my best bet going forward.

[fbusoni · Accepted solution]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

There is one thing that we DO know, and that is that USPS -- like all the other national security agencies of the USG -- is exempt from the capricious cuts that the administration is making in a somewhat nihilistic manner.  

You can read the official OPM memo on the planned reorganization (referred to as "Agency RIF and Reorganization Plans") .. and here is the relevant excerpt in case you want the short version (note also that there is great concern about social security and related entitlements not being adversely affected):

 

[selsa84]

Of course not. You won't see that on fox or Oan. And since it won't be shown on fox or Oan many will say it's fake news. 

[deltilogical]

DOGE is applying normal staff reduction tactics as used across corporate america for decades now.  Everyone will get the pay and benefits they are due.  USPS needs to focus on training its staff and reinforcing quality and pride.  

Appointed judges do not get to overrule the Executive, no matter how many photographs foreign spy agencies have of them harming children..  

[fbusoni]

@deltilogical 

DOGE in fact lacks the legal authority to apply "normal staff reduction tactics as used across corporate america for decades now" because USG workers, unlike their corporate America counterparts, are protected by laws passed by Congress in 1970.   (More details are in a post I penned in another thread.)

Thus, the rash of court cases we see ordering people back to work.  It will be up to Congress to amend the US Code to make it easier for the executive to dismiss federal workers.  I am not at all sure Congress will agree to do that, since Congress depends on the USG to deliver services to its millions of constituents.

And if you remember your civics classes, we live in a society where the rule of law is paramount; we also have three coequal branches of government.   Appointed judges in fact commonly overrule the Executive, and the Executive appeals.  Sometimes the Executive wins, and other times not.   

Were the Executive ever able to freely and willfully overrule the judiciary, the USA would be no different than Russia or North Korea, where the "courts" operate at the mercy of the fellow in charge.   I'd reckon that not too many of the sane among us would want that to happen.

[fbusoni]

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@house*of*paws wrote:

I believe we’re likely to see more ‘mistakes’ being made … not necessarily because of a worker shortage … but because of what rumors of mass firings does to workers’ morale.  

[People start panicking about potential unemployment … which leads to their making more errors.  My guess is we’ll see more late- and mis-deliveries, as well as scanning errors that take packages on circuitous trips to their destinations.]

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@house*of*paws 

USPS is exempt from the mass firings that have been inflicted on other USG agencies.

 

[house*of*paws]

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@fbusoni wrote:

USPS is exempt from the mass firings that have been inflicted on other USG agencies.

@fbusoni 

I’ve been under the impression that some of the other USG agencies are exempt as well … maybe not for the same reason … but that hasn’t seemed to protect them from firings.

And I’m not sure that postal workers feel secure in their positions … with all the improvisations going on in agencies.

[fbusoni]

@house*of*paws 

Not to get too much into the weeds... but if you click on the link in my previous post, you will see that the Office of Personnel Management made clear that USPS, along with other USG national security agencies (State, DHS, CIA, FBI, etc.), was exempt not only from the nihilistic vagaries of Elmo Musk but also from OPM's ordered reorganization.  

To me that is very telling... responsible people in the administration understand that USPS fulfills a vital function and that any effort to right-size the organization or otherwise make fundamental changes to its operations will be done only after careful consideration.  

As for how postal workers feel... I can only relate my own interactions with the folks at my local post office who I see every day, and they are not at all concerned.  That's not a scientific sample of course, but USPS, like other USG agencies, is protected by a dense collection of laws and every postal worker whom I have ever met was quite familiar with their legal protections. 

But your point about the overall environment that has been intentionally created (to instill fear and uncertainty) is well taken.