USPS: We’re Sorry–but…

In a Jan. 26 press conference earlier, postal officials expressed regret over the letter sent by its Board of Governors to all 100 U.S. senators officially declaring opposition to postal reform bill S.662. But the Postal Service stood by the sentiment of the letter: that the bill did not provide the agency with enough flexibility to control costs and compete with private carriers.

“Unfortunately and with regret we sent that letter,” said Tom Day, senior vice president of Postal Government Relations. “But the current idea on the table will not allow the USPS to provide affordable service to the American public.” He added that “we still have concerns with [House reform bill] H.R.22 that was passed last summer.”

Richard Strasser, the Postal Service’s chief financial officer/executive vice president, agreed with Day, saying that the motivation for the letter stemmed from an obligation to the American taxpayer: “We did not speak out to simply disparage the efforts of the [Senate Postal] Oversight Committee.”

Near the conclusion of the press conference, Day said that not all USPS labor unions were in favor of the proposed reform. Among them, Day cited the American Postal Workers Union, the USPS’s largest, with more than 220,000 members. “Contrary to what you may have heard, not all labor unions are in full support of reform–this is absolutely not true,” he said. “To the largest union in the USPS, this is a flawed legislation.”