send news tips to the editor; thevoice.fsu@gmail.com 1 www.fsuvoice.com | September 21, 2011 1 ThE VOICE, For Students, By Students 3
Convocation
Commentary
Mr. Eugene H. Robinson
delivers the convocation address
last Thursday. Mr. Robinson
explained some of the material
covered in his latest book,
“Disintegration: The Splintering
of Black America.”
Voicc nholo by Jennifer Lucas
U.S. Postal Service closes in on default date
The business model for the U,S, postal service,
whioh worked for a long, long time, is now broken
and we got to help the postal servioe fix it,"
by Nathalie Rivera
Staff Writer
Recently the United States Postal
Service announced they could pos
sibly defauh on their financial ob
ligations if congress does not act
on their behalf by the end of this
month.
About 4,300 post offices across
the country face the possibility of
being shut down along with ap
proximately 250,000 jobs hanging
in the balance.
The USPS must pay $5.5 bil
lion for retirement and health care
benefits for future retirees. But with
its fiscal year coming to an end on
September 30, they will not be able
to make this payment, as they have
reached their borrowing limit of
$15 billion.
The USPS is also expected to pay
$1.2 billion dollars to the Depart
ment of Labor for worker’s com
pensation, along with its normal
payroll by October.
Despite Congress’ efforts to place
a 90-day delay on their payment
dates, postmaster general Patrick
Donahoe states that the USPS will
not have the capacity to pay any of
its bills with or without the delay.
USPS officials are proposing a
bill that will allow them to reform
the infrastructure of its service.
Mr. Donahoe is proposing that
the bill eliminate mail delivery on
Saturday, close down 3,700 post of
fices across the nation, shrink the
workforce, and reform their health
insurance and retirement benefits.
He believes that this reform will
save the postal service $20 billion
and will allow the postal service to
bounce back and adapt to the ever
growing changes of the 21st cen
tury.
“Given no action we will be out
of cash to pay employers and to
contractors”, says Mr. Donahoe.
He projects that this will occur next
year in the August and September
time frame.
The growing popularity of digital
mail and online bill pay has lead to
the decline of first class mail ser
vice. Last year they processed 167
billion pieces of mail, down by 22
percent just five years ago. And
they expect it to continue to de
cline. They will lose $9 billion this
year and have assumed revenues
will decline all the way to 2020.
The two biggest revenue gen
erators for the postal service are
standard mail services, which con
sists of advertisement mail, and
the package business that has been
greatly supported by the e-com-
merce trade.
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During a hearing held by the
Homeland Security and Govern
mental Affairs Committee, Sen.
Lieberman expressed his concern
for the USPS. “Despite its shrink
ing business, the postal service still
remains a powerful force in Ameri
ca’s economy and life.”
“The business model for the U.S.
postal service, which worked for a
long, long time, is now broken and
we got to help the postal service fix
• it,” said Mr. Lieberman.
The USPS directly supports a
$1.1 trillion industry that employs
approximately 8.7 million Ameri
cans according to Sen. Collins.
“It is a battle,” says Debbie
Smith, a postal worker in Fuquay-
Varina, North Carolina, who is
fighting along with other local post
offices to pass the bill.
There are 20 offices in North
Carolina that are expected to be
closed.
Smith says that the USPS is urg
ing them to support their proposal
and present it to their local con
gressman.
Post office workers across the na
tion are expected to participate in a
rally on Sept. 27 at their local con
gressional offices.
The U.S. postal service is one of
the oldest institutions in America.
It was first established in 1775 and
Benjamin Franklin was appointed
as the first postmaster by congress.
“The U.S. Postal Service is not
an 18th Century relic. It is a great
21st century national asset. But
times are changing rapidly now so
too must the Postal Service if it is to
survive,” said Mr. Lieberman.