Postmaster and Postal Management Union Issue Statement Regarding Possible Postal Privatization

Today, President Donald Trump proposed to restructure the United States Postal Service, converting it “from a Government agency into a privately-held corporation.” In a document entitled, Delivering Government Solutions for the 21st Century(click on title to see report) the Executive Office to the President heralded European postal privatization efforts as an example for U.S. postal reform. The report is 132 pages long and the postal proposal is located on pages 68 through 70. The White House asserts: “A private operation would be incentivized to innovate and improve services to Americans in every community.” The document suggests a variety of private models for the Postal Service. It is important to note that these foreign private postal operations have failed to deliver the quality and certainty that Americans expect and deserve.

It appears that the Presidential Task Force on the Postal System continues its deliberations, notwithstanding the White House proposal. Nevertheless, it is deeply troubling that the postal privatization proposal has been released about 50 days prior to the date on which the Task Force is instructed to present its findings to the President, and two Task Force members — the Director of OMB and the Director of OPM — have had a major role in developing the White House document. Therefore, it is essential that UPMA members urge their Representatives and Senators to reject the President’s ill-conceived postal privatization plan, which undermines universal, affordable, high-quality and trusted mail service.

 Posted by Bob Levi on 06/21/18

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