Postal Service In Desperate Need Of Flexibility, Says Chief

While addressing an audience at the National Press Club on Monday, Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe was interrupted by social activists demanding that the Postal Service not be privatized.

“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donahoe has got to go,” demonstrators chanted in the middle of Donhoe’s speech. As they demanded that postal workers maintain their jobs and benefits, they continued to chant, “We are the 99 percent.”

“Well the good thing is they’ve definitely been paying attention to this situation,” Donahoe commented as the demonstrators were escorted out of the room by security guards. He then continued with his speech and advocated for the passage of new legislation to enable more postal service flexibility.

“While we have the mandate to operate like a business, the reality is that we don’t have the flexibility under current law to function like a business,” Donahoe remarked.

While the U.S Postal Service is a government institution, it receives no funding from the government and generates its revenue solely from the sale of postal products and services. The postal service must compete for its customers in the marketplace but cannot make decisions without government regulations.

“We’re in a deep financial crisis today because we have a business model that is tied to the past,” Donahoe related. “Most businesses make product and pricing decisions quickly based on market demand. We still have to go through a cumbersome process to price our products. Our competition can make these changes on a moment’s notice.”

“Most companies don’t pre-fund retiree health benefits,” Donahoe continued. “Not only does the postal service require to pre-fund, [but] we’re required by law to fully fund an entire 40 year obligation in 10 years.”

The Postal Service ended its 2011 fiscal year with a $5.1 billion net loss. According to Donahoe, the loss would have been around $10.6 billion if not for the passage of legislation that postponed a congressionally mandated payment of $5.5 billion to pre-fund retiree health benefits.

Currently, a pair of bipartsan Postal Service reform bills are curently awaiting votes in both the House and Senate. If the bills are passed, the Postal Service’s operations and network would be structurally remodeled, resulting in workforce, benefit and service cuts. Donahoe, however, said that neither bill contains the type of reforms he would support.

“Both bills have elements that delay tough decisions and impose greater constraints on our business model,” he said. “Taken as they are, they do not come close to enabling the cost reductions.”

Donahoe later called on Congress to pass “comprehensive legislation to provide us with a more flexible business model so we can respond better to a changing marketplace.”

Light shed on reservists’s “gray area”

Congressman Bob Latta (R-Ohio) held a press conference in support of the TRICARE Continuity of Coverage for National Guard and Reserve Families Act of 2008. The bill proposes to expand coverage for retirees of the National Guard and Reserve to include the “gray area.” The TRICARE program supplies medical coverage to members of the Retired Reserve who are qualified for retirement benefits but are not age sixty.

The “gray area” refers to those retired members who have given twenty or more years of service, but are not yet old enough to qualify for benefits. Latta said that there are about 220,000 members who are in this “gray area”, with 12,100 members entering this status this year. Latta also said that many retirees in this status are uninsured. The bill states that those who are between retirement and age sixty will receive coverage on or after October 1, 2009.