I visited our post office the Thursday after the big snow near the beginning of February. There was grumbling about how few clerks were available. One person in line blamed incompetent post office management.
I disagreed, saying that the reason more clerks were not available was probably due to unfair treatment of the U.S. Postal Service by Congress. According to a 2006 law, the USPS is required to pre-fund retiree health benefits, instead of using the “pay-as-you-go” system that other federal agencies and most private sector companies have. Without this burden, the post office would have showed a profit last year instead of a big deficit. (Why hasn’t Congress changed this law despite many calls to do so? Could it be the large campaign contributions from the delivery service companies who would like the mail to be privatized?)
So, I recommend that we try to be a little patient with the post office, considering the big handicap it is under.
Walt Latocha
Forest Park
