October 2020
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NAPS 2020 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire page 8 October 2020 page 29 October 2020, Volume 111, No. 10 In This Issue October 2020 The Postal Supervisor (ISSN 0032-5384) is printed monthly, with a combined September/October issue, by the National Association of Postal Su- FEATURES pervisors (NAPS), 1727 King St., Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22314-2753; 703-836-9660; fax, 8 NAPS 2020 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire 703-836-9665; website, www.naps.org; general e-mail, [email protected]. ©2020 NAPS provided its questionnaire to the two major presidential candidates. Periodicals postage paid at Alexandria, VA, and additional mailing offices. 12 July Consultative Verbal instructions from USPS leadership, NAPS members receive The Postal Supervisor conducting route inspections while driving and making route inspection as part of their membership dues. Members not position permanent among items discussed. receiving the publica- tion on a regular basis 24 Legislative Report Card See how your House member voted on should notify their two postal bills. branch secretaries. Non- member subscription www.naps.org price: $25 per year. Objective RESIDENT OFFICERS Submissions— Articles submitted for The objective of the Asso- 3 A USPS Balancing Act—Business vs. Service publication should ciation shall be to pro- Brian J. Wagner promote the welfare of mote, through appropriate NAPS and its members 4 in accordance with and effective action, the A History of Challenge in Serving Ivan D. Butts Article II of the NAPS welfare of its members, 5 Yes, Congress, We Are Essential—and Always Have Constitution & Bylaws. and to cooperate with the Been! Chuck Mulidore The NAPS resident offi- USPS and other agencies cers reserve the right to edit all articles, as well of the federal government as decline to publish in a continuing effort to COLUMNS submitted material. improve the service, to Branch officer articles raise the standard of 29 Legislative Update Bob Levi must be not more than efficiency, and to widen 350 words. Send all arti- 38 The NAPS Postmaster Joe Bodary cles to NAPS Secretary/ the field of opportunity Treasurer Chuck Muli- for its members who make dore at naps.cm@naps. the Postal Service or the org. DEPARTMENTS Reprint requests federal government their and other correspon- life work. 16 NAPS of Note dence may be ad- dressed to Karen Young; phone/fax, 540-636- 22 Views from the Vice Presidents Tommy Roma and Myrna 2569; [email protected]. Pashinski High-resolution photos may be e-mailed to [email protected]. Please include 23 Thrift Savings Plan August 2020 your non-USPS e-mail. NAPS neither assumes responsibility for the contents of the articles 31 67th National Convention Registration Form published herein, nor does it necessarily agree Registration closes July 24, 2021; hotel room block expires Aug. 4 with the opinions expressed. Moreover, opin- ions expressed by an author do not necessarily 32 reflect the opinions of the author’s branch. Best Website and Newsletter Contests Deadline for entries is June 30, 2021 Advertising—Advertising inquiries should be directed to Karen Young; phone/fax, 540- 33 2021 NAPS Golf Tournament 636-2569; [email protected]. The publication of any advertising herein 34 2020 SPAC Contributors does not necessarily constitute NAPS endorse- ment of the products or services offered. 35 SPAC Scoreboard Postmaster—Please send address labels, clipped from undeliverable copies, along with 37 Thoughts from the NAPS Branches Dioenis D. Perez USPS Form 3579, to The Postal Supervisor, 1727 King St., Suite 400, Alexandria, VA 22314-2753. 39 Notes from the National Auxiliary Beverly Austin Commentary from the Resident Officers A USPS Balancing Act— Business vs. Service he U.S. Postal Service’s total revenue in Fiscal and concerns about the timely delivery of mail-in bal- Year 2019 was $71.2 billion— enough to place it lots for the November election have caused angst 43rd on the Fortune 500 if it were a private com- among various postal stakeholders regarding the USPS’ T pany. So, the USPS is big business. In reality, how current service performance. Such news can negatively should the Postal Service be viewed—as a business or a impact the long-standing trust the American public has public service? How should it be managed—for profit or had for the Postal Service and, more importantly, nega- not for profit? Here’s the scoop. tively impact the agency’s revenue stream with cus- In the simplest terms, the Post Office Department tomers switching to USPS competitors. was first established by Congress NAPS fully supports a viable, highly trusted, effi- under the U.S. Constitution. With cient and cost-effective Postal Service whose focus is the passage of the 1970 “Postal Re- serving the American public. As a postal stakeholder, organization Act,” the U.S Postal NAPS is ready, willing and able to provide Postmaster Service was established as a self-suf- General Louis DeJoy and his leadership team with input ficient government agency to serve and assistance to achieve the agency’s goal of opera- the American public without tax- tional efficiency, financial stability and the highest level payer funding. Today’s Postal Ser- of trust and service to the American public. vice could be viewed as a business, Furthermore, NAPS supports postal legislation that but a public-service business with a keeps this same, high level of trust and service. We en- Brian J. Wagner universal service obligation to bind courage legislation that addresses the impact COVID-19 President the nation together. has had on USPS finances, operations and the safety It’s no surprise the Postal Service and security of postal employees. NAPS will continue to is considered one of the most consistently popular and seek passage of long-overdue postal reform legislation trusted entities among federal agencies. In April 2020, that includes major components such as repealing the the Pew Research Center reported that 91% of the prefunding of future retiree health benefits, fair and American public approved of the USPS. flexible postage rates, incentives to develop innovative In general, a business is owned by an individual, products and services and protecting the Postal Service’s partners or shareholders, with a goal of profitability to universal service obligation. maximize the value for its shareholders. However, there This past June, I had a meet-and-greet Zoom meet- are no owners or shareholders of the Postal Service. There ing with incoming PMG DeJoy, where he stated the are stakeholders, with a vested interest to maximize the USPS can’t provide service at all cost. That is under- intrinsic value of mail delivery to the American public. standable, as no business can give away the shop if it So, who exactly are these stakeholders? According wants to be financially successful. But it can’t be at the to the executive summary in the Postal Service’s cost of service levels to the American public. “FY2020-2024 Five-Year Strategic Plan,” stakeholders in- I agree with DeJoy’s Aug. 7 USPS Newsbreak state- clude the president, Congress, the American people, ment: “It is crucial that we do what is within our con- postal employees, business partners and, of course, cus- trol to help us successfully complete our mission to tomers. When NAPS and our members hear U.S. Postal serve the American people and, through the universal Service, we hear service. service obligation, bind our nation together by main- However, recent news stories about mail delays, taining and operating our unique, vital and resilient in- postal processing machines taken out of service, man- frastructure.” dates to reduce overtime, changes in post office hours Continued on page 10 The Postal Supervisor / October 2020 3 A History of Challenge in Serving s we enter the month of October in a national the USPS for a percent- election year, some in this heavily partisan era age of its ground mail The Postal Supervisor are waiting with bated breath for the October delivery. The USPS pays 2020 Production Schedule A “surprise” that could sway an election from $1.5 billion annually to Copy victory to defeat. Unfortunately, the postal version of move letters and parcels Issue Deadline* Mails this surprise has happened much earlier. via FedEx air cargo NOV SEPT 28 OCT 22 As I have stated in past articles, we have faced pro- planes. FedEx spent al- DEC OCT 23 NOV 17 ponents who have advocated for most $10.5 million on JAN 21 NOV 23 DEC 22 the privatization of America’s lobbying in 2019. FEB JAN 4 JAN 28 Postal Service since the enactment Pitney Bowes has *Copy must be received by this day; see of H.R. 17070 (91st), “An Act to 11,000 workers world- page 2 for submission information. improve and modernize the postal wide. Its 2019 revenue service, to reorganize the Post Of- was $3.2 billion. It paid for a “White Paper” in 2013 fice Department, and for other pur- that recommended privatizing postal trucking, retail poses.” The Postal Reorganization and mail processing. In 2002, Pitney Bowes became Act of 1970 passed by Congress the largest U.S. presorted mail network. Pitney Bowes abolished the then-United States would vastly increase its profits if those recommenda- Ivan D. Butts Post Office Department. Until that tions bore fruit. Pitney Bowes contributed over $1 mil- Executive Vice President time, the Post Office Department lion to lobby Congress in 2019. was part of the cabinet. These aren’t the only companies that would benefit In its place, the United States Postal Service was from postal privatization. On Aug. 12, CNN reported created as a corporation-like, independent agency with that PMG Louis DeJoy continues to hold a multimil- an official monopoly on the delivery of mail in the lion-dollar stake in his former company XPO Logistics, United States.