The Post Office - Trump destruction is hitting home.

[Vinca]

I live in a rural area in New England, and we've always had reliable postal service. We have a box at the local post office more for security's sake than convenience but have never ever had a problem before the latest Trump reign of terror. Now, suddenly, the post offices are understaffed, and mail delivery has slowed to a crawl. My husband is still self-employed at 78 and gets payments via check from another business located less than 10 miles away. Never a problem before Trump with the delivery time being overnight. Now it's literally weeks. It seems mail goes to the central PO and there's no one left to sort it. There was an article about it in the local paper and, according to a google search, it's nationwide and only going to get worse. Postal workers took Trump buyout offers and are gone and the aging workforce left will be retiring in the next few years. Trump fucks everything up. My husband can probably arrange payment via bank transfer, but any bills or other correspondence is also being delayed. What a mess.

[Irish_Dem]

1. It is a deliberate destruction of federal agencies so billionaires can take over with high profit scam

businesses. Soak the public as per usual.

[gab13by13]

4. The Post Office makes deliveries for Fed-Ex and UPS

Fed-Ex and UPS don't want to make deliveries in the middle of nowhere. I guess they will for the right price.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Rural folks are getting really screwed.

No hospitals or clinics.
So further to drive and more expensive healthcare.

All the services provided to lower income rural folks, Trump has destroyed.

Most of them MAGA voters.

[ananda]

7. And Amazon sometimes.

We really need a good, functioning postal service.

[dalton99a]

8. America's new motto is bottomless greed.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Corrupt from top to bottom.

The billionaires will stop at nothing to have it all.
Every single penny and US resource.

They bribe the politicians who are only too happy to sell their country down the river.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. paying taxes will just be for suckers and losers, right? IRS under Drumpf won't go after rich cheats anymore. nt

[Irish_Dem]

13. The rich know they don't have to pay taxes.

Only the suckers and losers pay taxes.

[BoRaGard]

2. G.O.P. is trashing systems so they can privatize and profitize

they are blood suckers

[TheBlackAdder]

3. Privatize Profits, Socialize Expenses

FedEx and UPS spent decades crippling the USPS’s ability to compete in overnight deliveries. They want the basic door-to-door services to remain so they can leverage the postal system’s labor and truck fleet to perform the final segment portion of their deliveries— the most expensive part of package delivery. That’s the part that involves walking up to the home or office.

My Postmaster told me that the USPS can only charge one penny profit per package.

FedEx and UPS built distribution centers right next door to the postal ones so they can just transfer packages and mail between them.

[Igel]

6. The buyouts were pre-Trump

Not by much. And it's not like Biden had much to say about it. Independent agency and all that.

Here's the American Postal Worker Union's site talking about it:

https://apwu.org/news/voluntary-early-retirement-incentives/apwu-and-usps-agree-one-time-retirement-incentive-early :

On Jan. 13, 2025, the United States Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union have mutually agreed to a one-time Retirement Incentive, including an "early out" option for eligible employees.

The parties agree that the Postal Service will make lump sum incentive payments totaling $15,000 (less applicable taxes and deductions) to eligible full-time career employees who choose optional retirement or retire pursuant to a Voluntary Early Retirement (VER). Part-time employees will be eligible for a prorated amount, as provided in the attached Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

You can read the full MOU below. Questions and Answers regarding are posted below

The MOU obviously isn't below, but at the site.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

15. And the Fork in the Road...

...didn't apply to Postal Service employees...probably because they had just had a buyout offer.

[Evolve Dammit]

10. same in our area. DeJoy fucked it up big time. And obviously they want it privatized.

[Farmer-Rick]

12. Trump started destroying the USPS during his first term

During the first Trump administration, Trump proposed cutting postal services and shifting legacy costs for retiree benefits to the federal government to make the Postal Service profitable before privatizing it. A later task force headed by Mnuchin downplayed overt privatization but proposed cutting services and ending postal workers’ collective bargaining rights.

So postal Services were cut, no more weekend deliveries and offices closed on Saturdays. Pay and benefits for workers were cut and price increases for all services are routinely added while delivery times get longer and longer.

Then Trump appointed De Joy as Postmaster General. He was a Trump campaign donor and fundraiser whose business interests posed potential conflicts of interest with the Postal Service.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

16. We have postal delivery on Saturday where I live...

...(Northern Virginia) and the post offices are open until noon on Saturdays.

[Farmer-Rick]

18. Well, good for you

They don't deliver on Saturdays here or Sundays. They have the office open til noon on Saturdays for post box holders only. You can't do any business with them though.

It's great that you get better service.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

19. Yeah, that sucks not even having the option

Full disclosure, I rarely use USPS, but it's certainly a service that is vital, and I don't want it diminished.

[mainer]

14. We haven't had home delivery in over a month

I'm in New England and yes, there is road construction nearby, but that's never stopped the mail trucks before. UPS/ FedEx continue to deliver to our house just fine.)

Now we have to drive into town every day to pick up our mail, which used to be delivered to our rural mailbox. When we ask when we'll see our mailman again, we're regarded with a sigh and a shrug.

I think the public is being weaned off the UPS and forced to turn to the UPS/FedEx. Corporate overlords must be happy.

[peggysue2]

17. Republicans have had the Postal Service in their cross hairs for decades

Any public service is an anathema.

Privatize, Privatize, Privatize is the chant.

Because it's easier to grift and gouge the public.

That's their idea of service.