The Postal Service has floated a plan to pull out of the current health and retirement plans
Rather than allow employees to participate in the Federal Employee Health Benefits smorgasborg plan, USPS would create their own. The thought is that it could be done more efficiently, with less cost to the Postal Service.
"We would capture cost savings by establishing a simpler, more cost-effective plan structure in line with private sector best practices," according to the white paper.
The second part is to not offer the TSP plan to new employees, moving to a 401 (k) plan like the private sector.
According to a Rasmussen Poll, over half of Americans (56%) say that the USPS should be allowed to run its own benefits program even if it means providing its employees with lower benefits. Twenty-seven percent (27%) oppose such a move, while 16% are undecided.
There's few publicized details and it's just talk right now, but what do you think about this proposal?
Comment here.
23 comments:
Please spare us any more Rasmussen polls. They are politically-biased in favor of those who want to liquidate and privatize USPS.
Why would i want them to handle my retirment? they are running the postal service into the ground now!!
I agree with both posts.Why should we trust them,they haven't done a good job running the postal service.Closing small offices is not the answer
I am retired military, if they do go private and the plans are not up to my standards.....I will simply decline coverage and fall back on my Tricare. After all.....Tricare is FREE!
I think we should make postal workers work without benefits. Cut the pay to $3 below the minimum wage. That would save a bunch of money. There are plenty of people from other countries that would love to deliver mail for $4.25 per hour.
We could just shut the whole damn thing down, put half a million people out of work. That might work! Then a private company can pick up the pieces and we can mail first class letters for ten dollars a piece!
Any plan NOT part of the government plan is BAD! WTF???? Our PMG, Mr Donuthole is trying to sell us a piece of crap! I don't want to work for Wal Mart or Mickey D's....
i have worked for the postal service for 26 years. I have seen and many "ideas" and have seen my fantastical ideas that management cooked up to fall by the wayside months or even days later. Please leave my healthcare and retirement alone. The current management put us into this mess and dumb ideas will not get us out of it.
What's happened to the Postal Service? It use to be that when you worked at the Post Office you had a sense of security. You felt like you were going to be taken care of after you put all your time in to retire. Now it just seems like any other job. You have to fight for everything you get, and you have to fight to keep it. What's next, the no layoff clause will be taken away? All these concerns should have been addressed years ago. Now years later after all the mistakes have been made, it is the craft employees that will suffer the most. The way it is going now, there won't be anything left to retire on, and nothing to look forward to. I say we need to get rid of all the wasteful spending, and all the people who are doing the spending!
LEAVE OUR RETIREMENT AND HEALTH PROGRAMS ALONE MR DONAHUE! WHO CARES WHAT THE RASMUSSEN POLL SAYS-GIVE THE EMPLOYEES A NATIONWIDE POLL THAT WOULD BE RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC
We have a poll..called VOE and so many people don't even fill it out. I sometimes think that we have partially let this happen to ourselves. How many of us, myself included, have become apathetic and have taken what we have for granted? So many of us. Now, we see our health, retirement, our jobs on the line and now we decide to be mad. If there was ever time a time to stand up and punch apathy in the gut it is right now.
I am so tired of hearing about all these polls! They don't mean anything, they are only conducted to make it appear that America wants the same thing the PMG wants. The questions are posed in such a way to insure the desired outcome, and only a small number of people are polled in the first place. The PMG has never asked me MY opinion---I'd gladly give it to him!!!
The upper crust is so out of touch with reality. Why would we want our future in their hands. NO WAY!!! Keep your hands off of our retirement and health benefits. Work on trying to keep this organization a float.
I am strongly opposed to changes. I soon will have completed 33 years with USPS. I stayed with USPS because of the security and benefits. I turned down other opportunities to leave USPS but stayed to keep benefits. It just is not right to change the game plan for people who invested so much time.
I haven't changed my healthcare plan for 27 years - I don't want to change now because what I have works. I strongly oppose allowing USPS to run it's own healthcare and retirement plans.
I've been here for 33 years. The 2 biggest problems I've seen:
1: Bonuses - When the Higher Ups get huge bonuses they try to run everything. Reminds me of new military officers fresh out of training. They think they know it all because they are officers. Let your Plant Managers and Postmasters work, give them the support they need and get out of their way. If they can't handle it find someone else, but stay out of the day to day operations and STOP with all the teleconferences. No one can get any work done because of having to be on them.
2: Wwhen they tried to combine all the small processing sites into super sites. The MSC sized sites were a better solution. The smaller sites usually do better because they don't have to do everything, AND they didn't have to worry so much about state boundaries. We are shipping mail large distances for no reasons. let the closest MPC or plant, if any are left, do the processing and cut down on shipping. We have 1 SCF that has several offices within 10 miles, yet because of state lines, they ship the mail 1 1/2 hours away. Doesn't make since.
Leave Health benefits and retirement alone. They haven't shown me that they can do the right thing for us so far and I really doubt taking over those things will be in "my" best interest. (or the company's for that matter).
"over half of Americans (56%) say that the USPS should be allowed to run its own benefits program"
They spelled "ruin" wrong.
Well, I first want people to remember that Potter, about 4 to 5 years ago, was able to get his and the VP's wages just about tripled. Of course he worked the required 3 (top 3 ) to establish a huge retirement. He also, at that time hired about 6 new VP's,from the private sector, no less. Well, he's gone and most of those VP's are gone. I wonder if they were personal cronies of Potter's? I also don't think craft is getting hit as hard as Postmasters and Supervisors. We don't have any unions to plead our case and negotiate. So, do I want them to handle my retirement of health insurance. I don't think so. The government has already spent our overpayments.!!!
Funny comment, Exhume! Please, please leave our health and retirement benefits alone. I also feel it would hurt the Federal employees remaining in the programs if USPS pulled out.
Insufficient facts; impossible to determine real effects based on nebulous opinions.
I’d like to know when, exactly, the goals of the American public became “profits before people.” The Postal Service was envisioned to fill a need which could not be filled profitably by private industry. Remuneration for public service should be such that it allows talented, committed people to apply their ample skills here rather than in for-profit industry.
It is easy to argue that the Postal Service has not demonstrated sufficient administrative skill in other areas, so its workers should not trust it with their health benefits and retirement income. Any postal worker could create a generous list of examples where the postal service has failed to show due diligence. What bothers me more, however, is that the purpose of providing health benefits and a retirement program should be to entice people into public service, whereas this proposal has the sole purpose of taking as much away from public servants as possible. Is this what we want? Profits before people? How can we provide the best service at the least cost without the best people?
We're federal employees - quit treating us like second class citizens!
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