Thursday, June 23, 2011

FER-get me not -- USPS Makes a statement

Yesterday, USPS said it’s suspending the employer’s contributions for the defined benefit portion of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).

The reason? To conserve cash, to pay creditors and employees.

The payment is about $115 million every payday and should free up about $800 between now and the end of the year. It doesn't affect matching funds or the 1 percent automatic payment to TSP.

The Postal Service has a surplus of $6.9 billion in payments to FERS.

What do you think? Should we quit paying the money until we have caught up? Is this a smart move? Other thoughts?  Comment here.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is absolutely the best move and the best way to send a message to Congress. If they aren't going to remedy this overpayment, then we will use it to our advantage! It won't solve all our financial woes, but it's at least a start.

Anonymous said...

I still think we need to cut expenses by moving the detailed employees BACK to their positions - they would have 2 options either go back or retire. Didn't the PO just hire 2 people in Washington that will make alot of money. The area that I am in just put 20 positions up for bid of those 20 - 18 are level 18 or above. This is rediculus if you ask me.
This could be a step in the right direction but we need to DO MORE AND QUIT TALKING

Anonymous said...

Yes this is a good move...it should be coupled with media coverage that talks about how Congress is using the USPS as a cash cow...a hidden tax if you will. Be on the offense...start the talk before you have to defend a "bailout" charge.

Anonymous said...

This was the RIGHT MOVE....now if Congress would just give us back some of the pre-paid surplus, perhaps we could operate in the black....Oh, wait a minute....I'm guessing the surplus is GONE....having built some bridge somewhere to nowhere, or checking how many bananas a monkey can eat in an HOUR! I say it is time to STAND UP for our COMPANY! The USPS does not need a HAND OUT, BAIL OUT, or ANYTHING! We are the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE...We SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE....SERVING AND DELIVING TO AMERICA! What we NEED is a SHOUT OUT....to ALL OF US...a PAT ON THE BACK...for JOBS WELL DONE...and LEADERSHIP in the GOVERNMENT that TRULY BELIEVES in BASEBALL, APPLE PIE and a GREAT POSTAL SYSTEM! (I'm just sayin')

Anonymous said...

I'm so tired of the USPS being Congress' red-headed stepchild. It's time to cut the apron strings and run our business without a bunch of uninformed congressmen making decisions for us! Of course, that would mean dependng on our leaders at HQ to make good decisions, and so far I've not been impressed with that, either.

In my opinion, the main reason Congress is so hesitant to refund the overages is that they know the money is no longer there!! Like the previous poster mentioned, it's already been spent on some pork project so a senator can say "See? Look what I did for you, now vote for me again!!"

People, we're between the proverbial rock and hard place, I believe.

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure it doesn't matter what I think but thanks for giving me a place to say it. We need to do a lot more cutting - especially at the top as mentioned above. Our Congresman aren't doing us any favors. I am not sure the leaders at the top of this organization are either though. I am very grateful for my job and if not paying into FERS helps me to stay employed then I say "way to go".

Anonymous said...

I see this as a positive step forward, demanding that Congress refund our overpayments and quit asking nicely!!

We are the ONLY federal goverment agency that generates revenue, and for many years we had excess funds that were turned over to the treasury. These funds were used to fund other agencies that don't generate revenue. Now it's time for some pay back!

Our HQ staff testifed before Congress this month and stated that even with all the cost cutting measures, we will still be in the red. Then several private companies testified how they reacted to reduced business and stated that the USPS is not being pro-active enough to stop the losses. I agree and I think we need to become stock holders in this game, allowing us to vote in how things are handled.

Anonymous said...

IF there acually has been an overpayment, this is a giant step in the right direction. Not paying the $5.5b at the end of the year should also wake them up.

I too, am tired of hearing of USPS not paying their bills and wanting a taxpayer bailout. We need neither, just an impartial audience, of which congress is not.

Grannybunny said...

My only concern is the possibility of our losing service credit for the period of time in which payments are not made. OPM agreed to give us service credit, pending a legal opinion from the Department of Justice, which is expected to take 6 months. If USPS comes out on the losing side of that decision, will it have the $1.6 Billion to make the back payments? If not, will we lose service credit for that time?

Anonymous said...

I thought the total over payment into the retirement systems was at 50 Billion..another source possibly as high as 70 Billion.

One would think that no matter what the over payment is the Postal Service would not have to pay into retirement until those credits are exhausted.

I realize the money is gone but should there not be some kind of accountability for money spent?

Also how does one over estimate payments by 50 billion? If someone can help me understand that I would be indebted.

Grannybunny said...

USPS did not overestimate its payments into CSRS and FERS. The errors were in the statutory formulas setting the amounts of the payments. OPM claims it is powerless to adjust the payment amounts, that only Congress can do so. Congress, unfortunately, continues to fiddle while Rome burns, playing its partisan political games.