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An idea to drop Saturday postal service drew harsh reaction from leaders of a union representing postal workers in western Nevada County.
“I think it's the most ridiculous idea they've ever had,” said John Howell Jr., president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch No. 133 for the Sacramento region.
“I see it as a short-term fix to a long-term problem,” added Howell, who represents 2,100 members, including postal workers in Nevada County.
If the postal service axes a day, carriers such as FedEx and UPS will step in to pick up that slack, Howell said.
“Those other companies will do the job and make a profit off of it,” Howell said. “We cannot allow that. We may save more in delivery costs but will lose more than that in revenue.”
The letter carrier's union is stepping up to air their grievances with members of Congress, Howell said. The idea could cost some carriers their jobs.
As reported in Wednesday's edition of The Union, the federal service could face a cumulative loss of $238 billion over 10 years, Postmaster General John Potter said in releasing a series of consultant reports on agency operations and its outlook.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate subcommittee with oversight authority over the Postal Service, called on Congress to give the post office the flexibility to deal with its future needs.
Any change to the USPS schedule would need to be passed as an act of Congress.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. To contact Staff Writer Kyle Magin, e-mail kmagin@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4239.
“I think it's the most ridiculous idea they've ever had,” said John Howell Jr., president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch No. 133 for the Sacramento region.
“I see it as a short-term fix to a long-term problem,” added Howell, who represents 2,100 members, including postal workers in Nevada County.
If the postal service axes a day, carriers such as FedEx and UPS will step in to pick up that slack, Howell said.
“Those other companies will do the job and make a profit off of it,” Howell said. “We cannot allow that. We may save more in delivery costs but will lose more than that in revenue.”
The letter carrier's union is stepping up to air their grievances with members of Congress, Howell said. The idea could cost some carriers their jobs.
As reported in Wednesday's edition of The Union, the federal service could face a cumulative loss of $238 billion over 10 years, Postmaster General John Potter said in releasing a series of consultant reports on agency operations and its outlook.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chairman of the Senate subcommittee with oversight authority over the Postal Service, called on Congress to give the post office the flexibility to deal with its future needs.
Any change to the USPS schedule would need to be passed as an act of Congress.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. To contact Staff Writer Kyle Magin, e-mail kmagin@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4239.
