WOW! ~ I didn't know about the 75 years of pension pre-funding requirement ~ that is truly bizarre ~ ~ bolding emphasis below is mine ~ Sooz

Thanks To Congressional Incompetence, Saturday Mail Delivery Is History
By Annie-Rose Strasser on Feb 6, 2013 at 9:25 am

The U.S. Postal Service announced on Wednesday that it will discontinue first class Saturday mail delivery, marking another milestone in the decline of the once-ubiquitous government service. But it isn’t a switch to online mail that’s causing the postal demise — it’s Congress.

Under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, Congress has for years forced the USPS to pre-fund 75 years’ worth of pensions for its employees, a requirement not made of any other public or private institution. That means that the Postal Service is footing the bill for employees it hasn’t even hired yet.

The USPS doesn’t actually receive money from the government, but still needs Congressional approval to make any changes to its structure. An analysis in July showed that the USPS, without its pension requirement, would have a $1.5 billion surplus.

But Congress has repeatedly failed to address the issue. Last year, the Postal Service defaulted on a pension fund payment for the first — and then second — time in its history, and political infighting stopped Congress from bringing any remedy to the floor.

Postal access is, ultimately, a rights issue for rural Americans; since they live in areas where internet coverage is inconsistent, post office closures and slowed-down delivery can mean big limitations on communication. A lack of access to postal services can lead to a growth in economic inequality. The new rules for Saturday delivery, set to take effect on August 1, 2013, will continue delivery of packages, but discontinue basic first-class mail.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/02/06/1547551/postal-service-saturday-delivery/

We haven't had Saturday mail for dcades.
Canada didn't even burp when it happened... other than a bit of griping.

I kinda like not getting my electricity bill on a Saturday. It's about as welcome as a telemarketer on Sunday.

Prefund 75 years of pensions? WOW!!!

I'm sure this is only one reason they are having issues, but USPS pensions are pretty sweet.

As for Saturday delivery going away, I could do without them delivering me any mail at all. I go to my mailbox about 2 times a month. I do everything online that I possibly can. The only time I go to the mailbox more often than usual is when I have been told to expect something.

Damn, Saturday is pretty much the only day where they don't shove stacks of ad flyers in my mail box.

Seriously I do get perhaps twice a year something delivered what I can't get via email or website. Like Monster I go paperless, do everything online, and don't even know the current price of a stamp. Yet no day goes by that I don't move the content of my mail box straight to the garbage can.
According to my mail man I can't opt out of this.

Not only that........they don't pick up mail here! I was astonished when I learned that, lol. If you want to mail something, you must go to a mailbox (few and far between) or one of the postal offices, which are privatized.

It has nothing to do with Congress. The Postal Service pays its own way with its own revenue. It has to do with the extremely high pensions they have to pay, thanks to the unions.

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I don't get stacks of flyers or any junk mail because I filled out a card at the post office telling them I don't want any junk mail.

SciFi, you might want to focus on the following that I emphasized/bolded in the op:


Yes, the pensions are the crux of the problem ... BUT the USPS is the only public or private institution required to pre-fund 75 years' of pensions ~ that's ridiculous! ~ can anyone predict with any certainty what salaries/wages will be in 10 years? 20 years? ~ yes, unions are responsible for negotiating the pensions as part of employee benefits, but Congress is responsible for the highly unusual and damaging pre-funding requirement ~ I'd be very surprised if companies 100% funded more than maybe 5-10 years out ~

Sooz

Imagine... a pension fund that isn't under-funded.
The shame of it.

This one is grossly OVER-funded, oskar ~ it's funding not only people who are not yet employees but also people who are likely not yet BORN ~

Sooz

As opposed to those whose pension funds are empty when they retire?
Problem is that if pension funds are invested one cannot predict the future.
Some pension funds that were once over-funded are now under-funded after Wall Street cleaned them out.

Yeah... I'll bet Wall Street is salivating at the prospect of getting their dirty little mitts on that account.

Shouldn't be too long before the Congress Critters "git 'er done".

I could care less if mail is delivered on Saturday or not but I do know in Houston, Texas there was a total waste of money being used to build new post offices nearly every eight blocks and when you would go in to use their services there would be 5-6 postal workers walking around behind the counter but only had 2 people working the lines formed. Always took at least 30-45 minutes just to get to the front. Laziest bunch of people I have ever seen in any customer service related business.