Postal Service Posts Major Loss
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The U.S. Postal Service posted its third quarter earnings today, and as expected, it's looking none too pretty.
The USPS posted a $5.2 billion loss in 2012 Q3, a week after its first ever default. USPS posted a $3.1 billion net loss during the same period last year.
House members went to recess without addressing postal reform. Leadership didn't bring a House bill introduced by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Dennis Ross, R-Fla., onto the floor for a vote.
The House bill differs greatly from the one the Senate passed in April, which would have pumped $11 million into the agency to avoid defaults. The House bill would allow the USPS to close down post offices and renegotiate labor contracts.
When the House reconvenes in September, lawmakers could bring up postal reform. But that's unlikely, given how politically tough such a vote could be for members from rural and union-heavy districts. And they could be hearing plenty of such talk from their constituents during recess.
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told the Alley he's not losing any sleep over the prospect of the House bill. "The House bill is not going to pass," he said confidently.
"The postal service is more than just a place for your mail to come to. And I think whoever goes after them or does that, changes the postal service in that way, takes it away from rural America, there is a political price that would be paid there," Trumka said.
The USPS posted a $5.2 billion loss in 2012 Q3, a week after its first ever default. USPS posted a $3.1 billion net loss during the same period last year.
House members went to recess without addressing postal reform. Leadership didn't bring a House bill introduced by Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Dennis Ross, R-Fla., onto the floor for a vote.
The House bill differs greatly from the one the Senate passed in April, which would have pumped $11 million into the agency to avoid defaults. The House bill would allow the USPS to close down post offices and renegotiate labor contracts.
When the House reconvenes in September, lawmakers could bring up postal reform. But that's unlikely, given how politically tough such a vote could be for members from rural and union-heavy districts. And they could be hearing plenty of such talk from their constituents during recess.
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told the Alley he's not losing any sleep over the prospect of the House bill. "The House bill is not going to pass," he said confidently.
"The postal service is more than just a place for your mail to come to. And I think whoever goes after them or does that, changes the postal service in that way, takes it away from rural America, there is a political price that would be paid there," Trumka said.
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