A union representing postal supervisors, managers and postmasters wants President Obama to reconsider his recent comments that compared the Postal Service with UPS and FedEx.
In a letter sent late last week to the White House, National Association of Postal Supervisors President Ted Keating informed Obama of his union’s “collective disappointment that you chose the Postal Service as a scapegoat and an example of inefficiency.”
The Postal Service, UPS and FedEx are all suffering from the economic downturn, Keating wrote, “and your negative references to the Postal Service without knowledge of the facts was a disservice not only to the members of our organization, but to all postal employees.”
NAPS represents about 35,000 postal workers nationwide.
Obama made his first public comments as president about the Postal Service last Tuesday during a town hall meeting on health care in New Hampshire. In response to an audience member’s question about how a government-run health-care program might affect private insurers, Obama said he thought private insurance companies would be able to compete with a self-sustaining public option.
Then he invoked the Postal Service: “I mean, if you think about it, UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are. It’s the post office that’s always having problems.” That comparison provoked laughter from the audience.
The Postal Service suffered a $2.4 billion quarterly loss earlier this month and expects a $700 million shortfall at the end of its fiscal year.
Maybe the Postal Service should develop a youtube video promoting what they do well. Unfortunately, the general public does not believe the Postal Service has a reputation for speed and accuracy. I personally prefer the US Postal Service.