While politics and ideology play a role in privatization efforts, the driving force is special interests-large corporations such as United Parcel Service, FedEx, and Pitney Bowes that seek to take advantage of the same network and scale economies as the Postal Service to capture an even larger share of the shipping and mail-processing markets without shouldering the Postal Service’s public service responsibilities. The administration has also been motivated by the president’s animus toward Amazon, a major Postal Service customer, and a desire to impede voting by mail. Privatization is a long-standing goal of conservative think tanks and corporations that stand to gain from weakening or dismantling the Postal Service. President Trump’s push to privatize the Postal Service and his party’s antipathy toward government partly explain Republicans’ reluctance to provide the same pandemic relief to the Postal Service as it has to airlines and other private companies facing a similar collapse in demand. The Postal Service’s financial woes, exacerbated by the pandemic, are due to a confluence of factors: a mail monopoly that is declining in value with the rise of electronic communication a public service mandate to deliver to every address in the country six days a week caps on postal rates, borrowing limits, and other restrictions that limit its ability to raise revenue and make necessary investments and an onerous requirement to rapidly prefund retiree benefits, among other factors. However, this advantage is shrinking as the Postal Service increasingly relies on noncareer employees who receive meager benefits, and there is pressure to cut benefits for career employees as well. This is typical for unionized workers, workers employed by large employers, and public-sector workers without bachelor’s degrees. Postal workers are better compensated than many other workers with similar education, years of experience, and hours worked. The postal service connects family and friends, fosters democracy, and is a key part of our emergency and national security infrastructure.Ĭareer jobs in the Postal Service are good jobs for workers without bachelor’s degrees. It has operated without interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic and other national catastrophes. It connects family and friends, fosters democracy, and is a key part of our emergency and national security infrastructure. The social value of the Postal Service extends beyond the economic benefits provided by its delivery operations. Like transportation and communications networks that are often publicly owned or function as regulated utilities, a national service with standardized pricing promotes commerce and guards against the concentration of economic power. To take advantage of network economies, the United States and other countries shield their postal services from competition in exchange for delivering mail to far-flung and poorer regions. The Postal Service is many things-among them, a public service part of the nation’s critical infrastructure a regulated monopoly a good employer, especially for Black workers and military veterans and a government enterprise competing with and supplying services to private companies. What needs to be done: The Biden administration and Congress must act to undo the damage and allow the Postal Service to adapt to meet unmet needs, including the revival of postal banking.Ĭorrected version, February 2, 2021. The Trump administration revived these efforts, spurred by the president’s opposition to mail voting and his animus toward Amazon, a major customer. Anti-government ideologues and special interests have long sought to privatize, shrink, or hobble the Postal Service. But the conflicting demands made upon it by Congress and regulators put it in a precarious financial position even before the pandemic. It is a model of efficiency and responsive to changing customer needs.
What this report finds: The United States Postal Service is a beloved American institution that provides an essential public service to communities and good middle class jobs for workers.
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