PAA

Sam Smith

Writ 101

Academic Argument Essay

Postal Service

It was a typical dinner at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, the low lit house was full of conversation and good energy. The round table was filled to maximum capacity, sixteen people total along with enough food to feed a giant army. The house was filled with smells of barbecued ribs fresh off of the grill, home grown citrus, and Grandma’s famous rolls. My family could as for nothing more, we had delicious food, good company, and interesting conversation. For the first time that I could remember I was engaged in the “adult” conversations. As a college student apparently I was finally ready to be interested and offer my opinion on the many friendly debates being discussed. As I took my first bite of a tender rib, barbecue sauce covered my face and my aunt, a generally quiet but funny character, got very serious. She then brought up the topic of the struggling United States Postal Service. My Aunt Wendy and her husband John have been mail carries for the service for over thirty years now. 

I listened in closely as her normally strong voice quaked, she said, “the situation looks worse than we thought it would get, and who knows if we will have a job in a year, or if the USPS will even exist.” The thought of not having a postal service seemed odd to me, and the thought of my aunt and uncle losing their jobs seemed unfathomable. Not only do they have to support themselves, but they are trying to pay for their twins, who are the same age as me, to get through college. I asked her, “what can be done to fix the Postal Service’s problem?” She glanced at her husband, as if to ask for advice. When she glanced at him, I studied him as well. He is a giant man about six foot four inches tall, and a very athletic two hundred and forty pounds. His usually sanguine face seemed pessimistic and my grandmothers thick homemade barbecue sauce covered his untamed red beard. He then answered the question I had asked my aunt, “Well there are many options, we have to find out more about the situation at hand before the company will tell us what will happen.”

Imagine driving home from work or school and not stopping at the mailbox to grab mail, or imagine never coming home to the new issue of Sports Illustrated or Cosmo. What if the convenience of dropping bills or birthday cards, that need to be mailed, into the mailbox at the front of your house was suddenly gone? Or how about shipping items across the country for cheap from your local friendly post office, what if that was no longer possible? Truth is, The United States Postal Service provides American with shipping and communication for a bargain. But unfortunately, technology, labor agreements, and competitors are putting the Postal Service out of business. The over one hundred and fifty year old company is an icon in America  and across the world. In fact the company not only delivers mail for the United States but for forty percent of the whole world (Walsh). 

In order for the service to stay in business quick actions will have to be taken. The federal government, who has already provided extended deadlines for money owed, will either have to bail out the service, let it go out of business, or release the USPS to become an individually owned company. As of right now employees receive federal benefits and good wages, but due to technology, business has declined exponentially. According to USPS.com, on average 202.8 billion letters were sent a year. Therefore, the company was doing well and turning a yearly profit of about 70 billion dollars per year (Leonard 2). Since the quicker and cheaper invention of email, the company has seen a dramatic loss in letters sent per year and obviously a huge loss in profits per year as well (Wyler).

If the company can get back on track with the help of the federal government actions will still need to be taken. Labor laws that deny the possibility for layoffs or pay cuts to happen need to be changed, the business will also have to close on Saturdays for the first time ever. “Letting the Postal Service go out of business is an awful idea” claimed my aunt when I talked to her over the phone on a late Friday night. She informed me that this would leave 600,000 employees jobless. An already faltered American economy would simply tank. Jobs are already hard to obtain because of the competitive job market, with 600,000 more competing they would be almost impossible to come by and even harder to achieve (Kim).  If the USPS were to be released to become an independent company many things would change. Federal benefits would no longer exist, but benefits could still be obtained. The possibility to obtain stock holders would also be introduced, and an entirely new set of labor laws would have to be drawn up. This would likely keep the 600,000 employees in work, just for a new company. “It is the best idea that I have seen go to the drawing board,” said my aunt when I asked her opinion about it. “I am willing to lose my benefits in order to keep my job.”

The United States Postal Service needs to become and independent business. Workers will see change, but I think the transition could be very smooth and the average American would barely notice that the old Postal Service no longer existed. Saving the jobs and the existence of a postal service in our country should be our top priority. Independent businesses also have some advantages over federally owned businesses, which the postal service could use to make up for not having federal benefits. These benefits would include new labor laws, the possibility to sell stock, as well as the new ability to make a larger profit.

In my research I found that the Federal Government makes it nearly impossible for the USPS to make a profit each year. That combined with the fact that mailing things is getting less popular makes it almost impossible for the service to survive. The government wants our postal service to basically break even every year, therefore they pay 81.4% of profits to employees (Johnson 5). This only leaves 18.6% to either be saved or spent on new products, such as planning new stamps, buying new machines, or buying new delivery trucks. If it became an independent business they could absolutely be smarter with their money. On good years some would be placed in savings so that when bad years occur, savings money can be used to cover shortages. 

If the USPS doesn’t turn into an independent business and the United States government let it go under, Americans will be greatly affected. We will be at a great loss of an American icon, a convenience, and of hundreds of thousands of jobs. I don’t think that I can even comprehend what life would be like without mail. A life without mailboxes on the front porch or in the front yard, mailmen, post offices, and mail is literally possible for anyone of today to fully envision. Mail has been around for longer than any citizen of todays society, believe it or not, before internet we actually depended on mail. We used mail as a form of communication, in a way it was actually a symbol of hope. It sent hope to soldiers over seas, and to families awaiting the arrival of their soldiers post war. Mail kept families and friends in touch not only across the nation but across the world. Although mail is outdated, soldiers over seas fighting for our freedom don’t have access to internet. They still depend on the USPS to keep them in touch with families and friends. Americans still depend on mail, they receive paychecks, bills, magazines, birthday cards, checks, and newspapers in the mail. To me, it has always been a tradition to receive birthday cards from family and friends in the mail. I look forward to the handwritten notes on tangible Hallmark cards. Unlike with the internet, we can hold and feel mail, it has a more personal touch to it. But it is not just the mail and the convenience of mail that matters. Think about all of the families that provide to their families with money they make from working for the USPS. Imagine explaining to your children that your job is gone because the government couldn’t keep the company in business. Think about the adults that thought they had good jobs, with good benefits, and would have good retirement. But would just end up empty handed, no retirement, no benefits, and worse no job in an already bad economy. Letting the company go out of business just doesn’t make any sense. Too many people would suffer, not only average Americans who won’t receive any mail, but some families would  lose a major source of income. 

The other option that doesn’t quite make sense to me would be the government attempting to bail out and extend bill due dates for the service. The company is so far in debt now that I’m not sure that they will ever be able to pay it all off. Then we also have to worry about the government trying to bail it out, and the existing labor laws still ruining its chances of making its way back to profit. I think that the labor laws that currently exist will have to change, the union is going to have to come to a realization that the profits of the company simply cannot support its workers. Therefore the only good thing about trying to bail out the company would be letting the federal USPS workers keep their benefits.

Like the United States Postal Service’s workers, I agree that the company should become independent. This will create more growing room and opportunity for the company as well as the workers. I don’t believe that this will cause any job cuts, but it will create the opportunity for new labor laws to be drawn up. It will also boost the companies creativity, they will be able to advertise and reach out in ways to the community they never have been able to before. Instead of just delivering mail, they can work on thinking of new ways to improve profits for the company. If the USPS can become independent  they will save the jobs of 600,000 and continue to benefit our communities.

Works Cited:

"Postal Facts." USPS.com®. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/welcome.htm>.

Walsh, Michael A. "The Check May Never Be in the Mail Again." New York Post. NY Post. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/the_check_may_never_be_in_the_mail_4mPJyJAwqY1w1Xw9QrzmLK>.

Leonard, David. "U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse." BusinessWeek.Com. Business Week. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070.htm>.

Wyler, Grace. "11 Things You Should Know About The U.S. Postal Service Before It Goes Bankrupt." Business Insider. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.businessinsider.com/things-you-should-know-about-the-us-postal-service-before-it-goes-bankrupt-2011-5?op=1>.