The Washington Post reports that Donald Trump has pushed the Postmaster General to “double” the postage rates paid by Amazon and other shippers, in violation of the laws governing postal rate setting.. Continue reading Late Show host Stephen Colbert recently commented on a bill introduced by a GOP lawmaker that would require portraits of Donald Trump to be displayed in post offices nationwide: Continue reading May 10, 2018 OPM Legislation Would Slash Retirement Benefits Happy Public Service Recognition Week! As the Washington Post reported, that’s what the head of the Trump Administration’s central personnel agency said on the eve of PSRW last Friday when he sent to Congress a package of unprecedented Office of Personnel Management (OPM) proposals to strip major benefits from the federal and postal employment compensation package. Continue reading From the National Association of Letter Carriers: On Monday, April 24, the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation released a report on the 2017 tax bill and its effect on U.S. taxpayers. The press stories focused on the winners and losers from the tax cuts – most notably, that 87 percent of the tax cuts go to corporations and the wealthy, and that millionaires stand to reap $17 billion from the legislation in 2018 alone. Continue reading From the National Association of Letter Carriers: Today, President Trump issued an executive order (viewable here) to form a task force charged with evaluating the finances of the U.S. Postal Service including pricing, policies and workforce costs. The order is a likely result from the president’s recent interest in the Postal Service’s partnership with Amazon and the assumption that the Postal Service does not profit from that partnership (view NALC’s response here). Continue reading Last night Donald Trump abruptly ordered a review of the US Postal Service’s finances, apparently in an effort to further damage Amazon.com. Trump has pursued a Twitter vendetta against Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is also the owner of the Washington Post. The Post has frequently published stories critical of Trump. Continue reading Yesterday Donald Trump continued his error filled tirades against Amazon and the US Postal Service, this time citing a report he claimed (falsely) had “just come out” and supported his charge that the USPS is subsidizing Amazon. Other analysts have pointed to serious flaws in the report, but now even the report’s author says it doesn’t prove what Trump claims it does: From Business Insider: He seems to be referring to a 2017 Citi Research report that has frequently been cited by people criticizing Amazon’s use of the USPS. However, according to the author of the report, Trump has the wrong interpretation. “We never said Amazon is getting a $1.50 subsidy,” Citi analyst Christian Wetherbee told Business Insider on Monday in a discussion of misinterpretations of the report, which actually says the loss per package is roughly $1.46 for the USPS. Wetherbee continued: “If you read what that number is, it’s the total package business is priced below cost. It has nothing to do with Amazon specifically.” Source: Trump slips up in Amazon-Post Office war – Business Insider Donald Trump continued his semi-literate twitter tirade against Amazon and the US Postal Service this morning. Although he didn’t repeat his previous lie about Amazon not paying sales tax, he once again claimed that Amazon treats the USPS as its “Delivery Boy”, which is of course, true. (Full disclosure: I also treat the USPS as MY delivery boy!) Continue reading Axios reports that Donald Trump has become “obsessed” with Amazon and the damage he thinks it’s doing to businesses owned by his billionaire buddies- and he thinks the USPS is part of the problem: Behind the president’s thinking: Trump’s wealthy friends tell him Amazon is destroying their businesses. His real estate buddies tell him — and he agrees — that Amazon is killing shopping malls and brick-and-mortar retailers. Trump tells people Amazon has gotten a free ride from taxpayers and cushy treatment from the U.S. Postal Service. “The whole post office thing, that’s very much a perception he has,” another source said. “It’s been explained to him in multiple meetings that his perception is inaccurate and that the post office actually makes a ton of money from Amazon.” Axios’ Ina Fried notes: The Postal Service actually added delivery on Sunday in some cities because Amazon made it worthwhile. 03/07/2018 – With contract negotiations set to begin early summer, President Mark Dimondstein has announced the names of union members who will serve on the Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee. In accordance with the APWU Constitution, each member of the National Executive Board names one person to the committee; a 14th member, appointed by the president, is a member of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Task Force. Continue reading
Hot topics
In secret meetings, Trump tells PMG to (illegally) double postage rates on Amazon
Stephen Colbert on GOP Proposal to Require Trump Portraits At Post Offices
NAPS: OPM Legislation Would Slash Retirement Benefits
A soaring federal deficit spells danger for letter carriers
NALC statement on Trump USPS task force order
Trump, Having Denounced Amazon’s Shipping Deal, Orders Review of Postal Service
Author of Citi Research report cited by Trump: “We never said Amazon is getting a $1.50 subsidy”
Trump appears to suggest corruption at USPS, PRC on behalf of Amazon
Trump “obsessed” with Amazon (and its USPS deal)
APWU Rank and File Bargaining Advisory Committee Appointed
